The ECHR judgment of 21 March 2017 in the case of Mitrovic v. Serbia (application No. 52142/12).
In 2012, the applicant was assisted in preparing the application. Subsequently, the application was communicated to Serbia.
The applicant's application for his detention was successfully examined in the case on the basis of a decision of the court that acted outside the judicial system of Serbia. The case involved a violation of the requirements of Article 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
In 1994, the applicant was sentenced to eight years in prison for killing a internationally unrecognized self-proclaimed entity that had arisen on the territory of the Republic of Croatia during the war in the former Yugoslavia by a court controlled by the Republika Srpska Krajina. This education ceased to exist in 1995 and was never recognized as a state by Serbia. The applicant complained that his detention in a Serb prison on the basis of this sentence violated Article 5 of the Convention.
ISSUES OF LAW
The applicant was convicted of murder by a court that acted outside the judicial system of Serbia. He was transferred to a Serbian prison for serving his sentences. The Serbian authorities did not conduct proceedings to recognize a foreign solution, as required by domestic legislation. Since the applicant was detained on the basis of a non-national decision that was not recognized at the country level, and in the absence of any other basis provided for by national legislation for his detention, the requirement of lawfulness contained in Article 5 § 1 of the Convention was not met.
DECISION
The violation of the requirements of Article 5 of the Convention (unanimously) was committed in the case.
COMPENSATION
In the application of Article 41 of the Convention. The claim for damages was not raised.