CEDH · PRESS;CHAMBERJUDGMENTS;ENG — 27 septembre 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 } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   624 27.9.2007   Press release issued by the Registrar   FIVE MILLION EUROS AWARDED TO APPLICANTS IN GREEK CASE   The European Court of Human Rights has today awarded five million euros (EUR) in damages to the applicants in the case Housing Association of War Disabled and Victims of War of Attica and Others v. Greece (application no. 35859/02).   The Court found in its principal judgment in the case (on 13 July 2006) that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) of the European Convention on Human Rights because the applicants received no compensation after they were prohibited from building homes on their land.   In today’s Article 41 (just satisfaction) judgment [1] , notified in writing, the applicants have been awarded, jointly, EUR   5,000,000 for pecuniary damage (plus any tax chargeable on that amount) and EUR   40,000 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in English.)   1.     Principal facts   The applicants are a Greek housing association – the Housing Association of War Disabled and Victims of War of Attica – and 157 of its members. The housing association was set up in 1951, by disabled Second World War veterans and relatives of soldiers who died in the war, to provide its members with a home.   In 1957 the association paid 400,000 drachmas for 50,000 m² of land in Cholargos, which was subsequently, and unlawfully, requisitioned for use by the Greek Army. In 1964 the State bought the land in exchange for a larger area of land (100,000 m²) in the nearby Korakovouni area. The applicants understood that the association would be allowed to make use of the new land once local planning regulations had been modified.   However, as a result of the coming into force in 1975 of new rules to protect the environment, the applicants’ land was classified as protected woodland on which building was prohibited.   Members of the association appealed unsuccessfully before the Supreme Administrative Court and subsequently brought proceedings (also unsuccessful) requesting that the land be expropriated or exchanged for land of equal value.   On 22 July 1999 the case went again before the Supreme Administrative Court with the applicants complaining that they had been prevented from using their property for more than 40 years, without compensation. The case was dismissed.   2.     Procedure and composition of the Court   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 25 September 2002 and declared admissible on 27 January 2005.   In its Chamber judgment of 13 July 2006 (press release No. 428) the Court found that, while the Greek State’s concern to protect forests was legitimate, it also had a responsibility to protect the applicants’ right to property. Prohibiting the applicants from building on their land without paying them compensation meant that a reasonable balance had not been struck between the public interest and the protection of the applicants’ rights. The Court therefore held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.   Both judgments were given by a Chamber of seven judges, composed as follows:   Loukis Loucaides (Cypriot), President , Christos Rozakis (Greek), Françoise Tulkens (Belgian), Elisabeth Steiner (Austrian), Khanlar Hajiyev (Azerbaijani), Dean Spielmann (Luxemburger), Sverre Erik Jebens (Norwegian), judges , and also Søren Nielsen , Section Registrar .   ***   The Court’s judgments are accessible on its Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   Press contacts Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Stéphanie Klein (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) Paramy Chanthalangsy (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 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. [1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17 ‑ member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.