Newsletter-21

373 statement of claim to the respondent. However, in case it is very dif- ficult or impossible to draft the statement of reply within this time period considering the overall circumstances, the respondent who files an application to the court within the same time period may be granted an additional period not to exceed one month, for one time, only. In practice, an additional period is often requested of the courts in order to submit the statement of reply. The consequences of failure by the respondent to submit a state- ment of reply are set forth under Article 128 of the TCCP. Accordingly, the respondent who does not submit the statement of reply within the prescribed period is deemed to have denied all of the facts brought forward by the claimant in its statement of claim. Analysis of the Decision of the Court of Cassation The lawsuit that is subject to the decision of the GACC is a di- vorce lawsuit, and there are claims pertaining to child custody, alimony and compensation, along with the request for divorce. In the course of this proceeding, the respondent did not submit its statement of reply, and declared that he did not wish to divorce in the preliminary review hearing. The respondent has not been granted an opportunity to submit his evidence, and in the hearing determined for investigation, only the evidence furnished by the claimant has been gathered. In this lawsuit, the Court of Cassation analyzed whether the respondent, who did not submit his replies, may submit evidence in order to refute the facts brought forward by the claimant, and whether it is required to grant time in favor of the respondent in order to submit his evidence. The GACC, while granting this decision, made reference to the right of due process regulated under Article 6 of the European Con- vention on Human Rights, and emphasized that one of the most impor- tant components of the right of due process is to finalize the litigation within a reasonable timeframe. Again, reference has been made to the decisions granted by the European Court of Human Rights pertain- ing to the relevant article, and it has been emphasized that not only is it necessary that the member states adopt necessary legislations to LAW OF CIVIL PROCEDURE AND ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY