CEDH · CASELAW;CLIN;ENG — 27 septembre 2011

.s3ABFC313 { font-size:10pt } .sEB86A30B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; page-break-after:avoid } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA241FE93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:18pt; text-align:justify; page-break-after:avoid; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .s2EF62ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:12pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s8F2B0B1B { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12pt } .s9FF10068 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s5F48796F { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s5CB9E8AB { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; border-bottom:1pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .sDF790F1E { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 144 August-September 2011 L.Z. v. Slovakia (dec.) - 27753/06 Decision 27.9.2011 [Section III] Article 35 Article 35-3 Ratione personae Naming of street after public figure affiliated to the Nazis: inadmissible   Facts – The applicant was a Slovak national of Jewish origin who had been living in the Czech Republic since 1983. In 1993 the municipal council of a small village in northern Slovakia decided to name a street in the village after Jozef Tiso, who, according to official historical records, was the head of the Slovak State during the Second World War and had collaborated with Nazi Germany. In 1998 the applicant brought a civil claim requesting the quashing of the municipal council’s decision as unconstitutional. His claim was dismissed by the domestic courts, which concluded that the name of a street in a village which was not the applicant’s place of residence could hardly be seen as affecting his personal integrity. Law – Article   8: The Court emphasised the importance of exercising vigilance towards fascist and other totalitarian movements and demonstrations of intolerance in democratic societies and noted the highly sensitive nature of the issues involved. It pointed out, however, that its task was to examine the impact of a specific situation on the applicant’s Convention rights rather than to settle possible points of debate amongst historians. The Convention did not allow the bringing of an actio popularis , nor did it permit individuals to complain about public acts simply because they considered that they contravened the Convention. In order for the applicant to be considered a victim of a violation of a Convention right, he had to be able to show that he had been directly affected by the impugned measure. The applicant had argued that honouring Jozef Tiso had damaged Slovakia’s reputation, which had inevitably affected the private lives of all of its citizens. His arguments were mainly oriented towards the general problem of the promotion of fascism and its potential consequences for society. However, he had no ties to the village at issue and had not lived in Slovakia since 1983. In fact, he had presented no evidence that the renaming of the street had had any negative effect on his private life. His complaint thus constituted an actio popularis . Conclusion : inadmissible (incompatible ratione personae ).   © Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court. Click here for the Case-Law Information Notes