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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> EDITIONS PERISCOPE v. FRANCE - 11760/85 [1992] ECHR 43 (26 March 1992) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1992/43.html Cite as: [1992] ECHR 43, (1992) 14 EHRR 597, 14 EHRR 597

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In the case of Editions Périscope v. France*,

The European Court of Human Rights, sitting, in accordance

with Article 43 (art. 43) of the Convention for the Protection of

Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention")** and the

relevant provisions of the Rules of Court, as a Chamber composed of

the following judges:

Mr R. Ryssdal, President,

Mr J. Cremona,

Mr F. Matscher,

Mr L.-E. Pettiti,

Mr B. Walsh,

Mr I. Foighel,

Mr R. Pekkanen,

Mr J.M. Morenilla,

Mr F. Bigi,

and also of Mr M.-A. Eissen, Registrar, and Mr H. Petzold, Deputy

Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 26 October 1991 and

26 February 1992,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the

last-mentioned date:

_______________

Notes by the Registrar

* The case is numbered 58/1990/249/380. The first number is the

case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court in the

relevant year (second number). The last two numbers indicate the

case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court since

its creation and on the list of the corresponding originating

applications to the Commission.

** As amended by Article 11 of Protocol No. 8 (P8-11), which came

into force on 1 January 1990.

_______________

PROCEDURE

1. The case was referred to the Court by the European Commission

of Human Rights ("the Commission") on 14 December 1990, within the

three-month period laid down by Article 32 para. 1 and Article 47

(art. 32-1, art. 47) of the Convention. It originated in an

application (no. 11760/85) against the French Republic lodged with

the Commission under Article 25 (art. 25) by a French limited

company, Editions Périscope, on 20 September 1985.

The Commission's request referred to Articles 44 and 48

(art. 44, art. 48) and to the declaration whereby France recognised

the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court (Article 46) (art. 46).

The object of the request was to obtain a decision as to whether

the facts of the case disclosed a breach by the respondent State of

its obligations under Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) as regards the

requirement of "reasonable time".

2. In response to the enquiry made in accordance with

Rule 33 para. 3 (d) of the Rules of Court, the applicant company

stated that it wished to take part in the proceedings and

designated the lawyer who would represent it (Rule 30).

3. The Chamber to be constituted included ex officio

Mr L.-E. Pettiti, the elected judge of French nationality

(Article 43 of the Convention) (art. 43), and Mr R. Ryssdal, the

President of the Court (Rule 21 para. 3 (b)). On 21 February 1991,

in the presence of the Registrar, the President drew by lot the

names of the other seven members, namely Mr J. Cremona,

Mr F. Matscher, Mr J. Pinheiro Farinha, Mr R. Macdonald,

Mr I. Foighel, Mr R. Pekkanen and Mr J.M. Morenilla (Article 43 in

fine of the Convention and Rule 21 para. 4) (art. 43).

Subsequently, Mr F. Bigi and Mr B. Walsh, substitute judges,

replaced Mr Pinheiro Farinha, who had resigned and whose successor

at the Court had taken up his duties before the hearing, and

Mr Macdonald, who was unable to take part in the further

consideration of the case (Rules 2 para. 3, 22 para. 1 and

24 para. 1).

4. Mr Ryssdal assumed the office of President of the Chamber

(Rule 21 para. 5) and, through the Registrar, consulted the Agent

of the French Government ("the Government"), the Delegate of the

Commission and the lawyer for the applicant company on the

organisation of the proceedings (Rules 37 para. 1 and 38).

Pursuant to the orders made in consequence, the Registrar received

the memorial of Editions Périscope on 2 May 1991 and the

Government's memorial on 3 May; the applicant company's claims

under Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention reached the Registrar

on 21 May.

On 17 July the Secretary to the Commission informed the Registrar

that the Delegate would submit oral observations.

5. In accordance with the President's decision, the hearing took

place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on

21 October 1991. The Court had held a preparatory meeting

beforehand.

There appeared before the Court:

(a) for the Government

Mr J.-P. Puissochet, Director of Legal Affairs,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agent,

Mr P. Chambu, Legal Affairs Department, Ministry

of Foreign Affairs, Counsel;

(b) for the Commission

Mr C.L. Rozakis, Delegate;

(c) for the applicant company

Mr P. Colin, avocat, Counsel.

The Court heard addresses by Mr Puissochet for the Government,

by Mr Rozakis for the Commission and by Mr Colin for the applicant

company, as well as their answers to its questions.

