Published on 30 March 2026
 
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 14134/25
Jene KOLOMPAR and Slobodan BERIŠA
against Serbia
lodged on 14 April 2025
communicated on 9 March 2026
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns alleged ill-treatment of the applicants while in police custody and a “lack of an effective criminal investigation into those allegations”.
In particular, the criminal complaints which had been lodged by the applicants were rejected two years later due to a lack of evidence. The Constitutional Court dismissed their constitutional appeal on 14 November 2024. Its decision was served on the applicants on 18 February 2025.
In the meantime, in separate civil proceedings, the domestic courts established that the applicants had indeed been subjected to degrading treatment by the police and awarded each of them approximately 1,700 euros in respect of the non-pecuniary damage suffered.
The applicants allege a breach of Article 3 of the Convention under its procedural limb.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Having regard to the procedural protection from torture and/or inhuman or degrading treatment (see Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, § 131, ECHR 2000-IV), was the criminal investigation in the present case by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see also Bouyid v. Belgium [GC], no. 23380/09, §§ 115-123, ECHR 2015; M.B. and Others v. Slovakia, no. 45322/17, §§ 79 and 82, 1 April 2021; and X and Others v. Bulgaria [GC], no. 22457/16, § 189, 2 February 2021)?