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Decision in favour of Montenegro before European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in Romagnoli v. Montenegro case

Published on: Sep 27, 2018 • 9:09 PM Author: The representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights, Valentina Pavličić
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled in the Romagnoli v. Montenegro case and decided to reject the application as inadmissible for the abuse of the right to petition under Article 35 § 3 and 4 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The application was filed for the applicant's extradition to the United States of America, where he was confronted with an indefinite imprisonment or lifelong imprisonment without probation, which allegedly violated Article 3 of the European Convention (Prohibition of Torture).

The applicant is an Italian citizen who was deprived of liberty at the airport in Podgorica on 16 December 2014, according to a warrant issued by Interpol. The warrant was issued on the basis of an indictment by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to which the applicant is suspected of conspiracy to kill US officials and employees and conspiracy to secure material support or resources for a foreign terrorist organisation. One of the possible criminal sanctions for these crimes was life imprisonment. At the hearing with the investigative judge of the High Court in Podgorica, which was conducted in the presence of an interpreter and lawyer, the applicant stated that he understood what was being charged and agreed with the summary procedure of extradition. On January 20, 2015, a decision was made to allow the applicant to be extradited to the United States. An appeal was filed against this decision, which was rejected by the Appellate Court of Montenegro. The applicant was extradited to the competent US authorities on 25 February 2015.

On 23 February 2015, the applicant's representative filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights alleging that the extradition in question was carried out contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. According to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, extradition to countries where certain offenses can be imposed for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole can, in certain circumstances, lead to violation of the prohibition of torture, which is why the extradition countries are obliged to separately investigate such circumstances and obtain certain guarantees before extraditing the requested person. On 23 October 2017, the application was delivered to the Office of the Representatives of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights. In the process of preparing the defence, the Office of the Advocate came to the claim that after the extradition to the United States, the applicant pleaded guilty before the competent court, after which he was sentenced to 48 months of imprisonment and released on 8 September 2017. The information provided by the applicant was not presented to the European Court in the petition, nor by any correspondence thereafter. Moreover, in his response to the Office of the Prosecutor's Office, the proxy of the applicant pointed out that at the time of the filing of the application he could not have known the outcome of the proceedings in the United States, which is why the said facts have no effect on the merits of the application.

In its decision, the European Court recalled that, pursuant to Rule 47 § 7 of the Rules of Court, the applicants were obliged to notify the Court of all circumstances of the nature of the application. Incomplete and, therefore, misleading information can lead to abuse of the right to file, especially if the information concerns the very substance of the case, and there is not enough explanation for not disclosing this information. Given the importance of the information, and in particular that the applicant was sentenced to 48 months in prison and that at the time of the submission of the application to the Office of the Deputy, the European Court of Human Rights considered that the applicant's conduct was contrary to the purpose of the law on an individual application as provided for in Article 34 of the Convention. Accordingly, he decided to dismiss the application in its entirety for the misuse of the right to an application pursuant to Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.

This decision of the European Court is final on the date of adoption and the applicant has no right of appeal.


The representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights,
Valentina Pavličić

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Curriculum Vitae of the Representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Ri Apr 12, 2023
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