The ineffective criminal investigation regarding the deadly traffic accident and the violation of the right to life
JUDGMENT
Sinim v. Turkey 06-06-2017 (no. 9441/10)
SUMMARY
Right to life. Ineffective search for deadly traffic accident with a truck. Finding a violation of the procedural aspect of the right to life due to inadequate investigation by the authorities.
PROVISION
Article
PRINCIPAL FACTS
The applicant, Arzum Makbule Sinim, is a Turkish national who was born in 1979 and lives in Istanbul. Ms Sinim complained in particular of the authorities’ alleged failure to conduct an effective criminal investigation into her husband’s death.
Mr Sinim died in 2006 as a result of a road traffic accident, after the truck in which he was travelling as a passenger collided with another vehicle and caught fire. It later transpired that the truck, which Mr Sinim had been renting along with a transport company, had not only been transporting his own goods, but also inflammable liquid. However, according to certain expert reports, the truck was not properly equipped to carry such goods, having regard to the requirements set out in the law for the transportation of dangerous goods: the truck had not had an electrical system to prevent short circuiting and fire, it had borne no warning signs, and the driver had not been trained in the transportation of dangerous goods. The authorities decided not to pursue criminal charges against the alleged producer of the inflammables or the transport company. Ms Sinim brought civil proceedings against the alleged wrongdoers in 2007, but these are still pending.
Relying in particular on Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, Ms Sinim complained of the authorities’ alleged failure to conduct an effective criminal investigation, including the responsibility of those who had knowingly disregarded the relevant regulations on transportation of dangerous goods and thus her husband’s right to life.
Violation of Article 2
Just satisfaction: 15,000 euros (EUR) (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 3,750 (costs and expenses)
