CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 5 juillet 2018

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA6BC7FA7 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:right } .s9793A85B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s8229ABDD { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center } .s68C46B95 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center } .s3F59B822 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-transform:uppercase } .sA8776625 { margin-top:18pt; margin-left:29.2pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17.6pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sD3B63DAD { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s6B505E72 { margin:0pt; padding-left:0pt } .sA56BACAB { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; list-style-position:inside } .s13783063 { width:6.24pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s3537C2D6 { font-weight:normal } .sC4575BE4 { width:7.64pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block }   Communicated on 5 July 2018   FIFTH SECTION Application no. 45806/11 Lyubka Todorova ZIKATANOVA and others against Bulgaria lodged on 15 July 2011 STATEMENT OF FACTS The applicants are Bulgarian nationals. A list of their names and years of birth is contained in the appendix. Some of the applicants passed away after the lodging of the application and their heirs have expressed the wish to continue the proceedings in their stead. The applicants, respectively their heirs, are represented before the Court by Mr M. Ekimdzhiev, Ms   G.   Chernicherska and Ms K. Boncheva, lawyers practicing in Plovdiv. A.     The circumstances of the case The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows. Ancestors of the applicants owned agricultural land in the outskirts of Sofia, in an area named Vrazhdebna. In the 1950s the land was incorporated into an agricultural cooperative. In 1960 the State expropriated 300,000 square metres of land used by the cooperative. The land was initially earmarked for the creation of an agricultural institute, but was eventually given for use to another organisation. After Parliament enacted the Agricultural Land Act 1991, the applicants applied for the restitution of their ancestors’ land. On different dates between 1994 and 2010 the competent administrative body, the local land commission (after 2008 Agricultural Department), and on some occasions the courts, allowed the applications and ordered restitution in kind. However, the restitution procedures were not completed with the requisite steps which would have given rise to property titles for the applicants, namely the issuance of plans of the respective plots and formal transfer of possession. In the meantime, in 1993 the Minister of Agriculture allocated the land for agricultural studies. Subsequently its use was taken over by the Forestry University in Sofia. A cadastral plan of the area adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1999 envisaged allocating about 63,000 square metres of the land at issue to the University and distributing the remainder among the persons entitled to restitution. In 2001 the Sofia regional governor proposed to the Council of Ministers (the Government) to annul its 1960 decision concerning the expropriation of land in Vrazhdebna, which was seen as impediment for the completion of the restitution procedures. It appears however that the proposal was never scheduled for examination by the Government. In 2008 the Minister of Education granted the Forestry University the right to use 350,000 square metres of land in Vrazhdebna and initiated a procedure for the registration of that land as public State property. In 2010 the local Agricultural Department established that the land was being used “ineffectively” by the University and that part of it had been rented out to private parties. The Ministry of Agriculture took a decision to proceed with the restitution procedures. However, in 2011 the Minister of Education sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, explaining that the land was being used by the Forestry University and insisting that the restitution decisions in favour of the applicants be re-examined. On 18 March 2014 the plot of land, with a surface of 340,959 square metres, was entered by the Sofia regional governor into the list of public State properties. Throughout the years the applicants sent numerous complaints to different State bodies, urging them to take measures for the