Information Note on the Court’s case-law 27
February 2001
Ayuntamiento de Mula v. Spain (dec.) - 55346/00
Decision 1.2.2001 [Section IV]
Article 34
Non-governmental organisation
Application brought by town council: inadmissible
The applicant, a municipality, complained of a Supreme Court judgment granting a private individual ownership rights over a property which allegedly belonged to the municipality itself.
Inadmissible under Article 6 § 1: Local authorities had consistently been regarded by the Convention institutions as public-law bodies performing tasks entrusted to them by the Constitution or by statute. As such, they were “governmental organisations”, a term used to designate any national authority – whether central or decentralised – that discharged public duties. Nor could a municipality be treated as a person or a group of individuals. Such an interpretation would be incompatible with the distinction drawn in Article 34 between non-governmental organisations and persons or groups of individuals. Lastly, the fact that municipalities, like natural persons or non-governmental organisations, were entitled to take part in court proceedings to protect their property rights was not a sufficient reason to afford them equivalent treatment where Article 34 was concerned: inadmissible ratione personae.
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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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