TSALIKIDIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE JUDGMENT
27
or in obtaining witness statements while recollections are sharp. Reasonable
expedition will remain a requirement, but what is reasonable is likely to be
coloured by the investigative prospects and difficulties which exist at such a
late stage (see Brecknell v. the United Kingdom, cited above, §§ 71-72).
(b) Application of the above-mentioned principles in the present case
91. The Court notes at the outset that the parties have devoted a large
part of their submissions to the alleged deficiencies in the initial
investigation, focusing mainly on the alleged omissions of coroner G.D.L.
In view of the conclusion as regards the applicants’ failure to observe the
six-month rule under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention in respect of their
complaints concerning the initial investigation, the Court will not deal with
those arguments.
92. The Court will therefore examine whether the information provided
by the applicants to the domestic authorities on 8 February 2012 amounted
to the kind of new evidence which would entail the revival of the procedural
obligation to investigate. In this connection the Court observes that a new
investigation was started into the applicants’ allegations by the authorities,
who thereby discovered new leads and information about the killing.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that, in the proceedings before the Court, the
applicants not only challenged the effectiveness of the investigation carried
out between March 2005 and June 2006, but also the effectiveness of the
investigation conducted after February 2012.
93. In the light of the foregoing, the Court considers that the information
submitted to the authorities by the applicants in February 2012 resulted in
significant new developments and, as such, the procedural obligation to
investigate the killing of the applicants’ relative was revived after that date
(see Gasyak and Others, cited above, § 63; see also, mutatis mutandis,
Kavak v. Turkey, no. 53489/99, §§ 84-90, 6 July 2006).
94. The Court notes that, following the applicants’ request for reopening
the proceedings, a supplementary investigation was conducted by the public
prosecutor’s office without delay. The supplementary investigation resulted
in the decision of 16 June 2014 not to initiate criminal proceedings and to
uphold the conclusions of order 80/06, by which the initial investigation had
been closed (see paragraphs 18 et seq. above).
95. It is clear to the Court that the supplementary investigation was
reasonably prompt, as it was instituted immediately after the applicants’
request for reopening, and lasted about two years. The Court also takes note
of the fact that the entire investigation was conducted by the public
prosecutor’s office, an authority which was institutionally independent, and
that the applicants were involved at the various stages of the proceedings –
by having their technical advisor present during exhumation, for example.
96. It remains to be examined whether the investigation conducted was
effective in the sense of being capable of ascertaining the circumstances in