completion of the restitution procedures. After they found out that the land claimed by them had been registered as public State property, they wrote to the competent body, the Minister of Public Works, to ask for the cancelation of the registration. In 2017 most of the applicants submitted to the local Agricultural Department fresh requests for restitution. The Department responded to some of them that they needed to present documents which the applicants claim they cannot obtain. With respect to other applicants, in December 2017 and January 2018 the Department issued decisions, refusing restitution in kind and stating that the persons entitled would receive compensation. The applicants appealed against these decisions. The course of the proceedings is unclear. B.     Relevant domestic law and practice The relevant domestic law concerning restitution of agricultural land has been summarised in Lyubomir Popov v. Bulgaria (no. 69855/01, §§ 83-95, 7   January 2010). The provisions concerning entries into the lists of State properties have been summarised in Sakskoburggotski and Others v. Bulgaria (dec.) (nos.   38948/10 and 2 others, §§ 127-29, 20 March 2018). COMPLAINTS The applicants complain under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, relying in addition on Article 13 of the Convention, that the national authorities have not completed the restitution procedures and transferred to them their ancestors’ land, in disregard of the administrative decisions and court judgments ordering restitution in kind.   QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES Did the applicants’ entitlement to restitution in kind, recognised in final administrative decisions and court judgments, amount to “possession” within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1? Does the national authorities’ continued failure to comply with these decisions and judgments and finalise the restitution procedures represent an interference with the applicants’ “possession”? Is such interference lawful and otherwise in compliance with the requirements of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1? In   particular, are there “reasons of a substantial and compelling character”, justifying the authorities’ failure to comply with the final decisions and judgments in the applicants’ favour (see Mutishev and Others v. Bulgaria , no. 18967/03, §§ 129-35, 3 December 2009, and Hadzhigeorgievi v.   Bulgaria , no. 41064/05, §§ 66-70, 16 July 2013)? Seeing the Forestry University’s possible claim to the land, what are the possible means to finalise the restitution procedures? The parties are requested to inform the Court of any new developments in the pending restitution procedures. The applicants are in addition requested, concerning the cases of the heirs of Mr Ivan Velkov and Mr Yordan Kirov, to specify what have been the final decisions or judgments determining the scope of those heirs’ restitution rights.   Appendix (list of applicants)       Lyubka Todorova ZIKATANOVA, born in 1960     Dimitar Georgiev ALEKSANDROV, born in 1945     Georgi Yankov ANDREEV, born in 1957     Metodi Yordanov ANDREEV, born in 1965     Yuriy Yankov ANDREEV, born in 1965     Elena Yaneva ANDREEVA, born in 1944     Iliyana Borchova ANDREEVA, born in 1966     Margaritka Pavlova ANDREEVA, born in 1938     Lyudmil Angelov ANGELKOV, born in 1959 Nikolay Angelov ANGELKOV, born in 1965 Tsvetanka Nikolova ANGELKOVA, born in 1938 Dimitar Manolov ANGELOV, born in 1947 Zlatko Ivanov ANGELOV, born in 1951 Mariana Ivanova ATANASOVA, born in 1962 Tsvetanka Georgieva BACHEVA, born in 1942 Detelina Aleksandrova BOYCHEVA, born in 1962 Stoyanka Dimitrova CHIREPSKA, born in 1921 Dimitar Ivanov DENCHEV, born in 1946 Yanka Kirilova DERVENSKA, born in 1951 Dimitar Ivanov DIMITROV, born in 1983 Dimitar Kirchev DIMITROV, born in 1950 Gabriela Ivanova DIMITROVA, born in 1981 Margarita Raykova DIMITROVA, born in 1964 Margarita Trayanova DIMITROVA, born in 1954 Nikolina Tsvetanova DIMITROVA, born in 1947 Petranka Kircheva DIMITROVA, born in 1952 Vanya Tsvetanova DIMITROVA, born in 1966 Deyanka Dimitrova DOBREVA, born in 1941 Rubinka Ilieva DONEVA, born in 1940 Naydenka Zaharieva DONKOVA, born in 1934 Lilia Krasteva FILIPOVA, born in 1942 Angel Slavchev GEOREV, born in 1955 Ivan Stoynov GEOREV, born in 1925 Tsvetanka Tsvetkova GEOREVA, born in 1933 Snezhanka Slavcheva GEOREVA-SPIROVA, born in 1958 Stefan Ivanov GEORGIEV, born in 1935 Kata Ilieva GEORGIEVA, born in 1938 Petya Dimitrova GOSPODINOVA, born in 