EIT: Turkki loukkasi EIS 2 artiklaa (oikeus elämään), kun valittajien lapsi oli kuollut sairaalassa huolimattomuuden seurauksena synnytyksen jälkeen

30.8.2016 | Oikeusuutiset

Markku Fredman

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) on tuoreessa tuomiossa katsonut, että Turkki oli vastuussa sekä synnytyksen jälkeisestä vauvan kuolemasta että loukannut EIS 2 artiklaan sen johdosta, että tutkintaa ei ollut suoritettu tehokkaasti ja ammattitaitoisesti. Lisäksi EIT kehotti EIS 46 artiklan nojalla Turkkia saattamaan kuntoon hallinnolliset ja kurinpidolliset järjestelmänsä, jotta vastaanvanlaisissa tapauksissa jatkossa olisi käytettävissä ammattitaitoiset tahot ja spesialistit asiantuntijaselvitysten ja -lausuntojen saamiseksi asian selvittämisessä.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

In [a] Chamber judgment in the case of Aydoğdu v. Turkey (application no. 40448/06) the European Court of Human Rights held:

unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights under its substantive head; and
by six votes to one, that there had been a violation of Article 2 (right to life), under its procedural head.

The case concerned the allegation by Mr and Mrs Aydoǧdu that the death of their daughter – who had been born prematurely and suffered from a respiratory disorder – had been caused by professional negligence on the part of the staff of the hospital where she had been treated. As the hospital where Mr and Mrs Aydoǧdu’s daughter was born did not have a neonatal unit, she had been transferred to another hospital to receive vital emergency care, but owing to the lack of available space and equipment she had died two days after being born.

The Court found in particular that the baby had been the victim of a lack of coordination between health-care professionals, coupled with structural deficiencies in the İzmir hospital system, and that she had been denied access to appropriate emergency treatment, in breach of her right to protection of her life.

The Court also found that the criminal proceedings had lacked the requisite effectiveness and that the response of the Turkish justice system to the baby’s death had not afforded the safeguards inherent in the right to life, noting that as a result of inadequate expert opinions the authorities had been unable to provide a coherent and scientifically grounded response to the problems arising and to establish any liability.

On the basis of Article 46 (binding force and execution of judgments), the Court called upon the respondent State to take measures to require independent and impartial administrative and disciplinary investigations to be carried out within its legal system, affording victims an effective opportunity to take part; to ensure that bodies and/or specialists that could be called upon to produce expert opinions had qualifications and skills corresponding fully to the particularities of each case; and to require forensic medical experts to give proper reasons in support of their scientific opinions.