FIRST SECTION

Application no. 5058/12 Jelica PAIĆ and others against Croatia lodged on 2 January 2012

STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. The applicants, Ms Jelica Paić , Ms Zorica Kovačević and Ms Gorica Erić , are Croatian nationals who were born in 1962, 1982 and 1984 respectively and live in Vukovar and Bobota . They are represented before the Court by Mr D. Štivić , a lawyer practising in Vukovar .

The circumstances of the case

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

1. Investigation

3. During the Homeland war in Croatia , on 10 August 1991, the applicants ’ respective husband and father, Ž.P., went missing.

4. The first applicant reported Ž.P. missing to the police on the same day.

5. A DNA analysis of a person buried at the Novi Sad graveyard in Serbia , carried out in 2004 showed that that was Ž.P. The applicants then learned that he had been found dead on 17 August 1991 in the river Danube near Neštin in Serbia . The autopsy showed that he had died from two bullet shots to his head on 10 August 1991.

6. On 18 August 2011 the applicants lodged a criminal complaint with the Vukovar County State Attorney ’ s Office against the unknown perpetrator who had killed Ž.P. That office forwarded the criminal complaint to the Zagreb County State Attorney ’ s Office.

7. On 5 December 2011 the Zagreb County State Attorney ’ s Office informed the applicants ’ lawyer that the investigation had been conducted by the police.

2. Civil proceedings

8. On 29 November 2005 the applicants brought a civil action against the State in the Vukovar Municipal Court, seeking compensation in connection with the death of Ž.P.

9. On 25 May 2006 the Municipal Court dismissed the claim on the ground that it had become time-barred. This judgment was upheld by the Vukovar County Court on 29 November 2006.

10. On 6 March 2007 the Municipal Court again dismissed the claim on the same ground. The first-instance judgment was upheld by the Vukovar County Court on 13 October 2008.

11. However, on 21 July 2010 the Supreme Court quashed both judgments and ordered a retrial.

12. On 13 May 2011 the Municipal Court dismissed the claim on the ground that it had not been proven that the cause of Ž.P. ’ s death had been an act of terrorism or that he had been killed by a Croatian soldier or a police officer which were the conditions for granting compensation from the State. This judgment was upheld by the Vukovar County Court on 29 November 2011.

13. The applicants lodged a constitutional complaint and the proceedings before the Constitutional Court are still pending.

COMPLAINTS

14. The applicants complain that the national authorities did not conduct an effective and thorough investigation into the death of their relative.

15. They also complain under Article 13 of the Convention that they have no effective remedy at their disposal in respect of the alleged violation of Article 2 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life (see paragraph 104 of Salman v. Turkey [GC], no. 21986/93, ECHR 2000-VII; and Jularić v. Croatia , no. 20106/06 , 20 January 2011 ), was the investigation in the present case by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 2 of the Convention?

2. Do the applicants have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their Convention complaint, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?

The Government are invited to submit copies of all case files and other documents concerning the killing of Ž.P.