1972 Nikolina Petkova GYUROVA, born in 1943 Angelina Angelova HRISTOVA, born in 1946 Nadya Dimitrova HRISTOVA, born in 1958 Stefanka Georgieva HRISTOVA, born in 1957 Kiril Filipov IGNATOV, born in 1945 Stefcho Filipov IGNATOV, born in 1948 Biser Tsvetanov ILIEV, born in 1977 Georgi Tsvetanov ILIEV, born in 1974 Iliya Milanov ILIEV, born in 1960 Valeri Milanov ILIEV, born in 1968 Evgeni Borchov IVANOV, born in 1978 Iliyan Stefanov IVANOV, born in 1976 Ivan Stefanov IVANOV, born in 1974 Elena Petrova IVANOVA, born in 1973 Gergina Stoilova IVANOVA, born in 1942 Gerginka Vasileva IVANOVA, born in 1929 Kapka Ivanova IVANOVA, born in 1957 Petrana Simeonova IVANOVA, born in 1946 Rayna Vladimirova IVANOVA, born in 1944 Stefka Dimitrova IVANOVA, born in 1938 Ginka Stoyanova KIROVA, born in 1951 Valentina Filipova KISOVA, born in 1948 Kiro Galabinov KOLEV, born in 1940 Damyan Lazarov KOSTADINOV, born in 1930 Kalionka Naydenova KOTSEVA, born in 1935 Desislava Filipova KYOSEVA, born in 1967 Neli Todorova LAZOVA, born in 1955 Aneta Filipova LUKOVA, born in 1962 Nikolay Dimitrov MANOLOV, born in 1972 Toshko Borisov MIHAYLOV, born in 1959 Paulina Yordanova MIHAYLOVA, born in 1961 Radka Nikolova MILANOVA, born in 1941 Rumyana Dimitrova MILANOVA, born in 1978 Ognyan Angelov MINOV, born in 1953 Lyubomir Galabinov MISHEV, born in 1937 Borislav Georgiev MLADENOV, born in 1964 Dimitar Filipov MLADENOV, born in 1953 Emil Ivanov MLADENOV, born in 1960 Kostadin Blagoychev MLADENOV, born in 1960 Stefan Blagoychev MLADENOV, born in 1959 Yordan Ivanov MLADENOV, born in 1959 Gyurgena Traykova MLADENOVA, born in 1936 Stoyanka Dimitrova MLADENOVA, born in 1933 Anton Vasilev MOMCHILOV, born in 1956 Nayden Iliev NAYDENOV, born in 1950 Iliyan Metodiev NIKOLOV, born in 1974 Kiril Tsvetanov NIKOLOV, born in 1951 Tsvetan Metodiev NIKOLOV, born in 1973 Hristina Petrova NIKOLOVA, born in 1961 Iglika Simeonova NIKOLOVA, born in 1948 Lyudmila Petrova NIKOLOVA, born in 1951 Nikolinka Nikolova NIKOLOVA, born in 1958 Petar Radev PENEV, born in 1940 Valentin Tsvetanov PENEV, born in 1971 Tsveta Valkova PENEVA, born in 1943 Kapka Stefanova PESHEVA, born in 1964 Edita Dimitrova PETKOVA, born in 1953 Maria Naydenova PETROVA, born in 1931 Natalia Raykova PETROVA, born in 1959 Nikola Trayanov SERAFIMOV, born in 1948 Detelinka Stefanova SOTIROVA, born in 1938      Milena Sotirova SOTIROVA, born in 1973      Ivan Dimitrov SPASOV, born in 1956      Petar Iliev SPASOV, born in 1929      Velin Iliev SPASOV, born in 1933      Eleonora Georgieva SPASOVA, born in 1938      Krastina Petkova SPASOVA, born in 1950      Vladimirka Stamenova SPASOVA, born in 1941      Nikolina Nenkova STOIMCHEVA, born in 1944      Stoimen Tsvetanov STOIMENOV, born in 1948      Todorka Tsvetanova STOIMENOVA, born in 1946      Georgi Ivanov STOYANOV, born in 1976      Petar Kirilov STOYANOV, born in 1957      Stefan Nenkov STOYANOV, born in 1943      Stoyan Nenkov STOYANOV, born in 1948      Vladimir Ivanov STOYANOV, born in 1970      Yordan Georgiev STOYANOV, born in 1954      Anka Stefanova STOYANOVA, born in 1941      Deyanka Dimitrova STOYANOVA, born in 1935      Krasimira Angelova STOYANOVA, born in 1952      Nadezhda Vasileva STOYANOVA, born in 1952      Valentina Angelova STOYANOVA, born in 1956      Vasilka Georgieva STOYANOVA, born in 1943      Ivanka Dimitrova STOYNEVA, born in 1935      Lyuben Angelov STOYNOV, born in 1950      Varadinka Pavlova TASEVA, born in 1927      Emilia Georgieva TERZIEVA, born in 1962      Zlatka Borisova TODOROVA, born in 1942      Maria Ivanova TOMEVA, born in 1932      Dimitar Pavlov TOSHKOV, born in 1921      Selimka Stoimenova TRAYKOVA, born in 1931      Vanya Borchova TRAYKOVA, born in 1969      Stefan Aleksandrov TSVETANOV, born in 1964      Vasilka Petkova TSVETKOVA, born in 1933      Trayan Iliev VARADINOV, born in 1954      Varadin Stoyanov VARADINOV, born in 1953      Yuliyan Filipov VASILEV, born in 1962      Eleonora Tsvetanova VASILEVA, born in 1937      Eleonora Ventsislavova VASILEVA, born in 1987      Violeta Petrova VASILEVA, born in 1976      Veronika Ventsislavova VELICHKOVA, born in 1982      Nikolay Vikentiev VIKENTIEV, born in 1965      Plamen Vikentiev VIKENTIEV, born in 1963      Krasa Petkova VLACHKOVA, born in 1950      Krastana Stoynova YAKIMOVA, born in 1926      Ivo Georgiev YANKOV, born in 1950      Ventsislav Petrov YANKOV, born in 1964      Ivanka Borisova YANKOVA, born in 1932      Maria Ivanova YASHEVA, born in 1931      Gergina Pavlova ZAREVA, born in 1949