6. The Agent of the Government and the representative of the

applicant company produced several documents on the occasion of the

hearing.

7. On 15 January 1992 the applicant company's representative

communicated to the Registrar a note concerning the application of

Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention, but, having regard to

Rule 50 para. 1 of the Rules of Court, the Court decided not to

take cognisance of this document.

AS TO THE FACTS

8. Editions Périscope is a limited company, incorporated under

French law, whose registered office is in Paris. It was founded in

April 1960 for the purpose of creating a review entitled "Périscope

de l'usine et du bureau", which was to analyse new industrial

products and provide an "integrated readers' service". At the time

periodicals of this type were unknown in France.

A. The background to the case

9. On 21 October 1960 the applicant company applied to the Joint

Committee on Press Publications and Press Agencies ("the Joint

Committee") for a certificate of registration for its review in

order to secure the tax concessions and preferential postal charges

accorded to the press.

10. The Joint Committee rejected the application on

8 December 1960 and refused two further applications on

9 February 1961 and 17 January 1964. It did not reply to a fourth,

lodged on 30 June 1970. Although these decisions were equivalent

to decisions having an adverse effect because they were binding on

the administrative authorities, they were not challenged in the

Conseil d'Etat as being ultra vires.

The reason given was always the same: the review was

classified as an advertising organ because it represented a link

between its subscribers and manufacturers for the purposes of a

commercial transaction. It published the technical data furnished

by the manufacturer himself for the articles presented; a reader

interested in a model returned to the head office of Périscope de

l'usine et du bureau a form with the reference of the model in

question; the manufacturer then received this form and sent the

relevant documentation. In fact, in order to obtain the advantages

which it claimed, the review would have had to have devoted at

least a third of its surface to information of general interest or

to provide its readers' service with critical editorial comment.

11. Editions Périscope also submitted two informal requests which

were rejected by the Secretaries General of the Ministry of Posts

and Telecommunications (8 April 1961) and of the Joint Committee

(27 October 1966).

It also made various representations to the public authorities

up until 1974, but without success.

12. "Périscope de l'usine et du bureau" ceased to appear in

October 1974 and the company which published it became the subject

of composition proceedings and then went into liquidation.

However, the Paris Commercial Court rescinded its order after the

managing director had agreed to meet the liabilities of the company

out of his personal funds.

13. On 15 March 1976 Editions Périscope submitted a preliminary

application to the Minister for Finance, the Junior Minister for

Posts and Telecommunications and the Junior Minister of the Prime

Minister's office, Spokesman for the Government. It sought

compensation of 200,000,000 francs for the damage which it claimed

to have sustained since 1962 through the fault (faute) of the

public authorities. No reply to the application was forthcoming.

B. Proceedings in the Paris Administrative Court

1. The application

14. On 12 November 1976 Editions Périscope instituted proceedings

in the Paris Administrative Court. It asked the court:

"to allow the ... application and, for the reasons set out

..., order the State to pay it the sum of two hundred million

francs as compensation for the damage which it has sustained

through the faults committed by the public authorities;

in the alternative, to call for an expert opinion in order

to determine the extent of the damage sustained by Editions

Périscope."

2. The investigation

15. The defendant, the Prime Minister, filed a memorial on

25 February 1977 contending that the application should be

dismissed. The Minister for the Economy and Finance and the Junior

Minister for Posts and Telecommunications did likewise on 4 March

and 18 April.

16. On 17 June 1977 Editions Périscope submitted a memorial

(mémoire ampliatif) which it supplemented on 15 November; it had

requested extensions of the time-limit on 27 April and 1 June in

order to obtain new documents.

17. On 18 November 1977 the Deputy Minister for the Economy and

Finance confirmed his earlier submissions.

18. In a further memorial registered on 16 March 1978, the

applicant company stated inter alia as follows:

"Hitherto, only the Minister for Finance has replied to the

memorial of 15 June 1977 by a memorial of 18 November 1977.

It is clear that the administrative authorities in question

are abusing their privileged position to delay for as long as

possible the conclusion of the trial ... .

This abuse is all the more patent because these authorities

possess resources in material and staff which enable them to

comply with reasonable time-limits for replying."

Consequently, it asked the court "[to] take formal note of its

protests against the dilatory lack of response from the defendant

authorities and [to] order them to reply within a very short period

to the company's memorials of 15 June and 15 November 1977".

