FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3 ... - Giurisprudenza

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190 FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3/2008 48. The Court further notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention and that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible. B. Merits 49. The period to be taken into consideration began on 1 October 1984, when the applicant associations instituted legal proceedings before the Cologne Administrative Court, and ended on 8 November 2002, when the Federal Government withdrew their appeal, which was pending before the Federal Court of Appeal following remittal. It thus lasted eighteen years and one month for four levels of jurisdiction. 1. The Government's submissions 50. The Government submitted that the length of the proceedings before the Cologne Administrative Court had been reasonable and that any delays which had occurred during the proceedings before the Administrative Court of Appeal had been primarily imputable to the applicant associations, who, on 22 January 1988, requested that the next date for a hearing not be set for another six months, then filed a substantial cross-appeal on 3 October 1988, applied twice for a hearing to be postponed and submitted further, extensive written statements and pleadings. 51. While conceding that the length of the proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court was considerable, the Government considered that it was justified by the circumstances of this particular case. They pointed out that the subject matter had to be regarded as particularly complex, as the underlying question whether the Government was entitled to issue warnings had been the subject matter of a number of complaints lodged at that time. The Federal Constitutional Court grouped these cases and, following the leading decisions given by the full Chamber – including the decision in the present case – disposed of the remaining complaints by decisions given by panels of three judges. According to the Government, the complexity of the case was further demonstrated by the wide
FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3/2008 coverage of the topic both in legal literature and in the general media. The Government pointed out that the case had been heard by the full Chamber – as opposed to a panel of three judges – which would not have been the case if the constitutional issue addressed had been simple, and that the applicant associations had submitted extensive material to the Federal Constitutional Court. 52. The Government emphasised the Federal Constitutional Court's special role as “guardian of the Constitution” as recognised by the Court in its previous case-law. They further stressed the unique political background of German reunification, which had occurred just one and a half years before the present complaint was lodged. By way of example, they presented a list of twelve decisions relating to reunification issues taken by the Federal Constitutional Court's first Chamber between July 1991 and July 1997. Furthermore, that court had had to decide on a great number of other complaints of considerable political and social importance as they concerned a great number of citizens, which had been given priority. 53. The Government emphasised that the length of the proceedings could not be attributed to the fact that the Federal Constitutional Court was overburdened or that its ability to function was restricted. It pointed out that that court had taken adequate steps to address the problem of its extraordinary workload following German reunification, ensuring that an average of some 88 % of constitutional complaints received between 1994 and 2005 had been dealt with within the first two years and that only 4.4 % were still pending after more than four years. 54. According to the Government, the applicant associations themselves had caused delays in the proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court by submitting their comments to the Government's submissions of 4 November 1992 only eleven months later, namely on 21 September 1993. Furthermore, they had submitted extensive written observations throughout the proceedings. 55. As to what was at stake for the applicant associations, the Government considered that the level of alleged interference with their freedom of religion was comparatively low. It was further diminished by the fact that the Government, following 191
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Presentazione FOGLI DI LAVORO per i
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PROCÉDURE FOGLI DI LAVORO per il D
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SUMMARY FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diri
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FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3 ... - Giurisprudenza

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