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EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS    870  5.12.2000   Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER JUDGMENTS CONCERNING: ITALY, TURKEY AND FRANCE     The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing the following nine Chamber judgments (only the friendly settlements are final[1]):   Section 1   Friendly settlements   The applicants in the following six cases all complained, invoking Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) of the European Convention on Human Rights, about the length of criminal proceedings against them, following their arrest on suspicion of membership of an illegal organisation, the Dev-Yol (Revolutionary Way). Proceedings lasted around ten years and eight months in the case Özcan v. Turkey and around thirteen years and ten months in the other five cases.   All six cases have been struck out following friendly settlements in which 50,000 French francs (FRF) is to be paid to each applicant for any pecuniary or non-pecuniary damage, costs and expenses. The judgments are available only in English.   (1)  Özcan v. Turkey (application no. 31831/96)  (2)  Bekdemir v. Turkey (no. 31853/96)  (3)  Can v. Turkey (no. 33369/96) (4)  Polat v. Turkey (no. 33645/96) (5)  Özçetin v. Turkey (no.34591/96) (6)  Kiliç Kalkan v. Turkey (no. 34687/96)   (7)  Mosticchio v. Italy (no. 41808/98)     No violation Article 6 § 1 Cosimo Mosticchio, an Italian national and a non-commissioned officer in the army, complained about the length (eight years and eleven months) of proceedings relating to his request for additional remuneration for doing night duty. The European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 1. The judgment is available only in French.   Section 3   (8)  Motière v. France (no. 39615/98)          Violation Article 6 § 1 Liliane Motière, a French national, complained about the length of civil proceedings (around five years and four months) relating to a refusal to grant her a training certificate. The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 and awarded the applicant FRF 30,000 for non-pecuniary damage. (Judgment in French)   (9)  Burgorgue v. France (no. 43624/98)               Friendly settlement Michel Burgogue, a French national, complained, under Article 6 § 1, about the length of administrative proceedings (thirteen years) to which he was a party, concerning planning permission. The case has been struck out following a friendly settlement in which the applicant is to receive FRF 40,000. (Judgment in French)   ***   The Court’s judgments are accessible on its Internet site (http://www.echr.coe.int).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Contacts: Roderick Liddell (telephone: (0)3 88 41 24 92)  Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15) Fax: (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court. [1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17-member Grand Chamber of the Court.  In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its Protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.