32
TSALIKIDIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE JUDGMENT
Convention requires that an investigation which satisfies the minimum
threshold of effectiveness be conducted in order to shed light on the
circumstances of the death. The fact that the investigation ultimately accepts
the hypothesis of an accident has no bearing on this issue, since the
obligation to investigate is specifically intended to refute or confirm one or
other hypothesis (see Mustafa Tunç and Fecire Tunç v. Turkey [GC], cited
above, § 133).
111. In the present case, the circumstances of Costas Tsalikidis death
were not established from the outset in a sufficiently clear manner. Various
explanations were possible, and none of them was manifestly implausible in
the initial stages (see paragraphs 9-12 above). Thus, the State was under an
obligation to conduct an investigation and the applicants were not required
to have recourse to an action for damages in the circumstances of the
present case.
112. In the light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the applicants
exhausted the domestic remedies and were not obliged to pursue the civil
remedies suggested by the Government in order to exhaust them. The Court
thus considers that the Government’s objection of non-exhaustion of
available domestic remedies should be dismissed and that the applicants
were not provided with effective legal procedures compatible with the
procedural requirements of Article 2 of the Convention.
113. Therefore, there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention
under its procedural limb.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 13 IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ARTICLE 2 OF THE CONVENTION
114. The applicants complained that they did not have an effective
remedy in connection with their complaint about the lack of effective
investigation into the murder of their relative. They relied on Article 13,
which reads:
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated
shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the
violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
A. Admissibility
115. The Court notes that this complaint is linked to the one examined
above and must therefore likewise be declared admissible as far as the
supplementary investigation is concerned.