CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 9 janvier 2007

.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 } .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 } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   08 9.1.2007   Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER HEARING URBARSKA OBEC TRENCIANSKE BISKUPICE v. SLOVAKIA   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Chamber hearing today, Tuesday 9 January 2007 at 9.30 a.m., on the merits in the case of Urbarska Obec Trencianske Biskupice v. Slovakia (application no. 74258/01).   The applicants   The applicant is a community of land owners in Trenčín (Slovakia), called Urbárska obec – pozemkové spoločenstvo Trenčianske Biskupice.   Summary of the facts   The community owned land in the agglomeration of Trenčín, part of which had been used by the gardeners’ association “Váh” in Zlatovce. The applicants submitted that the rent which the gardeners were obliged to pay had been lower than the property tax payable in respect of that land.   On 22 July 1998 the individual gardeners who used the land of the applicant community brought proceedings under Act 64/1997 to have ownership of the land transferred to them. Act 64/1997, which took effect on 26 March 1997, gave users of the land the right to acquire ownership of it. Owners were given the right to claim either different land or pecuniary compensation. Their options for terminating leases were limited by the Act.   On 24 September 1999 Trenčín District Office granted the request to have ownership of the land transferred to the gardeners, and Trenčín Regional Office upheld that decision on 24   November   1999.   The gardeners paid the required sum for the land to the Slovak Land Fund. The applicant community of land owners received 1.4097 hectares of different land in compensation on 1 October 2002.   On 17 May 2005 Trenčín District Land Office, at the Slovakian Government’s request, issued a document summing up the position as regards the land in question. According to the document, the garden association Váh in Zlatovce was established on wasteland which had been a municipal dump. The surface area of the land which fell under Act 64/1997 amounted to 2.5711 hectares. The surface area of the land which the community of land owners had received in compensation was smaller as it was arable land of high quality and its value was therefore higher. The document further indicated that, in the proceedings under Act 64/1997, the value of the disputed land was taken into account as of the date when the gardener’s association had been established. The value of the land which the owners received in compensation was also established according to the relevant regulations.   In August 2005, at the Government’s request, an expert valued the land being used (and now owned) by the gardeners’ association at 1,166.40 Slovak korunas (SKK) per square metre and the land which the community of land owners had received in compensation at SKK 110.16 per square metre.   Complaint   The applicant community complains about being obliged to lease its land at a disproportionately low price and the subsequent transfer of the land to the tenants. The applicant community relies on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the European Convention on Human Rights.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 7 September 2001 and declared admissible on 12 September 2006.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Nicolas Bratza (British), President , Josep Casadevall (Andorran), Giovanni Bonello (Maltese), Kristaq Traja (Albanian), Lech Garlicki (Polish), Ljiljana Mijović (citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ján Šikuta (Slovakian), judges , Stanislav Pavlovschi (Moldovan), substitute judge , and also Françoise Elens-Passos , Deputy Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Marica Pirošíková , co-Agent ,   Miroslava Bálintová , Counsel ,   Milan Ľalík , Adviser ;   Applicant :   Ján Drgonec , Counsel ,   Marko Polakovič , Ján Krátky , Advisers .   ***   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. Judgment will be delivered at a later date.   Press contacts Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Stéphanie Klein (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Beverley Jacobs (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 21)   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.