CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;GRANDCHAMBER;ENG — 26 juin 2012

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mso-break-type:section-break } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .sCA1147F8 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline }     GRAND CHAMBER               CASE OF KURIĆ AND OTHERS v. SLOVENIA   (Application no. 26828/06)                 JUDGMENT         STRASBOURG   26 June 2012     This judgment is final but may be subject to editorial revision   In the case of Kurić and Others v. Slovenia, The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber composed of:   Nicolas Bratza, President ,   Jean-Paul Costa,   Françoise Tulkens,   Nina Vajić,   Dean Spielmann,   Boštjan M. Zupančič,   Anatoly Kovler,   Elisabeth Steiner,   Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,   Päivi Hirvelä,   George Nicolaou,   Luis López Guerra,   Zdravka Kalaydjieva,   Nebojša Vučinić,   Guido Raimondi,   Ganna Yudkivska,   Angelika Nußberger, judges ,   and Vincent Berger, Jurisconsult , Having deliberated in private on 6 July 2011 and 11 April 2012, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last- mentioned date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 26828/06) against the Republic of Slovenia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by Mr Milan Makuc, a Croatian national, and by ten other applicants, on 4   July 2006. After the death of Mr Makuc, the case was renamed Kurić and Others v. Slovenia . Eight applicants remain before the Grand Chamber (see paragraph 15 below). 2.     The applicants were represented before the Court by Mr A.G. Lana and Mr A. Saccucci, lawyers practising in Rome, and Ms A. Ballerini and Mr M. Vano, lawyers practising in Genoa (Italy). 3.     The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr L. Bembič, State Attorney. 4.     Under Article 8 of the Convention, the applicants alleged, in particular, that they had been arbitrarily deprived of their status as permanent residents after Slovenia had declared its independence in 1991. They also complained under Article 13 of the Convention that no effective legal remedies were available in that respect, and under Article 14, read in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention, that they had been subjected to discriminatory treatment. Lastly, they submitted that, in breach of Article   1 of Protocol No. 1, they had been arbitrarily denied their pension rights. 5.     The application was allocated to the Court’s Third Section (Rule 52 §   1 of the Rules of Court), which decided on 10 November 2006 to notify the respondent Government of it as a matter of urgency under Rule 40 of the Rules of Court and to grant priority to it under Rule 41. 6.     On 31 May 2007 the Third Section, composed of the following judges: Corneliu Bîrsan, Boštjan M. Zupančič, Elisabet Fura, Alvina Gyulumyan, Egbert Myjer, David Thór Björgvinsson and Ineta Ziemele, and also of Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar, decided to give notice to the respondent Government of the complaints under Article 8, taken alone and in conjunction with Articles 13 and 14 of the Convention and under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. It was also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time (Article 29 § 1). The remainder of the application was declared inadmissible. 7.     Furthermore, third-party comments were received from the Serbian Government, who had exercised their right to intervene (Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 1 (b)). Third-party observations were also submitted by the Equal Rights Trust, Open Society Justice Initiative, the Peace Institute – Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies, and the Legal Information Centre of Non-Governmental Organisations, which had been given leave by the President to intervene in the written procedure (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 3). The respondent Government and the applicants replied to the Serbian Government’s comments. 8.     Further to the notification under Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 1 (a), the Croatian Government and the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not wish to exercise their right to intervene in the present case. 9.     On 13 July 2010 a Chamber of the Third Section, composed of the following judges: Josep Casadevall, Elisabet Fura, Corneliu Bîrsan, Boštjan M. Zupančič, Alvina Gyulumyan, Egbert Myjer and Ineta Ziemele, and also of Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar, declared the application admissible in respect of the complaints of eight of the applicants under Articles 8, 13 and 14 of the Convention, and held unanimously that there had been a violation of Articles 8 and 13 of the Convention and that it was not necessary to examine the complaint under Article 14 of the Convention. The Chamber also held that a relative of the late applicant Mr   Makuc did not have standing to continue the proceedings in his stead. The complaints of Mr Petreš and Mr Jovanović, who had been granted permanent residence permits, and the remainder of the other applicants’ complaints were declared inadmissible. In addition, the Chamber indicated to the respondent Government the appropriate general and individual measures to be adopted under Article 46 and reserved the question of just satisfaction under Article   41 of the Convention. 10.     