Resolution CM/ResDH(2011)272[1]
Execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
Amato against Turkey
(Application No. 58771/00, judgment of 03/05/2007, final on 12/11/2007)
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides that the Committee supervises the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” and “the Court”);
Having regard to the judgment transmitted by the Court to the Committee once it had become final;
Recalling that the violation of the Convention found by the Court in this case concerns the breach of the applicant’s right to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions in that the authorities refused to compensate the demolition of his house as ordered by the courts on the ground that it posed life-threatening danger (Article 1 of Protocol No. 1) (see details in Appendix);
Having invited the government of the respondent state to inform the Committee of the measures taken to comply with its obligation under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by the judgment;
Having examined the information provided by the government in accordance with the Committee’s Rules for the application of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention;
Having satisfied itself that, within the time-limit set, the respondent state paid the applicant the just satisfaction provided in the judgment (see details in Appendix),
Recalling that a finding of violations by the Court requires, over and above the payment of just satisfaction awarded by the Court in its judgments, the adoption by the respondent state, where appropriate:
- of individual measures to put an end to the violations and erase their consequences so as to achieve as far as possible restitutio in integrum; and
- of general measures preventing similar violations;
DECLARES, having examined the measures taken by the respondent state (see Appendix) that it has exercised its functions under Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention in this case and
DECIDES to close the examination of this case.
Appendix to Resolution CM/ResDH(2011)272
Information about the measures to comply with the judgment in the case of
Amato against Turkey
Introductory case summary
The case concerns the demolition of the applicant’s house by the authorities without payment of compensation (violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1).
In 1994, the applicant bought a house in a neighbourhood which had been declared a “natural disaster area” following a major landslide about thirty years before. When the applicant bought it, the house was vacant and in ruins. In 1995, another rockslide occurred and some of the houses in the neighbourhood sustained further damage. The authorities established that the applicant’s house posed life-threatening danger for the community. Accordingly, at the request of the Directorate of Public Works and Settlement, the Izmir Governor’s Office ordered it to be demolished without delay.
Upon demolition, the applicant filed an action for compensation. However, the Izmir Administrative Court dismissed the request, finding that the applicant had been aware that the house was located in a disaster area, that his vacant and ruined house had no historical or architectural value and that it posed an immediate threat to public safety. In 1998, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld this decision.
The European Court found that although the demolition was justified under the circumstances, the total lack of compensation upset, to the applicant’s detriment, the fair balance that needed to be struck between the protection of property and the requirements of the general interest.
I.Payment of just satisfaction and individual measures
a) Details of just satisfaction
Pecuniary damage
Non-pecuniary damage
Costs and expenses
Total
1500 EUR
-
1000 EUR
2500 EUR
Paid on 06/02/2008
b) Individual measures
The Court noted that when the basis of the violation found is the lack of compensation, the compensation need not necessarily reflect the full value of the property. The Court therefore awarded a lump sum that would correspond to the applicant’s legitimate expectations to obtain compensation (§ 32).
Consequently, no other individual measure was considered necessary by the Committee of Ministers.
II.General measures
The European Court’s judgment was translated into Turkish and sent out to the relevant authorities. The Turkish authorities considered that the problem revealed by this judgment was an isolated one and that the publication and dissemination of the Court’s judgment would therefore sufficient to prevent similar violations in the future.
III.Conclusions of the respondent state
The government considers that no individual measure is required apart from the payment of the just satisfaction, that the general measures adopted will prevent similar violations and that Turkey has thus complied with its obligations under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention.
[1] Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 2 December 2011 at the 1128th Meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies
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