PROCEDURE

The case originated in three applications (nos. 28152/02 and 28155/02 and 28156/02) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by three Turkish nationals, Mr Nezir Demirhan, Mr Mehdi Görsav and Mr Fırat Çelik (“the applicants”), on 18 June 2002.

The applicants were represented by Mr Sedat Çınar, a lawyer practising in Diyarbakır. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) did not designate an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court.

The applicants complained that the non-enforcement of court decisions in their favour had given rise to a violation of Article 6 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.

On 12 September 2006 the Court decided to give notice of the applications. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the applications at the same time as their admissibility.

THE FACTS

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicants are all Turkish nationals and live in Diyarbakır.

Until 4 May 1999 the applicants were employed as manual workers by the Diyarbakır Sur Municipality (“the Municipality”). On that date, the Municipality discharged 153 employees, including the applicants, without paying their wages, a dismissal indemnity or any other pecuniary rights to which they were entitled pursuant to domestic labour law.

On 2 June 1999 the applicants brought separate actions for compensation against the Municipality before the Diyarbakır Labour Court.

On 11 November 1999 the court ruled in their favour and ordered the Municipality to pay 743,859,795 Turkish liras (TRL)0 to Mr Demirhan, TRL 1,000,000,0000 to Mr Görsav and TRL 774,821,7950 to Mr Çelik, plus statutory interest running from 2 June 1999. It also ruled that the legal costs and expenses of the proceedings should be borne by the Municipality.

In the absence of an appeal, the judgments became final on 11 November 1999.

On an unspecified date, the applicants initiated enforcement proceedings against the Municipality. However, their efforts proved futile as the Municipality refused to comply with the judgments.

On 15 February 2001 and 21 March 2001 the applicants' representative requested the Diyarbakır Governor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to intervene on their behalf in order to facilitate the enforcement of the court's judgments.

On 9 May 2001 the Diyarbakır Governor's Office informed the applicants' representative that they had written to the Municipality requesting them to redress the applicants' grievances. However, the Municipality did not make any payment since it was underfunded.

On 20 June 2002 Mr Mehdi Görsav reached a friendly settlement agreement with the Municipality. The friendly settlement protocol stipulated that the applicant would waive all of his claims, including the principal amount of compensation determined by the Labour Court, interest and all costs and fees, if he were to be paid TRL 1,025,815,000. The protocol also stated the applicant would receive this sum in five instalments. Between 27 June 2002 and 21 November 2002 this amount was paid to the applicant.

In the meantime, Mr Fırat Çelik initiated enforcement proceedings in order to recover his compensation. However, on 19 December 2002 his case was struck out by the enforcement office since he did not pursue his application.

By letters dated 6 January 2005 the Municipality invited Mr Fırat Çelik and Mr Nezir Demirhan to receive within seven days the principal amount awarded by the Labour Court. However, the applicants declined the invitation since the sum offered did not cover the interest, costs and fees awarded by the Labour Court.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e1
001-80849_a1_em1
CODE
DIRECT
28152/02
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e2
001-80849_a1_em2
CODE
DIRECT
28155/02
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e3
001-80849_a1_em3
CODE
DIRECT
28156/02
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e4
001-80849_a1_em4
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Turkey
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e5
001-80849_a1_em5
DEM
NO_MASK
Turkish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e6
001-80849_a1_em6
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Nezir Demirhan
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e7
001-80849_a1_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Mehdi Görsav
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e8
001-80849_a1_em8
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Fırat Çelik
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e9
001-80849_a1_em9
DATETIME
QUASI
18 June 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e10
001-80849_a1_em10
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Sedat Çınar
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-80849_a1_e11
001-80849_a1_em11
LOC
QUASI
Diyarbakır
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e12
001-80849_a1_em12
ORG
NO_MASK
Turkish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e13
001-80849_a1_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
12 September 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e5
001-80849_a1_em14
DEM
NO_MASK
Turkish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e11
001-80849_a1_em15
LOC
QUASI
Diyarbakır
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e14
001-80849_a1_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
4 May 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e15
001-80849_a1_em17
ORG
QUASI
Diyarbakır Sur Municipality
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e16
001-80849_a1_em18
QUANTITY
QUASI
153 employees
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e17
001-80849_a1_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
2 June 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e18
001-80849_a1_em20
ORG
QUASI
Diyarbakır Labour Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e19
001-80849_a1_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
11 November 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e20
001-80849_a1_em22
QUANTITY
QUASI
743,859,795 Turkish liras (TRL)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e6
001-80849_a1_em23
PERSON
DIRECT
001-80849_a1_em6
Mr Demirhan
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e21
001-80849_a1_em24
QUANTITY
QUASI
TRL 1,000,000,0000
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e22
001-80849_a1_em25
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Görsav
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e23
001-80849_a1_em26
QUANTITY
QUASI
TRL 774,821,7950
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e24
001-80849_a1_em27
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Çelik
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e17
001-80849_a1_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
2 June 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e19
001-80849_a1_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
11 November 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e25
001-80849_a1_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
15 February 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e26
001-80849_a1_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
21 March 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e27
001-80849_a1_em32
ORG
QUASI
Diyarbakır Governor's Office
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e28
001-80849_a1_em33
ORG
NO_MASK
Ministry of Internal Affairs
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e29
001-80849_a1_em34
DATETIME
QUASI
9 May 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e27
001-80849_a1_em35
ORG
QUASI
Diyarbakır Governor's Office
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e30
001-80849_a1_em36
DATETIME
QUASI
20 June 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e7
001-80849_a1_em37
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Mehdi Görsav
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e18
001-80849_a1_em38
ORG
NO_MASK
001-80849_a1_em20
Labour Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e31
001-80849_a1_em39
QUANTITY
QUASI
TRL 1,025,815,000
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-80849_a1_e32
001-80849_a1_em40
DATETIME
QUASI
27 June 2002 and 21 November 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e8
001-80849_a1_em41
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Fırat Çelik
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e33
001-80849_a1_em42
DATETIME
QUASI
19 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e34
001-80849_a1_em43
DATETIME
QUASI
6 January 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e8
001-80849_a1_em44
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Fırat Çelik
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e6
001-80849_a1_em45
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Nezir Demirhan
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e35
001-80849_a1_em46
DATETIME
NO_MASK
seven days
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e18
001-80849_a1_em47
ORG
NO_MASK
Labour Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-80849_a1_e18
001-80849_a1_em48
ORG
NO_MASK
Labour Court
Nezir Demirhan
TUR
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Nezir Demirhan