On 13 October 2010 the Government asked for the case to be referred to the Grand Chamber by virtue of Article 43 of the Convention and Rule 73. On 21 February 2011 a panel of the Grand Chamber granted that request. 11.     The composition of the Grand Chamber was determined according to the provisions of Article 26 §§ 4 and 5 of the Convention and Rule 24. On 3 November 2011 Jean-Paul Costa’s term as President of the Court came to an end. Nicolas Bratza succeeded him in that capacity and took over the presidency of the Grand Chamber in the present case (Rule 9 § 2). Jean-Paul Costa continued to sit following the expiry of his term of office, in accordance with Article 23 § 3 of the Convention and Rule 24 § 4. 12.     The applicants and the respondent Government each filed written observations. In addition, third-party comments were received from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”), which had been given leave by the President to intervene in the written procedure before the Grand Chamber (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 §   3). Open Society Justice Initiative also filed updated and consolidated submissions. 13.     A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 6 July 2011 (Rule 59 § 3).   There appeared before the Court: (a)     for the respondent Government Mr   L. Bembič , S tate Attorney,   Agent , Ms   V. Klemenc , State Attorney,   Co-Agent , Ms   N. Gregori , Ministry of the Interior, Mr   J. Koselj , Ministry of the Interior, Ms   I. Jeglič , Ministry of the Interior, Ms   A. Snoj , Ministry of the Interior, Mr   A. Jerman , Ministry of the Interior, Mr   P. Pavlin , Ministry of the Interior, Mr   S. Bardutzky , Ministry of Justice,   Advisers ; (b)     for the applicants Mr   A. G. Lana , Mr   A. Saccucci ,   Counsel , Ms   N. Kogovšek Šalamo , Ms   A. Sironi ,   Advisers . 14.     The Grand Chamber heard addresses by Mr Lana, Mr Saccucci and Mr Bembič, as well as their answers to questions put by the judges. Additional information was submitted by the applicants and the respondent Government in writing. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 15.     The first applicant, Mr   Mustafa Kurić, was born in 1935 and lives in Koper (Slovenia). He is a stateless person. The second applicant, Mr   Velimir Dabetić, was born in 1969 and lives in Italy. He is a stateless person. The third applicant, Ms Ana Mezga, is a Croatian citizen. She was born in 1965 and lives in Portorož (Slovenia). The fourth applicant, Mrs   Ljubenka Ristanović, is a Serbian citizen. She was born in 1968 and lives in Serbia. The fifth applicant, Mr Tripun Ristanović, the son of the fourth applicant, was born in 1988 and is currently living in Slovenia. He is a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sixth applicant, Mr Ali Berisha, was born in 1969 in Kosovo. According to the most recently available data, he is a Serbian citizen. He currently lives in Germany. The seventh applicant, Mr   Ilfan Sadik Ademi, was born in 1952. He lives in Germany and is now a Macedonian citizen. The eighth applicant, Mr   Zoran Minić, was born in 1972. According to the Government, he is a Serbian citizen. A.     Background to the case 1.     Citizenship in the SFRY 16.     The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (“the SFRY”) was a federal State composed of six republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia. SFRY nationals had “dual citizenship” for internal purposes, that is, they were citizens both of the SFRY and of one of the six republics. Until 1974, federal citizenship prevailed over republic citizenship: republic citizenship could only be held by a Yugoslav citizen. 17.     The regulation of citizenship was similar in all republics of the SFRY, with the basic principle of acquiring citizenship by blood ( jus sanguinis ). In principle, a child acquired his or her parents’ citizenship; if the parents were citizens of different republics, they jointly agreed on their child’s citizenship. On the date of acquisition of the citizenship of another republic, a person’s prior republic citizenship came to an end. 18.     From 1947 a separate Register of Citizenship was kept at the level of the republics and not at the level of the federal State. From 1974 the citizenship data for newly born children were entered in the Register of Births and from 1984 the entry of data in the Register of Citizenship ended, all citizenship data being entered in the Register of Births. 19.     SFRY citizens had freedom of movement within the federal State and could register permanent residence wherever they settled on its territory. Full enjoyment of various civil, economic, social and even political rights for SFRY citizens was linked to permanent residence. 20.     SFRY citizens living in the then Socialist Republic of Slovenia who were citizens of one of the other SFRY republics, such as the applicants, registered their permanent residence there in the same way as Slovenian citizens. Foreign citizens could also acquire permanent residence in the SFRY under a separate procedure. 2.     The independence of Slovenia and the “erasure” 21.   In the process of the dissolution of the SFRY, Slovenia took steps towards independence. On 6 December 1990, the then Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the “Statement of Good Intentions” ( Izjava o dobrih namenih ), guaranteeing that all persons with permanent residence on Slovenian territory would be enabled to acquire Slovenian citizenship if they so wished (see paragraph 200 below). 