TSALIKIDIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE JUDGMENT
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v. Bulgaria, no. 38361/97, ECHR 2002-IV; Nachova and Others, cited
above; and Ognyanova and Choban v. Bulgaria, no. 46317/99, 23 February
2006) and cases in which the factual circumstances imposed an obligation
on the authorities to protect an individual’s life, for example where they had
assumed responsibility for his or her welfare (see Paul and Audrey Edwards
v. the United Kingdom, no. 46477/99, ECHR 2002-II) or where they knew
or ought to have known that his life was at risk (see Osman
v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 28 October 1998, Reports 1998-VIII).
85. However, the absence of any direct State responsibility for the death
of the applicants’ relative does not exclude the applicability of Article 2 of
the Convention. The Court reiterates that by requiring a State to take
appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of those within its jurisdiction (see
L.C.B. v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 9 June 1998, Reports 1998-III,
p. 1403, § 36), Article 2 § 1 of the Convention imposes a duty on that State
to secure the right to life by putting in place effective criminal law
provisions to deter the commission of offences against the person, backed
up by law-enforcement machinery for the prevention, suppression and
punishment of breaches of such provisions (see Osman, cited above, § 115,
and Angelova and Iliev v. Bulgaria, no. 55523/00, § 93, 26 July 2007).
86. The Court reiterates that in the circumstances of the present case this
obligation requires that there should be some form of effective official
investigation when there is reason to believe that an individual has died in
suspicious circumstances. The investigation should, in principle, be capable
of leading to the establishment of the facts of the case (see Başbilen
v. Turkey, no. 35872/08, § 70, 26 April 2016, and Mustafa Tunç and Fecire
Tunç v. Turkey [GC], no. 24014/05, § 172, 14 April 2015) and of identifying
and – if appropriate – punishing those responsible (see Armani Da Silva
v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 5878/08, § 233, ECHR 2016). This is not
an obligation as to results to be achieved, but as to means to be employed.
Thus, the authorities must have taken the steps reasonably available to them
to secure the evidence concerning the incident, including eye witness
testimony, forensic evidence and, where appropriate, an autopsy which
provides a complete and accurate record of injury and an objective analysis
of clinical findings, including the cause of death. Any deficiency in the
investigation which undermines its ability to establish the cause of death, or
the person or persons responsible will risk falling foul of this standard (see
Anguelova, cited above, § 139; Nachova and Others, cited above, § 113;
and Ognyanova and Choban, cited above, § 105).
87. The form of investigation that will achieve those purposes may vary
in different circumstances. However, whatever mode is employed, the
authorities must act of their own motion once the matter has come to their
attention. They cannot leave it to the initiative of the next of kin either to
lodge a formal complaint or to request particular lines of inquiry or
investigative procedures (see İlhan v. Turkey [GC], no. 22277/93, § 63,