SECOND SECTION

Application no. 34068/05 Tonguç Barış AKIN against Turkey lodged on 5 September 2005

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Tonguç Bar ı ş Ak ı n, is a Turkish national, who was born in 1981 and lives in Uşak .

The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 6 January 2000 the applicant had a car accident.

On 17 January 2000 he brought an action for compensation before the UÅŸak Civil Court of First Instance against the driver who crashed into his car, as well as the latter ’ s insurance company, for his pecuniary and non ‑ pecuniary damages arising from the accident. An expert consulted during the proceedings calculated the applicant ’ s pecuniary damage to be at 6,388,800,000 Turkish liras (TRL [1] ).

On 7 February 2002 the Uşak Civil Court of First Instance awarded the applicant TRL 1,500,000,000 in pecuniary damage, which was the amount he had requested, plus interest from the date of the accident, and also reserved the applicant ’ s right to bring a further action for the remaining amount that had been assessed by the expert.

On 3 January 2002 the applicant brought an additional action before the UÅŸak Civil Court of First Instance to recover his remaining pecuniary damage, which he deemed to be in the amount of TRL 4,888,800,000 in accordance with the expert assessment in the initial proceedings. He also requested interest, running from the date of the accident.

On 18 July 2003 the first-instance court granted the applicant ’ s request for additional pecuniary damage, but did not order any interest.

On 6 October 2003 the applicant appealed against the judgment of the first-instance court, arguing that the court had omitted to order interest on the amount granted as requested.

On 14 September 2004, after holding a hearing, the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment of the UÅŸak Civil Court of First Instance, without providing any explanation as to why no interest was ordered.

On 12 October 2004 the applicant requested the rectification of the Court of Cassation ’ s decision, complaining that his appeal regarding the award of interest had been dismissed without any explanation.

On 14 March 2005 the Court of Cassation rejected the applicant ’ s rectification request, without offering any justification.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains that he was denied a fair trial on account of the failure of the domestic courts to award him interest on the pecuniary damage granted in the additional action, as a result of which he incurred financial loss .

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Did the failure of the domestic courts to give reasons for their decision to order no interest on the pecuniary damage awarded to the applicant on 18 July 2003, despite his repeated requests for the payment of such interest, amount to a violation of his right to a fair trial under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?

2. Has payment been made to the applicant in relation to the pecuniary damage awarded by the UÅŸak Civil Court of First Instance on 18 July 2003? If so, what was the date of payment and the exact amount paid? Has the applicant been deprived of his property rights, within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, on account of the refusal of the domestic courts to award interest on the pecuniary damage, running from the date of the accident?

[1] 1. On 1 January 2005 the Turkish lira (TRY) entered into circulation, replacing the former Turkish li ra (TRL). TRY 1 = TRL 1,000,000.