22.     On 25 June 1991 Slovenia declared its independence. A series of laws termed “the independence legislation” were passed. This included the Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia Act ( Zakon o državljanstvu Republike Slovenije – “the Citizenship Act”), the Aliens Act ( Zakon o tujcih , see paragraphs 205-207 below), the National Border Control Act ( Zakon o nadzoru državne meje ) and the Passports of the Citizens of Slovenia Act ( Zakon o potnih listinah državljanov Republike Slovenije ). 23.     At the material time, in contrast with some of the other former SFRY republics, the Slovenian population was relatively homogeneous, as roughly 90% of the 2 million residents had Slovenian citizenship. Approximately 200,000 Slovenian residents (or 10% of the population), including the applicants, were citizens of the other former SFRY republics. This proportion also broadly reflects the ethnic origin of the Slovenian population at that time. 24.     In accordance with the Statement of Good Intentions, section 13 of the 1991 Constitutional Law provided that those citizens of other republics of the former SFRY who, on 23 December 1990, the date of the plebiscite on the independence of Slovenia, were registered as permanent residents of the Republic of Slovenia and actually lived there, held equal rights and duties to citizens of the Republic of Slovenia, with the exception of the acquisition of property, until they acquired citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia under section 40 of the Citizenship Act or until the expiry of the time-limit set out in section   81 of the Aliens Act (25 December 1991 – see paragraphs 202, 205 and 207 below). 25.     Section 40 of the Citizenship Act, which entered into force on 25   June 1991, provided that citizens of the former SFRY republics who were not citizens of Slovenia (“citizens of the former SFRY republics”) could acquire Slovenian citizenship if they met three requirements: they had acquired permanent resident status in Slovenia by 23   December 1990 (the date of the plebiscite), were actually residing in Slovenia, and had applied for citizenship within six months after the Citizenship Act entered into force. As indicated in paragraph 24 above, this deadline expired on 25   December 1991. After that date, the less favourable conditions for acquisition of citizenship by naturalisation provided for by section 10 of the Citizenship Act became applicable also for citizens of other former SFRY republics (see paragraph 205 below). 26.     According to the official data, 171,132 citizens of the former SFRY republics living in Slovenia applied for and were granted citizenship of the new State under section 40 of the Citizenship Act. Estimations are that an additional 11,000 persons left Slovenia. 27.     Under the second subsection of section 81 of the Aliens Act, citizens of the former SFRY republics who either failed to apply for Slovenian citizenship within the prescribed time-limit or whose requests were not granted became aliens. The provisions of the Aliens Act became applicable to the former SFRY citizens either two months after the expiry of the time-limit (that is, by 26 February 1992), or two months after a decision issued in administrative proceedings rejecting their application for citizenship became final (see paragraph 207 below). 28.     After the declaration of independence, the Ministry of the Interior (“the Ministry”) sent several unpublished internal instructions ( okrožnice, navodila, depeše ) to municipal administrative authorities relating to the implementation of the independence legislation, and in particular the Aliens Act. In a circular of 26 June 1991 the Ministry instructed the administrative authorities that citizens of other SFRY republics living in Slovenia were henceforth considered aliens in all administrative proceedings and that, in accordance with section 13 of the 1991 Constitutional Law, they held equal rights and duties to citizens of the Republic of Slovenia until the expiry of the relevant time-limits (see paragraph 24 above). It further gave technical instructions in the field of passports and aliens. On 30 July 1991 the Ministry informed the municipal administrative authorities that, further to the Brioni Declaration between the European Community Ministerial Troika and representatives of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Yugoslavia, the enforcement of the independence legislation in the sphere of internal affairs had been suspended for a period of three months. During this period, citizens of other SFRY republics would not be treated as aliens. Two further administrative circulars were issued on 5 and 18   February 1992, drawing attention to the general problems relating to the implementation of the Aliens Act. The former circular stated that, when administering matters concerning the status of aliens, the personal documents of citizens of other SFRY republics issued by the Slovenian administrative authorities should be kept and their passports revoked and destroyed. 29.     On 26 February 1992, the date on which the second subsection of section   81 of the Aliens Act became applicable, the municipal administrative authorities removed those who had not applied for or obtained Slovenian citizenship from the Register of Permanent Residents ( Register stalnega prebivalstva – “the Register”) and, according to the Government, transferred them into the Register of Aliens without a Residence Permit. 