Resolution CM/ResDH(2008)43[1]
Execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
Tsironis against Greece
(Application No. 44584/98, judgment of 6 December 2001, final on 6 March 2002)
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 once it had become final;
Recalling that the violations of the Convention found by the Court in this case concern a disproportionate constraint upon the applicant's right of access to a court (violation of Article 6, paragraph 1) as well as failure to respect of the applicant's right to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions (violation of 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 Greece's 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 in the judgment, 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(2008)43
Information about the measures taken to comply with the judgment
in the case of Tsironis against Greece
Introductory case summary
The case concerns a disproportionate limitation of the applicant's right of access to a court in that the national courts, applying the relevant provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, dismissed as out of time his application, of December 1991, for annulment of the sale of his land by auction, requested by a creditor bank, although they had admitted that the notification to the applicant of the act deciding the sale was void (violation of Article 6§1). In this respect, the notification had been done by a bailiff as to a person whose address is unknown, even though the applicant had given the police the written proof necessary to establish a new identity card.
The European Court found that in the circumstances of the case, the way in which the creditor bank proceeded so as to accelerate the recovery of its debt (it has asked for the sale by auction of the field, even though an agreement as to the settlement of the debt, from which it resulted that the applicant could reasonably believe that the debt was not outstanding, had been reached shortly beforehand), combined with the courts' decision to dismiss as out of time the applicant's appeal, even if the latter had no means to react against this situation, infringed the fair balance to be established between the protection of his right to a peaceful enjoyment of his possessions and the requirements of the general interest (violations of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1).
I.Payment of just satisfaction and individual measures
a) Details of just satisfaction
Damage
Costs and expenses
Total
6 000 000 Drachmas
2 000 000 Drachmas
8 000 000 Drachmas
Paid on 27/05/2002
b) Individual measures
The European Court awarded the applicant just satisfaction for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. No further claim has been made by the applicant.
II.General measures
In order to prevent similar violations, the Ministry of Justice promptly disseminated the European Court's judgment to the association of bailiffs and drew their attention to their duty to exercise diligence and to exhaust all means provided for by law (Articles 122-143 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP)) to find the persons concerned before qualifying them as being of unknown residence.
The Court's judgment was also swiftly sent out to civil courts and translated and published on the official website of the State Legal Council (). The fact that no similar violation has occurred since is indicative of the effectiveness of these measures.
Finally, it is to be noted that in the present judgment the European Court did not question the correctness of the provisions of the CCP (Articles 933 and 934) applied in the present case. They provide remedies against forced execution as well as deadlines for their exercise, they also aim at ensuring the security of transactions related to sales at auction and at avoiding unnecessary delays of these procedures (§27 of judgment). Further procedural safety is provided by Articles 152 ff of the CCP, according to which in cases where a person has not met a deadline due to force majeure or to malice on the part of the adverse party, they have the right to request that the former position is restored.
III.Conclusions of the respondent state
The government considers that the measures taken have fully remedied the consequences for the applicant of the violations of the Convention found by the European Court in this case, that these measures will prevent new, similar violations and that Greece has thus complied with its obligations under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention.
[1] Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 25 June 2008 at the 1028th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies
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