19. On 28 March 1978 the Prime Minister declared that he did not

wish to alter his submissions of 25 February 1977 and endorsed the

observations of the Deputy Minister for the Economy and Finance and

those of the Secretary of State for Posts and Telecommunications.

20. Editions Périscope then submitted yet another memorial, the

fourth, lodged on 22 May 1978:

"The failure of the Minister for Finance and the Junior

Minister for Posts and Telecommunications to reply shows that

they have no additional arguments to put forward in respect of

the explanations and documents produced on 15 June and

15 November by the applicant company.

In these circumstances, [the said company] asks the

Administrative Court to regard the written investigation

proceedings as concluded and to fix a date for a hearing to

examine the dispute ..."

It submitted two further memorials on 25 October 1978 and

29 May 1979.

The first contained the following conclusion:

"The silence on the part of the Minister for Posts following

the last three of the company's memorials, the Prime

Minister's letter of 21 March 1978 endorsing the memorials of

the other ministers, the reiteration by the Minister for the

Budget of the arguments put forward by the Minister for

Finance, the total absence of discussion by the defendants of

the damage, the time-limits which have expired, all show that

the State has concluded its defence submissions.

In these circumstances the applicant company requests the

Administrative Court to fix as soon as possible the date for

the examination of the application which was lodged two years

ago."

The second ended as follows:

"Périscope notes that the defendants have all stated that

they wished to reiterate their previous arguments. They have

thus concluded their submissions.

The company ... therefore again requests the Paris

Administrative Court to hold a hearing in the near future to

examine the case, while reserving the right to make oral

submissions through its counsel."

In addition, on 13 January 1979, the lawyer for Editions

Périscope wrote to the President of the Administrative Court to ask

him to set the date for the hearing. It was, he stated,

"unacceptable ... that the authorities [should be able] to delay

indefinitely the conclusion of the proceedings, to the plaintiff's

detriment".

21. The Minister for the Budget filed a supplementary memorial on

10 June 1978, as did the Junior Minister for Posts and

Telecommunications on 23 January 1979. Furthermore, on 22 October,

the latter indicated that he wished to abide by his previous

submissions "in every respect".

3. The judgment of 27 April 1981

22. After a public hearing held on 6 April 1981, the

Administrative Court dismissed the application on 27 April on the

following grounds:

"The application by the company, Editions Périscope,

requests the court to find that the State is liable for the

damage caused to the applicant by the discrimination operated

by the relevant authorities in favour of competing

undertakings in respect both of the postal charges and of the

tax concessions, without also according them to the applicant,

despite its repeated requests, to order the State to pay on

these grounds compensation of 200,000,000 francs and, in the

alternative, to call for an expert opinion to determine the

extent of the damage sustained;

If the applicant company wished to rely on the unlawfulness

of the refusal to register it on the list of publications

qualifying for the above-mentioned advantages [tax

concessions], it should have challenged, in good time, the tax

demands which it considered to have been made in disregard of

the exemption laid down in Article 261-8-1° of the General Tax

Code; it can no longer call in question such demands by means

of an action for damages brought against the Minister for the

Budget since it has not established the unlawfulness of the

refusals;

For their part, the postal authorities did not commit a

fault capable of giving rise to liability on the part of the

State by not according to the applicant special postal rates

inasmuch as it follows from Article D 18 of the Posts and

Telecommunications Code that the application of such rates is

conditional on the production of a registration certificate

issued by the Joint Committee ...; the applicant should, if it

believed that it was entitled to, have challenged within the

prescribed period of two months the lawfulness of the refusal;

the investigation has shown that the attention of the

company's directors was drawn in vain on various occasions to

the difference in the structure of its review in relation to

the competing reviews and to the changes which it would have

to make in order to qualify for the fiscal status accorded to

the press;

The allegation that various competing undertakings had

unduly benefited from the advantages in question, even

supposing that it were established, which the investigation

has not shown, is not such as to constitute an infringement of

the principle of equal treatment by the public authorities;

..."

C. The proceedings in the Conseil d'Etat

1. The appeal

23. By an appeal filed on 15 July 1981, Editions Périscope

requested the Conseil d'Etat to "set aside the contested judgment

[of the Administrative Court], order the State to pay it a sum of

200,000,000 francs in damages and, in the alternative, order an

expert examination for the purposes of determining the extent of

the damage which had been caused to it by the discriminatory

measures of which it had been victim".