30.     On 27 February 1992 the Ministry indicated in its instructions to the municipal administrative authorities that it would be necessary to regulate the legal status of these persons. It drew their attention to the fact that numerous problems were expected to arise; the legal status of the persons concerned should be regulated and, in parallel, “the clearing of records” should be undertaken. In addition, the Ministry pointed out that the papers of such persons, even if issued by the Slovenian authorities and formally valid, would in fact become invalid owing to the persons’ change in status ex lege . The Ministry also gave an interpretation of sections 23 and 28 of the Aliens Act in cases of cancellation of residence and forcible removal. 31.     The applicants stated that persons whose names were removed from the Register received no official notification. They pointed out that no special procedure was provided for to that effect and no official documents were issued. They only subsequently became aware that they had become aliens, when, for example, they attempted to renew their personal documents (personal identification card, passport, driving licence). The Government, however, maintained that, in addition to the publication in the Official Gazette, the Slovenian population was informed about the new legislation through public media and notices. In some municipalities, personal means of notification were allegedly also used. 32.     According to official data from 2002, the number of former SFRY citizens who had lost their permanent residence status on 26   February 1992 amounted to 18,305, of whom approximately 2,400 had been refused citizenship. They became known as the “erased” ( izbrisani ), and included the applicants in the present case. New data on the “erased” were collected in 2009 (see paragraph 69 below). 33.     As a result, the “erased” became aliens or stateless persons illegally residing in Slovenia. In general, they had difficulties in keeping their jobs and driving licences and obtaining retirement pensions. Nor were they able to leave the country, because they could not re-enter without valid documents. Many families became divided, with some of their members in Slovenia and others in one of the other successor States to the former SFRY. Among the “erased” were 5,360 minors. In most cases their identity papers were taken away. Some of the “erased” voluntarily left Slovenia. Some were served with removal orders and deported from Slovenia. 34.     After 26 February 1992 the registration of permanent residence of citizens of other former SFRY republics was terminated if they had not acquired a new residence permit. However, under section 82 of the Aliens Act, permanent residence permits issued to foreigners with citizenship of States other than the former SFRY republics continued to be valid after the entry into force of the Aliens Act (see paragraph 207 below). 35.     On 4 June 1992 the then Minister for the Interior sent a letter (no.   0016/1-S-010/3-91) to the Government, informing them of the questions that remained open relating to the implementation of the Aliens Act, in view of the large number of persons from the other republics of the former SFRY living in Slovenia without a regulated status. He also stated that, in his view, during the process of independence, all the rights of citizens of other SFRY republics living in Slovenia, as resulting from international conventions and bilateral treaties, had been taken into account. The Government maintained that, further to this letter, they took action in order to attenuate the consequences of the “erasure” by interpreting the provisions of the Aliens Act in a more flexible manner (see paragraph 36 below). In addition, on 15 June 1992 another administrative circular with instructions on the implementation of the Aliens Act was sent to the municipal administrative authorities. It addressed a number of open questions relating to such matters as the allocation of military apartments, registration of temporary refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the keeping of records, transmission of personal information from the population register, and proceedings involving aliens. Personal identification cards issued to aliens by the Slovenian authorities were to be destroyed. In particular, as far as former SFRY citizens with permanent residence in Slovenia were concerned, it specified the dates to be entered in the register: either when they became Slovenian citizens or when they became aliens under section 81 of the Aliens Act (26 February 1992 or two months after the date of receipt of the decision not to grant Slovenian citizenship). 36.     On 3 September 1992 the Government decided to take into account the period before the entry into force of the Aliens Act for the purposes of calculating the required period of three years’ residence in Slovenia for issuing a permanent residence permit. A total of 4,893 permanent residence permits were thus issued in the period from 1992 to 1997. 37.     On 28 June 1994 the Convention took effect in respect of Slovenia. 38.     The Slovenian Parliament submitted a request for a referendum on the question whether or not citizenship granted to former SFRY citizens on the basis of section 40 of the Citizenship Act should be withdrawn. On 20   November 1995 the Constitutional Court held that the request was unconstitutional. 