Avenue de l'Europe
Ceteroni v. Italy 
| 1996
Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time.
Extract from Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
In thousands of cases brought to the European Court of Human Rights, applicants made complaints about the excessive length of civil legal proceedings in Italy.
One of the cases was brought by Umberto Ceteroni. He and his parents had a family business. After the business became insolvent, it took almost 11 years for bankruptcy proceedings to be concluded.
The European court ruled that the length of proceedings had been excessive in 1,725 cases concerning civil proceedings – including that of the Ceteronis. This had violated the applicants’ right to have access to a court within a reasonable time.
These cases reflected a wider problem of unreasonably long delays within the Italian justice system.
A wide range of long-term reforms were introduced to reduce court delays. These have included a substantial reform of court procedures, a re-organisation of judicial districts, and measures to reduce the backlog of outstanding cases.
By 2015, this had resulted in the average length of civil proceedings at the first stage being cut to 2 years and 4 months. The backlog of cases was reduced by over 1 million.
The issue of unreasonably long proceedings in Italy is still being monitored by the Council of Europe.
Hans Moor was exposed to asbestos during his work in the 1960s and 70s. This gave him cancer, which was diagnosed in 2004. Hans Moor died in 2005, aged 58. Just before his death, Mr Moor had brought a claim for damages against his former employer for failing to take precautions against exposure to asbestos. The claim was continued by his wife and children.
Mrs Airey wanted to be legally separated from her husband, who was allegedly a violent alcoholic. However, there was no legal aid and she could not afford the lawyers’ fees. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the lack of legal aid effectively denied Mrs Airey access to a court, breaching her basic rights. Legal aid for such cases was introduced in Ireland in the following year.
Anatoliy Burdov was exposed to radiation whilst working on the emergency response to the Chernobyl disaster. He was entitled to certain social benefits, but the authorities refused to pay - even when ordered to do so by Russian courts. The European court said that this violated Mr Burdov’s rights. As a result, reforms were introduced to improve the enforcement of judgments.
Italy
Switzerland
Ireland
Russian Federation*