13 January 2009

In this case Mr Ahmet Öztekin (1st applicant) and Mr Celal Aygen (2nd applicant) claimed that their detention in police custody for a period of seven days was a violation of their right under Article 5 § 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). Article 5 covers the right to be heard before a judge or officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power in a prompt manner. 

The applicants were taken into custody for allegedly participating as members of the Kurdistan Islamic Revolution Movement, an illegal organisation in Turkey.

In order to avoid a trial, the government of Turkey made a declaration offering a settlement totaling two thousand Euros to each applicant, for non-pecuniary damages and expenses. The applicants accepted this friendly settlement, thus waiving their claim against the Turkish government.

The European Court of Human Rights found that there were no policy reasons to continue examining the application and therefore struck it from its list of cases.

Whilst friendly settlements might reduce the case load of the Strasbourg Court and allow for more serious cases to be heard, the concept of states paying off their abuses of human rights leaves a sour taste, particularly since this rationale necessitates ranking one human right over another.