2. The investigation

24. The case, whose file the Administrative Court had forwarded to

the Conseil d'Etat on 11 August 1981, was assigned to the tenth

section of the judicial division on 15 August.

25. Editions Périscope filed a memorial on 13 November 1981. On

18 December it drew attention to a typing error in its text.

26. The file was communicated in turn to three members of the

Government: the Minister for the Economy and Finance, from

24 November 1981 to 2 March 1982; the Deputy Minister to the

Minister for Industry and Research, with responsibility for Posts

and Telecommunications, from 16 March 1982 to 16 May 1983, the

Conseil d'Etat having requested its return on 5 May 1983; the

Junior Minister attached to the Prime Minister's office, with

responsibility for Communication Techniques, from 14 June to

3 October 1983.

On 27 January 1982 the first of the above officers requested

an additional time-limit to submit his memorial, which he did on

2 March 1982.

The second filed his memorial on 14 November 1983, after

having indicated on 16 May of the same year that he intended to

"reply very shortly".

The third had lodged his memorial on 3 October 1983.

27. The applicant company filed a further memorial on

28 October 1983 and produced documents on 10 and 24 February 1984.

28. On 10 January 1984 the file was entrusted to a junior member

of the section, who gave his report on 16 April.

The investigation session was held on 21 November and the case

was entered on the list of the tenth and seventh sections combined,

for hearing on 6 March 1985.

3. The judgment of 22 March 1985

29. The Conseil d'Etat dismissed the appeal by a judgment of

22 March 1985 on the following grounds:

"...

By virtue of the provisions of Article 1 of the Decree of

25 March 1950, as amended by the Decree of 2 August 1960, the

Joint Committee ... is responsible for giving an opinion on

the application of statutory instruments and regulations

providing for concessions accorded to the press with regard to

taxes, postal charges and customs duties; pursuant to

Article 3 of the Decree, the [Joint] Committee is to examine

whether the publication appears to satisfy the conditions laid

down in these provisions and, if it does, to issue to the

publication a registration certificate, which must be produced

in support of any application for tax concessions and postal

charge reductions; the refusal to grant a registration

certificate constitutes an opinion to this effect which

precludes the relevant administrative authority from granting

the concessions sought;

By decisions dated 8 December 1960, 9 February 1961 and

17 January 1964, the Joint Committee ... refused to issue the

registration certificate to the review 'Périscope de l'usine

et du bureau', relying on the provisions of Article 72, 6°, of

Annex III to the General Tax Code, which, in the version

applicable at the material time, excluded from the exemption

provided for in the provisions of 1° of [paragraph] 8 of

Article 261 of the same Code newspapers or periodical

publications regarded as equivalent to 'publications whose

principal purpose is to promote or to develop transactions of

commercial, industrial, banking, insurance or other

undertakings for which they are in reality vehicles for

publicity or advertising';

Firstly, it appears from the investigation, and it is

moreover not in dispute, that the monthly review 'Périscope de

l'usine et du bureau' was a publication of the type referred

to in the above-mentioned provision of Article 72 of Annex III

to the General Tax Code, having regard in particular to its

contents and to the proportion of its surface which it devoted

to advertising or articles equivalent to advertisements; the

decision not to issue a registration certificate was

accordingly well-founded;

Secondly, although the advantages refused to the 'Périscope

de l'usine et du bureau' were accorded to publications which

it claims were its competitors, it has not been established in

any way, contrary to what the applicant company alleges, that

these publications could, in terms of their editorial

characteristics and the proportion of advertising carried, be

classified as 'vehicles for publicity or advertising', within

the meaning of the above-mentioned provision of the General

Tax Code, thereby justifying a refusal to accord to them the

benefit of the concessions to the press; it follows that the

applicant company is in any event not entitled to claim that

the [Joint] Committee committed a fault capable of giving rise

to liability on the part of the State by unlawfully granting

other reviews comparable, in the appellant company's opinion,

to that which it publishes, the certificate which was refused

to it;

It follows from the foregoing that there is no basis for the

limited company Editions Périscope's complaint against the

contested judgment by which the Paris Administrative Court

dismissed its claim for compensation."

PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION

30. In its application of 20 September 1985 to the Commission

(no. 11760/85), Editions Périscope alleged several violations of

Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) of the Convention: the administrative

courts had not heard its case within a reasonable time; the Conseil

d'Etat had not constituted an impartial tribunal, because two of

its members had been involved in the case previously and its

judgment did not mention the names of the judges who had

participated in the ruling or reproduce, in the text notified, the

summary of the arguments of the parties, which had appeared in the

handwritten version.