39.     In the years that followed, several non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International and Helsinki Monitor, and the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman issued reports drawing attention to the situation of the “erased”. 3.     The Constitutional Court’s decision of 4 February 1999 and subsequent developments 40.     On 24 June 1998 the Constitutional Court declared partly admissible a challenge to the constitutionality of the first subsection of section 16 and the second subsection of section 81 of the Aliens Act (see paragraphs 27 above and 207 below), brought in 1994 by two individuals whose names had been removed from the Register in 1992. 41.     In a decision of 4 February 1999 (U-I-284/94) the Constitutional Court declared that section 81 of the Aliens Act was unconstitutional since it had not set out the conditions for acquisition of permanent residence for those subject to its second subsection. It noted that the authorities had deleted from the Register the names of citizens of the former SFRY republics who had not applied for Slovenian citizenship and entered them ex proprio motu in the Register of Aliens, without any notification. It further found that there was no legal basis for this measure; the Inhabitants’ Evidence of Residence and Population Registry Act did not provide for ex lege deregistration. 42.     The provisions of the Aliens Act were, in general, designed to regulate the status of aliens who entered Slovenia after independence, not of those who were already living there. While section 82 of the Aliens Act did regulate the legal status of aliens originating from outside the former SFRY republics, no similar provision existed in respect of persons from the former SFRY. As a consequence, the latter were in a less favourable legal position than aliens who had lived in Slovenia since before independence. 43.     A proposal had been made in the legislative process in 1991 for a special provision regulating the temporary situation of former SFRY citizens living in Slovenia who had not applied for Slovenian citizenship. The legislature had maintained that their situation should not be regulated by the Aliens Act but rather by an agreement between the successor States to the former SFRY. Since the relevant agreements had not been concluded, notably because of the state of war in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their situation remained unaddressed. In the Constitutional Court’s view, in the light of modern developments in human-rights protection, the situation of persons who had held the nationality of the predecessor but not of the successor State, with permanent residence on the territory of States that had disintegrated after 1990, had become a matter governed by international agreements. 44.     Section 81 was therefore declared unconstitutional as it did not prescribe the conditions under which persons who either failed to apply for or were denied Slovenian citizenship could apply for permanent residence after the expiry of the prescribed time-limit. A legal void had thus formed and the principles of the rule of law, legal certainty and equality had been breached. 45.     Furthermore, the provisions of the Aliens Act regulating the acquisition of permanent and temporary residence for aliens entering Slovenia (sections 13 and 16 of the Aliens Act – see paragraph 207 below) should not be used to regulate the status of citizens of the former SFRY republics who had a reasonable expectation that the new conditions for retaining permanent residence in Slovenia would not be stricter than those set forth in section 13 of the Constitutional Law (see paragraph 202 below) and section 40 of the Citizenship Act (see paragraph 205 below), and that their status would be determined in accordance with international law. 46.     The Constitutional Court further found that section 16(1) of the Aliens Act was not unconstitutional, because it applied only to aliens entering Slovenia after independence. 47.     The legislature was given six months in which to modify the unconstitutional provisions. In the meantime, the Constitutional Court ruled that no citizen of the former SFRY who was registered as a permanent resident in Slovenia on 23 December 1990 and was actually residing there could be forcibly removed from Slovenia pursuant to section 28 of the Aliens Act. 48.     The Constitutional Court also pointed out that the unregulated situation of citizens of the former SFRY republics who had found themselves in a precarious legal position could lead to a violation of, inter alia , the right to respect for family life, as protected by Article 8 of the Convention (extracts of this decision are quoted in paragraph 214 below). 49.     As a consequence, the Act on Regularisation of the Legal Status of Citizens of Other Successor States to the Former SFRY in Slovenia ( Zakon o urejanju statusa državljanov drugih držav naslednic nekdanje SFRJ v   Republiki Sloveniji – “the Legal Status Act”) was passed on 8 July 1999 to regulate the legal status of the “erased” by simplifying the requirements for acquiring a permanent residence permit. 50.     