2
COLOZZA v. ITALY JUGDMENT
3. In response to the inquiry made in accordance with Rule 33 para. 3
(d) of the Rules of Court, Mr. Colozza stated that he wished to take part in
the proceedings pending before the Court and designated the lawyer who
would represent him (Rule 30).
4. The Chamber of seven judges to be constituted included, as ex officio
members, Mr. C. Russo, the elected judge of Italian nationality (Article 43
of the Convention) (art. 43), and Mr. G. Wiarda, the President of the Court
(Rule 21 para. 3 (b)). On 21 September 1983, the President drew by lot, in
the presence of the Registrar, the names of the five other members, namely
Mr. J. Cremona, Mr. Thór Vilhjálmsson, Mr. L. Liesch, Mr. L.-E. Pettiti and
Mr. J. Gersing (Article 43 in fine of the Convention and Rule 21 para. 4)
(art. 43). Subsequently, Mr. E. García de Enterría, substitute judge, replaced
Mr. Liesch, who was prevented from taking part in the consideration of the
case (Rules 22 para. 1 and 24 para. 1).
5. Mr. Wiarda, who had assumed the office of President of the Chamber
(Rule 21 para. 5), ascertained, through the Registrar, the views of the Agent
of the Italian Government ("the Government"), the Delegate of the
Commission and the representative of the applicant regarding the procedure
to be followed. On 6 October 1983, the President directed that the Agent
and the representative should each have until 15 November to file a
memorial and that the Delegate should be entitled to reply in writing within
two months from the date of the transmission to him by the Registrar of
whichever of the aforesaid documents should last be filed (Rule 37 para. 1).
On 7 November 1983, the President extended the first time-limit to 28
December. The memorial of Mr. Colozza - to whom the President had
granted leave, on 22 August 1983, to use the Italian language during the
proceedings (Rule 27 para. 3) - was received at the registry on 3 January
1984. The Agent of the Government, to whom the President had granted a
further extension of the time-limit until 29 February, filed the original
Italian text of his memorial at the registry on 2 March and the French
translation, the official text for the Court, on 5 April.
The Delegate stated, in a letter of 14 May, that he did not intend to avail
himself of his right to reply in writing.
6. On various dates between 15 February and 17 May 1984, the registry
was informed first of Mr. Colozza’s death, on 2 December 1983, and then of
his widow’s wish to have the proceedings continued, to take part therein and
to be represented by the same legal adviser as her husband. For the sake of
convenience, the present judgment will continue to refer to Mr. Colozza as
"the applicant", although Mrs. Colozza is today to be regarded as having
this status (see the X v. the United Kingdom judgment of 5 November 1981,
Series A no. 46, p. 15, para. 32).
7.
After consulting, through the Registrar, the Agent of the
Government, the Commission’s Delegate and the applicant’s representative,
the President directed on 28 June 1984 that the oral hearings should open on