Terletskaya v Ukraine

In Terletskaya v Ukraine (ECHR Case 18773/05) a tax police squad visited a shopkeeper who had failed to submit tax returns. However the shopkeeper and his employees prevented the tax police from accessing his records. One of the employees (T) alleged that she had been punched by a tax officer and lodged a complaint with the police. The local prosecutor’s office held an investigation and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the officer. T subsequently applied to the ECHR contending that the failure to prosecute the officer was a breach of Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR rejected the application finding that ‘the available materials do not demonstrate any violent behaviour on the part of the tax police officers given that the applicant’s allegation of having been punched in her face was not confirmed by...