31. On 12 April 1989 the Commission declared the application

admissible as regards the length of the proceedings, but

inadmissible for the other complaints. In its report of

11 October 1990 (Article 31) (art. 31), it expressed the opinion

that there had been a violation of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1)

(seventeen votes to two). The full text of the Commission's

opinion and of the dissenting opinion contained in the report is

reproduced as an annex to this judgment*.

_______________

* Note by the Registrar: for practical reasons this annex will

appear only with the printed version of the judgment (volume 234-B

of Series A of the Publications of the Court), but a copy of the

Commission's report is available from the registry.

_______________

FINAL SUBMISSIONS TO THE COURT

32. In their memorial the Government requested the Court to

"dismiss the present application as ill-founded".

Counsel for the applicant company asked the Court to

"declare well-founded its application based on the violation

of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) of the Convention by the

French State,

so ruling, ... declare that the French State has violated

Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) of the Convention and ... order

it to pay to the applicant company compensation to make good

the damage sustained on the basis of the claims submitted in

this respect by the company in question".

AS TO THE LAW

I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 PARA. 1 (art. 6-1)

33. Editions Périscope complained of the time taken to examine the

action which it had brought against the State in the Paris

Administrative Court, and then in the Conseil d'Etat. It alleged

a violation of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) of the Convention,

according to which:

"In the determination of his civil rights and obligations

..., everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable

time by [a] ... tribunal ..."

A. Applicability of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1)

34. The applicant company and the Commission considered that this

provision was applicable in the instant case. The Government took

the contrary view.

1. Existence of a dispute over a right

35. Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) extends to "contestations"

(disputes) over (civil) "rights" which can be said, at least on

arguable grounds, to be recognised under domestic law, irrespective

of whether they are also protected under the Convention (see, inter

alia, the Neves e Silva v. Portugal judgment of 27 April 1989,

Series A no. 153-A, p. 14, para. 37).

36. It is common ground that a dispute existed; the participants

in the proceedings disagree, however, as to its subject-matter.

According to the Government, the dispute concerned exclusively the

application of the rules relating to the granting of tax

concessions and postal charge reductions, in other words the right

to be accorded the advantages reserved for certain publications.

The applicant company argued, on the contrary, that its application

was for a full review (contentieux de pleine juridiction) and

raised the question of the liability of the public authorities.

37. The Court agrees with the Commission that the trial concerned

compensation for the damage which the State had allegedly caused

Editions Périscope by refusing to accord to it the reductions

granted by it to competing undertakings. In its application of

12 November 1976 to the Paris Administrative Court, the applicant

company complained of the "faults committed by the public

authorities" (see paragraph 14 above) which had, it claimed, led it

to cease publishing "Périscope de l'usine et du bureau" and to

discontinue its activities. At the centre of the dispute therefore

lay a right, the right to compensation for a fault on the part of

the authorities capable of giving rise to the State's liability.

38. It is unnecessary to consider whether, as the Government

maintained, Editions Périscope ought, as early as 1964, to have

appealed against the Joint Committee's decision, rather than having

recourse belatedly to an application for compensation. For the

purposes of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1), it is enough to determine

whether the applicant company's arguments were sufficiently

tenable; the Court does not have to decide whether they were well-

founded in terms of the French legislation or whether another legal

basis would have afforded better prospects of success. In fact the

two courts before which the case came found the application

admissible inasmuch as, in assessing whether there had been a fault

attributable to the public authorities, they ruled on the merits of

the case (see, mutatis mutandis, the Neves e Silva judgment, cited

above, Series A no. 153-A, p. 14, para. 37).

2. Was the disputed right a civil right?

39. The Government also contended that no "civil right" was in

issue. If the contrary view were to be accepted in this instance,

that would, in their opinion, mean that Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-

1) would be applicable in any proceedings aimed at securing

compensation for damage, irrespective of the nature of the right

invoked. The present case fell within a class of activities in

which the State intervened as the holder of the public authority;

there was no analogy with the Baraona v. Portugal and Neves e Silva

cases (judgments of 8 July 1987 and 27 April 1989). The

Commission's case-law clearly excluded taxation and the related

area of tax concessions from the field of private law; the granting

of preferential postal rates concerned the relationship between

consumers and a public administrative service - and not an

industrial and commercial one -, which was a public law matter.