Under section 1 of the Legal Status Act, citizens of other successor States to the former SFRY who were registered as permanent residents on Slovenian territory on 23 December 1990, the date of the plebiscite, or on 25   June 1991, the date of independence, and had been actually resident there were entitled to a permanent residence permit, regardless of the provisions of the Aliens Act. They had three months to submit an application. Section   3 of the Legal Status Act provided for some exceptions for those with criminal convictions. Residence permits were granted ex nunc to those fulfilling the above conditions (see paragraph 210 below). 51.     Ruling on another constitutional challenge (U-I-295/99), on 18 May 2000 the Constitutional Court set aside one part of section 3 of the Legal Status Act as unconstitutional because it found that the requirements for the acquisition of permanent residence set forth therein were stricter than the grounds for revoking a permanent residence permit under the Aliens Act. 4.     The Constitutional Court’s decisions in other cases brought by the “erased” 52.     Relying on its leading decision of 4 February 1999 (see paragraphs   41-48 above), the Constitutional Court has given several decisions in individual cases brought by some of the “erased”. 53.     On 1 July 1999 (Up-333/96) it examined the case of a claimant who had been refused the renewal of his driving licence because of the “erasure” of his name from the Register. The Constitutional Court noted that following its decision of 4 February 1999, the Legal Status Act had been drafted, but had not yet been passed. It decided that, until the Legal Status Act entered into force, the claimant should enjoy the status he would have had before the expiry of the time-limit set forth in the second subsection of section 81 of the Aliens Act (see paragraph 27 above). The administrative authorities were ordered to register the claimant as a permanent resident at the address where he had been living before his name was illegally deleted from the Register and to renew his driving licence. 54.     A similar decision (Up-60/97) was adopted on 15 July 1999 with regard to claimants who were all members of one family and citizens of one of the former SFRY republics, and had been denied permanent residence under section 16 of the Aliens Act, because the father had lost his job. 55.     On 18 November 1999 (Up-20/97) and 16 December 1999 (Up ‑ 152/97), in cases concerning the payment of a military pension to two “erased” persons, the Constitutional Court quashed the judgment of the Supreme Court and sent the case back for re-examination. 56.     On 20 September 2001, in a case (Up-336/98) concerning an individual’s right to a childcare allowance, the Constitutional Court quashed the decisions of the lower authorities and sent the case back for re ‑ examination. 57.     Furthermore, the Constitutional Court has examined a number of cases brought by “erased” persons concerning the conditions for acquiring Slovenian citizenship. In a decision of 6 July 1995 (Up-38/93) it held that the condition of “actually residing in Slovenia” in section 40 of the Citizenship Act (see paragraphs 25 above and 205 below) could be fulfilled in a situation where a person’s residence in Slovenia had been interrupted on justifiable grounds if there were other circumstances proving that the centre of his or her life interests was on Slovenian territory. It quashed the Supreme Court’s decision because there had been differential treatment of analogous cases and sent the case back for re-examination. 5.     The Constitutional Court’s decision of 3 April 2003 58.     On 3 April 2003, ruling on a challenge to the constitutionality of the Legal Status Act in its version of 8 July 1999 in a case (U-I-246/02) brought by the Association of the “Erased” and by other “erased” persons, the Constitutional Court found the Legal Status Act unconstitutional because it did not grant retrospective permanent residence from the date of the “erasure”, it did not define the meaning of the words “actually residing” which appeared in section 1 and it failed to regulate the acquisition of permanent residence for citizens of former SFRY republics who had been forcibly removed from Slovenia pursuant to section 28 of the Aliens Act. 59.     Although the exact number of those deported was unknown, the Constitutional Court considered that the numbers would probably be low, since the unregulated status of the “erased” had generally been tolerated. It also struck down the three-month time-limit for submitting applications for permanent residence because it was unreasonably short and ordered the legislature to rectify the unconstitutional provisions of the impugned Act within six months. The Constitutional Court further observed that permanent residence was important in securing certain rights and benefits, such as military pension rights, social allowances and renewals of driving licences. 60.     In point no. 8 of the operative part of the decision, the Constitutional Court ordered the Ministry to issue, ex proprio motu , decisions establishing permanent residence in Slovenia ex tunc with effect from 26 February 1992, the date of the “erasure”, to those who already had ex nunc (non-retroactive) permits in accordance with the Legal Status Act or the Aliens Act (extracts of this decision are quoted in paragraph 215 below). 61.     On 25 November 2003 Parliament enacted the Act on the Application of Point No. 8 of the Constitutional Court’s Decision no.   U ‑ I ‑ 246/02-28 ( Zakon o izvršitvi 8. točke odločbe Ustavnega sodišča Republike Slovenije št. U-I-246/02-28 ), also known as the “Technical Act”. This Act laid down the procedure for issuing ex tunc permanent residence permits to citizens of the former SFRY republics who had been registered as permanent residents in Slovenia on both 23 December 1990 and 25   February 1992 and who had already acquired a permanent residence permit under the Legal Status Act or the Aliens Act. 62.     