I correctly predicted that there was a violation of human rights in KOSINSKYY v. UKRAINE.
Information
- Judgment date: 2020-11-26
- Communication date: 2020-09-23
- Application number(s): 64471/13
- Country: UKR
- Relevant ECHR article(s): 3, 5, 5-1-c, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 6, 6-2, 34
- Conclusion:
Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions) - Result: Violation SEE FINAL JUDGMENT
JURI Prediction
- Probability: 0.768511
- Prediction: Violation
Consistent
Legend
Communication text used for prediction
The application concerns the applicant’s allegations under Article 3 of the Convention of being confined in a metal cage during the court hearings in his case, and of being handcuffed on the hearing days without any justification.
The case also concerns the alleged lack of justification of his pre-trial detention, the alleged lack of an effective procedure to review the lawfulness of his detention, and the alleged lack of an enforceable right to compensation for unlawful detention in breach of Article 5 §§ 3, 4 and 5 of the Convention.
On 18 June 2012 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of fraud.
His arrest and further detention was authorised by the domestic courts a number of times with reference mainly to the seriousness of the crime the applicant was accused of, his possibility to flee from and hinder the investigation or continue with criminal activity.
On 18 August 2014 the applicant’s detention was changed for house arrest.
According to the applicant, he was kept handcuffed in a metal cage during the court hearings.
On 12 May 2014 the domestic court refused his request to be released from the cage and to take his handcuffs off in view of the request being outside the court’s competence.
In the course of the applicant’s detention he introduced a number of requests for release but to no avail.
Judgment
FIFTH SECTIONCASE OF SAYEVYCH AND KOVAL v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 64547/19 and 11649/20)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
26 November 2020
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Sayevych and Koval v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Ivana Jelić, President,Ganna Yudkivska,Arnfinn Bårdsen, judges,and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 November 2020,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table. 2. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications. THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table. 4. The applicants complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention about the blanket ban on alienation of agricultural land. THE LAW
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment. 6. The applicants complained that the legislative restrictions applicable to their land had breached their right to peaceful enjoyment of their possessions, guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 1
“Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law. The preceding provisions shall not, however, in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest or to secure the payment of taxes or other contributions or penalties.”
7. The Court reiterates that not only must an interference with the right of property be lawful and pursue, on the facts as well as in principle, a “legitimate aim” in the “general interest”, but there must also be a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised by any measures applied by the State, including measures designed to control the use of the individual’s property. That requirement is expressed by the notion of a “fair balance” that must be struck between the demands of the general interest of the community and the requirements of the protection of the individual’s fundamental rights (see Hutten-Czapska v. Poland [GC], no. 35014/97, § 167, ECHR 2006‐VIII). 8. In the leading case of Zelenchuk and Tsytsyura v. Ukraine (nos. 846/16 and 1075/16, 22 May 2018), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case. The Court observed that Ukraine was the only Council of Europe member State with a general ban on sale or any other form of alienation of agricultural land. Given the lack of consistent reasons given for not adopting alternative solutions and the excessive burden imposed on the applicants, the Court concluded that the respondent State had overstepped its wide margin of appreciation in this area and had not struck a fair balance between the general interest of the community and the property rights of the applicants. 9. In the present applications, having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the State failed to strike a fair balance between the general interest of the community and the property rights of the applicants. 10. These complaints are therefore admissible and there has been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention. 11. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
12. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‐law (see, in particular, Zelenchuk and Tsytsyura, cited above §§ 150, 154-157 and 161), the Court considers that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 November 2020, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court. Liv TigerstedtIvana Jelić Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention
(blanket ban on alienation of agricultural land)
No. Application no. Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Description of plot of land
Document as evidence of ownership of
the plot of land
64547/19
03/12/2019
Nadiya Antonivna SAYEVYCH
1957
A plot of agricultural land of 3.6014 hectares in Lviv Region
Land Ownership Certificate of 8 June 2005
11649/20
25/02/2020
Ivan Mykolayovych KOVAL
1950
Dmytro Pernykoza
Kyiv
A plot of agricultural land of 1.1391 hectares in Lviv Region
Land Ownership Certificate of 12 February 2015
No. Application no. Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Description of plot of land
Document as evidence of ownership of
the plot of land
64547/19
03/12/2019
Nadiya Antonivna SAYEVYCH
1957
A plot of agricultural land of 3.6014 hectares in Lviv Region
Land Ownership Certificate of 8 June 2005
11649/20
25/02/2020
Ivan Mykolayovych KOVAL
1950
Dmytro Pernykoza
Kyiv
A plot of agricultural land of 1.1391 hectares in Lviv Region
Land Ownership Certificate of 12 February 2015