Finally, the State's liability in relation to private individuals

for the application of rules in the spheres of taxes and postal

charges fell outside the scope of civil law principles in France

and could not be classified as "civil". There was a two-way link

between jurisdiction and the merits; the fact that the rules in

force derogated from the ordinary law determined the administrative

courts' jurisdiction to examine the disputes thereby generated.

The Commission and its Delegate essentially relied on the

above-mentioned Neves e Silva judgment. They discerned in that

decision clear criteria on the basis of which it was possible to

conclude that the right in question was a civil right. The

applicant company's lawyer agreed.

40. The Court notes that the subject-matter of the applicant

company's action was "pecuniary" in nature and that the action was

founded on an alleged infringement of rights which were likewise

pecuniary rights. The right in question was therefore a "civil

right", notwithstanding the origin of the dispute and the fact that

the administrative courts had jurisdiction (see, inter alia, the

Ringeisen v. Austria judgment of 16 July 1971, Series A no. 13,

p. 39, para. 94, and the König v. Germany judgment of 28 June 1978,

Series A no. 27, p. 30, para. 90).

3. Conclusion

41. Accordingly Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) applies in this case.

B. Compliance with Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1)

42. It remains to determine whether or not a "reasonable time" was

exceeded.

The applicant company and the Commission considered that it

had been; the Government disputed this assertion.

43. The period to be taken into consideration began on

12 November 1976, when the proceedings were instituted in the Paris

Administrative Court. It ended on 22 March 1985 when the Conseil

d'Etat delivered its judgment.

44. The reasonableness of the length of proceedings is to be

determined with reference to the criteria laid down in the Court's

case-law and in the light of the circumstances of the case, which

in this instance call for an overall assessment.

Examination of the two decisions of the administrative courts

shows that the case was not a particularly complex one. In

addition, the applicant company did nothing to delay the conclusion

of the proceedings; on the contrary, it made repeated attempts to

compel the ministries concerned to submit their memorials more

rapidly (see paragraphs 18 and 20 above). It follows that the

Court cannot regard as reasonable in this instance a lapse of time

of more than eight years.

There has accordingly been a violation of Article 6 para. 1

(art. 6-1).

II. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 50 (art. 50)

45. Under Article 50 (art. 50):

"If the Court finds that a decision or a measure taken by a

legal authority or any other authority of a High Contracting

Party is completely or partially in conflict with the

obligations arising from the ... Convention, and if the

internal law of the said Party allows only partial reparation

to be made for the consequences of this decision or measure,

the decision of the Court shall, if necessary, afford just

satisfaction to the injured party."

A. Pecuniary damage

46. Editions Périscope claimed in the first place 2,000,000 francs

for the pecuniary damage which it had allegedly sustained. It was

not however in a position to give details of such damage and to

produce evidence to prove its existence. In particular it conceded

that it was unable to distinguish between the damage ensuing from

the decisions of the administrative courts and that deriving from

the length of the proceedings.

In the Government's contention, there was no damage to be made

good because the French administrative courts had definitively

rejected the applicant company's claim for tax concessions and

reduced postal charges. The Delegate of the Commission subscribed

to this view.

47. For its part too, the Court can discern no causal connection

between the violation of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) and the

dismissal of the company's action by the national courts. The

claim must therefore fail.

B. Costs and expenses

48. Editions Périscope also sought 100,000 francs for costs and

expenses.

The Government considered the claim excessive and pointed out

that no supporting documents had been submitted. The Delegate of

the Commission did not express a view on this matter.

49. The applicant company did not distinguish between the costs

and expenses which it had incurred in the French courts and those

referable to the proceedings before the Convention organs, nor,

with regard to the former, according to whether they had been

incurred in attempting to speed up the progress of the proceedings

or for other purposes. Making an assessment on an equitable basis

in accordance with Article 50 (art. 50) and having regard to the

criteria which it applies in this field, the Court awards the

applicant company

50,000 francs under this head.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT UNANIMOUSLY

1. Holds that Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) applies in this

instance and has been violated;

2. Holds that the respondent State is to pay to the applicant

company, within three months, 50,000 (fifty thousand) French

francs for costs and expenses;

3. Dismisses the remainder of the claim for just satisfaction.

Done in English and in French, and delivered at a public

hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 26 March 1992.

Signed: Rolv RYSSDAL

President

Signed: Marc-André EISSEN

Registrar