However, a referendum on whether the Technical Act should be implemented was held on 4   April   2004. The turnout was 31.54%; 94.59% of valid votes were against its implementation, and therefore the Act never entered into force. 63.     In the meantime, in a decision (U-II-3/03) handed down on 22   December 2003, the Constitutional Court specified that the legal basis for the issuance of the supplementary residence permits by the Ministry was its decision of 3 April 2003 (see paragraphs 58-60 above); the Ministry was under an obligation to implement the decision. 64.     Furthermore, in an individual case (Up-211/04) brought by one of the “erased”, claiming that his absence from Slovenia was due to the state of war, on 2 March 2006 the Constitutional Court set aside the judgments of the Supreme Court dismissing the claimant’s request for a permanent residence permit under the Legal Status Act, and remitted the case to the Administrative Court. It instructed the latter to make an appropriate assessment of the legal condition of “actually residing on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia” from 23   December 1990 onwards and of the reasons for the claimant’s absence from Slovenia. 65.     In particular, the Constitutional Court held that the fact that the legislature had been late in eliminating the inconsistencies did not prevent the courts from determining the case in conformity with its decision of 3   April 2003 (see paragraphs 58-60 above). 66.     In 2004 the Ministry issued 4,034 retroactive permits to the “erased”, solely on the basis of the above-mentioned Constitutional Court decision. The issuing of these permits by the authorities ex proprio motu was temporarily stayed and resumed in 2009, further to a change in government (see paragraph 70 below). 67.     According to the Government, 13,355 applications had been submitted under the Legal Status Act by 30 June 2007. As a result, 12,236 permanent residence permits were issued. 68.     Following the parliamentary elections held on 21 September 2008, a new government was appointed in November 2008. The regulation of the status of the “erased” in compliance with the Constitutional Court’s decisions was established as one of its priorities. 69.     Further to an upgrading of the IT system, the Ministry collected new data on the “erased” and issued a report stating that on 24   January 2009 the number of the people removed from the Register amounted to 25,671, of whom 7,899 had subsequently acquired Slovenian citizenship; 7,313 of them were still alive. A further 3,630 had acquired a residence permit. 13,426 “erased” persons did not have a regulated status in Slovenia on that date and their current residence was unknown. 70.     In 2009 the Ministry resumed the process of issuing, ex proprio motu , decisions establishing permanent residence in Slovenia ex tunc with effect from 26   February   1992 under point no. 8 of the operative part of the Constitutional Court’s decision of 2003 (see paragraph 60 above) to those who were already in possession of ex nunc permits. 2,347 such decisions were issued. 6.     The amended Legal Status Act 71.     Subsequently, the Ministry prepared amendments and supplements to the Legal Status Act (“the amended Legal Status Act”), regulating the incompatibilities between the Legal Status Act and the Constitution, following the Constitutional Court’s decision of 3 April 2003, in particular in respect of those who had been deported and those who had had to leave Slovenia because of other reasons related to the “erasure”. On 8 March 2010 the amended Legal Status Act was passed. 72.     On 12 March 2010 thirty-one parliamentarians requested that a referendum be held on the amended Legal Status Act, inter alia because it did not regulate the question of compensation for the “erased”; as a result, its entry into force was postponed. On 18 March 2010 the National Assembly decided that the postponement of the entry into force of the amended Legal Status Act or its rejection in a referendum would have unconstitutional consequences and referred the matter to the Constitutional Court. 73.     In its decision of 10 June 2010 (U-II-1/10) the Constitutional Court relied on its previous leading decisions and found that the provisions of the amended Legal Status Act were consistent with the Constitution. The amended Act was considered to provide for a permanent solution to the status of those “erased” persons who had been unable to regularise their status, including that of their children, and for the issuing of special retroactive decisions to those of them who had been granted Slovenian citizenship, without the requirement of having a prior permanent residence permit. The Constitutional Court refused to allow a referendum to be held, considering that the potential rejection of the amended Legal Status Act would lead to unconstitutional consequences. It further found that the delay in implementing its leading decision of 2003 had entailed a fresh violation of the Constitution. 74.     In paragraph 43 of its decision the Constitutional Court held that, by passing the Act in question, which provided for the retroactivity of permanent residence status, the legislature had introduced mor