34
TSALIKIDIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE JUDGMENT
III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
119. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols
thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only
partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to
the injured party.”
A. Damage
120. The applicants claimed 300,000 euros (EUR) each in respect of
non-pecuniary damage, claiming that the amount was justified by the nature
of the violation and the widespread publicity about the case in the media.
121. The Government contended that the finding of a violation of the
Convention would constitute sufficient just satisfaction and that, in any
case, the amount requested was excessive taking into account the financial
situation in Greece; nor did it correspond to the awards made by the Court
in its judgments. In addition, the publicity that the case attracted was not
causally linked with the alleged violation of the Convention and therefore
should not be taken into account for the purposes of assessing
compensation.
122. Having regard to all the circumstances of the present case, the
Court accepts that the applicants have suffered non-pecuniary damage
which cannot be compensated solely by the findings of a violation. Making
its assessment on an equitable basis, the Court awards the applicants
EUR 50,000 jointly, plus any tax that may be chargeable to them.
B. Costs and expenses
123. The applicants claimed jointly a sum of EUR 5,772.20 in respect of
the costs and expenses incurred before the Court. In particular, they
estimated the time spent on the case by their representative at forty-nine
hours’ work, at an hourly rate of EUR 95 plus VAT (24%). In that
connection they produced a document setting out the details of the time their
representative had spent on preparing their application and observations
before the Court and a receipt for the amount of EUR 1,240. The remaining
sum of EUR 4,532.20, which had not yet been paid, was to be paid by the
applicants under a contractual obligation in respect of representation before
the Court and a copy of the contract was provided to the Court.
124. The Government found this claim excessive and unsubstantiated,
especially in view of the fact that no hearing had taken place.
125. According to the Court’s case-law, an applicant is entitled to the
reimbursement of costs and expenses only in so far as it has been shown
that these have been actually and necessarily incurred and are reasonable as