CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 10 mars 2009

.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 } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .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 } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   187 10.3.2009     Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER HEARING SULJAGIĆ v. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Chamber hearing today Tuesday   10   March 2009 at 9 a.m. , on the admissibility and merits in the case of Suljagić   v.   Bosnia and Herzegovina (application no. 27912/02).   The hearing will be broadcast from 2.30 p.m. on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).     The applicant   The case concerns an application brought by a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina national, Mustafa Suljagić who was born in 1935 and lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina.   Summary of the facts   Prior to the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the applicant deposited foreign currency in his bank accounts at the then Privredna banka Sarajevo – Osnovna banka Tuzla. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in other successor States of the former Yugoslavia, such savings are commonly referred to as “old” foreign-currency savings.   The applicant attempted to withdraw his funds on several occasions to no avail.   His “old” foreign-currency savings, as well as those of all others in a similar situation,   were subsequently converted into public debt and a repayment scheme was set up.   On 6 April 2005 the Human Rights Commission within the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina examined the applicant’s   and other similar situations in the context of a case known as   Besarović and 310 Others . It considered the legislation of that period about “old” foreign-currency savings to be contrary to Article 6 of the   European   Convention   on Human Rights   because of a   lack of procedural guarantees   and   also contrary to Article 1 of Protocol   No. 1 to the Convention   because of   the lack of a fair balance between the general and the individual interests.   The Human Rights Commission imposed certain general measures and awarded the applicant 500   convertible   marks   (BAM) [1] for non-pecuniary damage and legal costs.   Pursuant to the Besarović and 310 Others decision, Bosnia and Herzegovina passed the Old Foreign-Currency Savings Act 2006 on 15 April 2006   (“the 2006 Act”). It   is still in force.   On 29 December 2006 the competent agency assessed the amount of the applicant’s “old” foreign-currency savings at BAM 269,275.21. It included the applicant’s original deposits and interest accrued by 31 December 1991 at the rate actually agreed (somewhere between 7.5   % and 12.5   %). Interest accrued from 1 January 1992 until 15 April 2006 (the date of entry into force of the 2006 Act) was cancelled and calculated afresh at the annual rate of 0.5   % pursuant to section 4 of the 2006 Act. In 2007 the applicant received BAM   1,000 under section 18(3) of the 2006 Act. As regards the remaining sum (BAM   268,275.21), the applicant should have been issued with State bonds by 31 March 2008. This still remains to be done.   In accordance with the relevant Amortisation Plan, bonds are to be amortised in seven yearly instalments (7.5   % of the principal amount on 27 September 2008, 9   % on 27 September 2009, 11   % on 27 September 2010, 12   % on 27 September 2011, 13   % on 27 September 2012, 15   % on 27 September 2013, 15.5   % on 27 September 2014 and 17   % on 27 March 2015). Annual interest rate on bonds is to be calculated, at the rate of 2.5   %, from 15 April 2006 and paid on 27 March and 27 September every year from 27 September 2008 until 27   March 2015. Once bonds have been issued, the applicant will be able to sell them on the Stock Exchange at the trade price.   Complaint   The applicant alleges a breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property)   to the Convention in that the 2006 Act failed to strike a fair balance between general and individual interests.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 2 July 2002 and declared partly admissible on 20 June 2006. On 9 December 2008 the Court decided to adjourn all similar cases (more than 1,000 such cases with more than 10,000 applicants are already pending before the Court) pending the outcome of this case.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Nicolas Bratza (the United Kingdom), President , Lech Garlicki (Poland), Giovanni Bonello (Malta), Ljiljana Mijović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), David Thór Björgvinsson (Iceland), Ledi Bianku (Albania), Mihai Poalelungi (Moldova), judges , Ján Šikuta (Slovakia), Päivi Hirvelä (Finland), Nebojša Vučinić (Montenegro), substitute judges , and also Fatoş Aracı , Deputy Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Monika Mijić , Agent ,   Zikreta Ibrahimović , Deputy Agent ,   Biljana Kujundžić , Assistant Agent ,   Aleksandar Džombić , Dragana Aleksić , Tihomir Ćurak , Ezher Kubat , Mate Lučić , Advisers ;   Applicant :   Emir Suljagić , Counsel ,   Sanel Imamović , Assistant Counsel .     ***   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. A decision on admissibility, followed if appropriate by a judgment, will be delivered at a later date [2] .   Press contacts Stefano Piedimonte (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 04) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) Paramy Chanthalangsy (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 28 30) Kristina Pencheva-Malinowski (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 70) Céline Menu-Lange (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 90 21 58 77)   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] The convertible mark (BAM) was pegged at par to the Deutsch mark (DEM). Since the replacement of the German mark by the euro (EUR) in 2002, the convertible mark effectively uses the same fixed exchange rate to the euro than the Deutsch mark (that is, 1 EUR = 1.95583 BAM). [2] This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.