issued by the Registrar of the Court
ECHR 140 (2018)
12.04.2018
Judgments and decisions of 12 April 2018
The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing six judgments1 and 31 decisions2:
two Chamber judgments are summarised below; a separate press release has been issued for one
other Chamber judgment in the case of Chim and Przywieczerski v. Poland (application
nos. 36661/07 and 38433/07);
a separate press release has also been issued for one decision, in the case of Sakskoburggotski and
Others v. Bulgaria (nos. 38948/10, 55777/12, and 8954/17);
three Committee judgments, concerning issues which have already been submitted to the Court,
The judgments below are available only in English.
Goran Kovačević v. Croatia (application no. 34804/14)
The applicant, Goran Kovačević, is a Croatian national who was born in 1981 and lives in Dubrovnik
(Croatia).
The case concerned Mr Kovačević’s allegation of police ill-treatment, denial of access to a lawyer and
of being forced to make incriminating statements against his co-accused in the trial.
Mr Kovačević was arrested on 21 October 2010. The following day, he confessed during questioning
to having sold amphetamines and bought cocaine from one of his co-accused. He repeated his
confession to the investigating judge and was released. According to the two reports on his
questioning by the police and by the investigating judge, he had sustained minor injuries when
resisting the police during his arrest, as confirmed by a doctor. He had also been advised of his right
to remain silent and to a hire a lawyer. He had, however, refused to hire a lawyer of his own
choosing and had signed both reports without objections.
He eventually hired a lawyer in December 2010 and his case went to trial in January 2011. Six
months later, at the end of the trial, he stated that he had been beaten both during his arrest and at
the police station. He also retracted his confession about buying cocaine, alleging that it had been
made under duress. The trial court, dismissing these allegations as lacking credibility, found
Mr Kovačević guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison. His conviction was upheld by the
Supreme Court in 2012 and his sentenced reduced to one year. His constitutional complaint was
dismissed as ill-founded in 2013.
Relying in particular on Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) (right to a fair trial and right to legal assistance of own
choosing) of the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Kovačević alleged that his trial had not
been fair because he had been denied access to a lawyer and pressured into making incriminating
statements against his co-accused.
1
Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month period following a Chamber
judgment’s delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a
panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and
deliver a final judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Under Article 28 of the
Convention, judgments delivered by a Committee are final.
Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.
Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution
2
Inadmissibility and strike-out decisions are final.
