İLHAN v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 12 THE LAW I. THE COURT'S ASSESSMENT OF THE FACTS 47. The Court reiterates its settled case-law that under the Convention system prior to 1 November 1998 the establishment and verification of the facts was primarily a matter for the Commission (former Articles 28 § 1 and 31). While the Court is not bound by the Commission's findings of fact and remains free to make its own assessment in the light of all the material before it, it is however only in exceptional circumstances that it will exercise its powers in this area (see, among other authorities, the Akdivar and Others v. Turkey judgment of 16 September 1996, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-IV, p. 1214, § 78). 48. The Government argued that the Commission gave undue weight to the evidence of Abdüllatif İlhan and, in particular, İbrahim Karahan, whose evidence was in their view unreliable and inconsistent. The Court observes that the Government's points concerning these witnesses were taken into consideration by the Commission in its report, which approached its task of assessing the evidence with the requisite caution, giving detailed consideration to the elements which supported the applicant's claims and those which cast doubt on their credibility. It does not find that the criticisms made by the Government raise any matter of substance which might warrant the exercise of its own powers of verifying the facts. In these circumstances, the Court accepts the facts as established by the Commission (see paragraphs 10-30 above). II. THE GOVERNMENT'S PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS A. Incompatibility ratione personae 49. The Government submitted that the application should be dismissed as incompatible ratione personae as the applicant, Nasır İlhan, could not claim to be a victim under the Convention of the violations alleged. Nor could the applicant claim to be a representative of his brother Abdüllatif İlhan as there were legal representatives conducting the proceedings before the Convention organs. Abdüllatif İlhan was also capable, in their view, of pursuing his own legal affairs. To allow the applicant to pursue this application would unjustifiably widen the category of persons, relatives and friends of victims who could lodge applications, claiming compensation for themselves. Accordingly, the application was invalid and should be rejected.