| Applicant name | LUNGU |
| Applicant type | Natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Romania |
| Application no. | 2022/18 |
| Date | 24/10/2023 |
| Judges | Faris Vehabović, président, Anja Seibert-Fohr, Sebastian Răduleţu |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Quality of judicial system |
| Type of privacy | Procedural privacy; bodily privacy |
| Keywords | Lenghty judicial procedure |
| Facts of the case | The applicant complains that her son was the victim of medical negligence and that the investigation carried out by the authorities was not effective. She invokes Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention. |
| Analysis | The Court decides to judge the case under Article 8 ECHR. It observes that the applicant was treated in hospital and she and her child received medical care. It is true that certain failures are mentioned in the forensic expert reports, but these are not such as to lead to the conclusion that, when taking charge of the applicant to the hospital, her life or that of her child was deliberately endangered by the refusal of life-saving emergency treatment. Furthermore, no structural failure of the medical care system can be detected, nor any failure by the State in its obligation to put in place a regulatory framework capable of protecting the lives of patients. But then it turns to the length of the legal proceedings at domestic level, which has been unreasonably long and was still pending. The fact that it believes the chances that the outcome of these domestic proceedings would be to the favour of the applicant are slim does not alter the fact that the ECtHR finds a violation on the account of the procedural requirements implicit in Article 8 ECHR. |
| Other Article violation? | No |
| Damage awarded | that the respondent State must pay to the applicant, within three months, the following sums, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of settlement: 10,000 EUR (ten thousand euros), plus any amount that may be due on this sum as tax, for moral damage; 8,235 EUR (eight thousand two hundred and thirty-five euros), plus any amount that may be owed on this sum by the applicant as tax, for costs and expenses, to be paid directly to Me N.T. Popescu; |
| Documents | Judgment |