Nadie puede ser privado de su derecho al recurso por incumplir un requisito que no era exigible en el momento de su presentación (comentario a la Sentencia del TEDH de 26 de mayo de 2020, caso Gil Sanjuán contra España)

Abstract

The ECtHR Judgment of May 26, 2020 has upheld the claim of a Spanish citizen who was unduly deprived of her right to appeal before the Spanish Supreme Court. Her appeal before the national court was refused, like many others, on the grounds of a new requirement for filing appeals, unexpectedly introduced by the own Supreme Court. Oher circumstances of the case deserve being highlighted: no legal provision had entitled the Supreme Court to introduce such a new requirement; this new requisite was applied to appeals which had been previously filed; and, in addition, affected appellants were not given the opportunity to fulfil the new requirements. After the refusal, the appellant brought the case before the Spanish Constitutional Court, which also dismissed the claim —Judgement 53/2015—, although a well-founded dissenting vote was issued. In the end, the ECHR has found that the Spanish Supreme Court had infringed Article 6 of the Convention and violated the right to effective judicial protection.