Sister of man killed in London who alleged criminal justice failings has ECtHR appeal rejected

The case of Makarová v the United Kingdom concerned a complaint by the sister of a Czech man killed in London about the criminal proceedings against the suspect.

The court noted that the UK government had not been directly involved in the death of the applicant’s brother, Zdeněk Makar, but that the state had a duty under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to life) to make sure that there had been an effective investigation which could determine the cause of the injuries to him and the identification of those responsible.

It found that the authorities had carried out an investigation and had identified the man who had been responsible for Mr Makar’s death.

That person had been brought to trial and had been acquitted of both murder and manslaughter by a jury. Endorsing the domestic authorities’ actions, the court found that the applicant’s complaints were manifestly ill-founded and had to be rejected.