The case concerned a Danish national who had been sexually assaulted in 2021 while residing in Denmark. Following lengthy procedures and appeals the case against the alleged rapist was eventually dropped due to procedural mistakes by the court services which additionally resulted in the denial of the applicant’s compensation claims.
The day after the alleged Rape the accused rapist was arrested, and the criminal investigation began. Not long after the accused was released as the prosecution dropped the charges due to insufficient evidence. The applicant appealed this leading to the regional prosecutor reversing the ruling. This decision had to be served to the accused within two months of the date of the initial decision however due to several issues including a typographical error and a database error, the letter never reached the accused.
After failure to inform the accused about the decision within the two month deadline set out in the Administration of Justice Act, the proceedings against the accused were withdrawn by a city court. This led to the case being dropped and the applicant’s compensation claims being denied.
The applicant brought proceedings to the ECHR, complaining that they had been deprived of their right to an effective prosecution and judicial review. Concerning the matter relying on the articles 3 (Prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment6 (access to court), 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention.
The court decided to examine the complaints and noted that the prosecution service and the government had acknowledged and regretted the mistakes made. However they don’t believe they are at fault.
However, the Prosecution Service made three consecutive errors in failing to follow internal guidelines when a registered letter was returned undelivered. The Court criticized the Prosecution for not verifying the correct address, whether the alleged rapist had a new address, and the possibility of re-sending the notification letter. Additionally, they should have confirmed the accuracy of the prosecutor's database.
The errors and failure to notify the accused led to the dismissal of charges by the District Court, depriving the applicant of a fair prosecution or judicial review regarding the alleged rape reported to the police. The Court found significant flaws in Denmark's response to the allegations, breaching Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention.
The court held that under article 6 (access to court) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) it did not find it necessary to examine the complaints under these articles.
The court held that Denmark is to pay the applicant 10,000 euros in respect of nonpecuniary damage and EUR 10,000 in respect of costs and expenses.
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