CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 19 octobre 2004

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s69BE285C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:85.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-85.05pt } .s9A223E1B { width:11.03pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s595A57E4 { width:85.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s3CED24E9 { width:27.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s9F8EB0C0 { width:18.63pt; display:inline-block } .s9E97F54A { width:85.05pt; display:inline-block } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   509 19.10.2004   Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER HEARING BLÜCHER v. THE CZECH REPUBLIC   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Chamber hearing today at 9 a.m., on the merits in the case of Blücher v. the Czech Republic (application no. 58580/00).   The applicant   The case concerns an application brought by a Czech national, Nicolaus Blücher, who was born in 1932. His official place of residence is Prague but he is currently living in Switzerland.   Summary of the facts   In 1948 his cousin Alexander Blücher, Count of Wahlstatt, inherited a large portfolio of properties in what is now the Czech Republic. All of his properties were subsequently nationalised by the State without compensation. Alexander Blücher died in 1974 after making a will, to be interpreted according to the laws of Guernsey, naming the applicant as his heir.   In 1992 the applicant applied under the Land Act (Law no. 229/1991) for the return of a number of properties situated in Hrabová, Výškovice, Horní Polanka and Dolní Polanka. The relevant land registry refused his application on the ground that persons entitled to restitution (oprávněné osoby) , within the meaning of the Act, did not include those who, although they satisfied the conditions of nationality and permanent residence, derived their claim from an original owner who did not himself satisfy those conditions. That decision was declared null and void by the Ostrava Regional Court (krajský soud) , which held that the question of Alexander Blücher’s nationality was not relevant.   In 1995 the land registry again refused to return the properties on the ground that the applicant had not proved that he was permanently resident in the Czech Republic. The Ostrava Regional Court upheld that decision on 8 December 1995 but on different grounds; it held that the applicant satisfied the residence condition, but was not the sole testamentary heir within the meaning of the Land Act.   On 30 May 1997 the Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud) dismissed an appeal by Mr   Blücher, holding that he could not obtain restitution of the property because the original owner, Alexander Blücher, had British and not Czechoslovak nationality as the Act required. On the basis of that judgment the land registries of Nový Jičín and Opava refused all the applicant’s restitution claims. Those administrative decisions were upheld by the Prague Municipal Court (městský soud) on 23 June 1999 but on different grounds than those given by the Constitutional Court, namely the fact that the applicant was not an heir within the meaning of the Land Act.   On 9 December 1999 and 3 February 2000 the Constitutional Court dismissed further appeals by the applicant, reaffirming the principle that the original owner of a property was required to have Czechoslovak nationality, which the applicant had not been able to establish.   On 4 December 2002 the Prague Municipal Courts upheld the decision of the Opava land registry that Mr Blücher was not entitled to claim ownership of the properties for whose return he had applied.   Complaints   Relying on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicant challenged the Prague Municipal Court’s interpretation of the intentions of the late Alexander Blücher. He complained that the courts had not taken into account his arguments concerning interpretation of the will according to Guernsey law and the share of the estate which he had actually acquired. He also objected to the allegedly retrospective and arbitrary interpretation by the Constitutional Court of the nationality condition laid down in the Land Act.   Procedure   The application was lodged on 6 June 2000 and declared partly admissible on 24 August 2004.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Jean-Paul Costa (French), President , András Baka (Hungarian), Loukis Loucaides (Cypriot), Karel Jungwiert (Czech), Volodymyr Butkevych (Ukrainian), Mindia Ugrekhelidze (Georgian), Antonella Mularoni (San Marinese), judges , Corneliu Bîrsan (Romanian), substitute judge , and also Sally Dollé , Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Vít Alexander Schorm , Agent ,   Jiří Kmec , Counsel ,   Applicant :   Sabine Konrad , Robert Hunter , Counsel .   The applicant’s son, Graf Lukas Blücher , will also attend the hearing.   ***   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. Judgment will be delivered at a later date.   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Press contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)   Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1 November 1998 it has sat as a full-time Court composed of an equal number of judges to that of the States party to the Convention. The Court examines the admissibility and merits of applications submitted to it. It sits in Chambers of 7 judges or, in exceptional cases, as a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the Court’s judgments. More detailed information about the Court and its activities can be found on its Internet site.