SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 42107/04
Hasan EROĞLU against Turkey
and 20 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 28 June 2016 as a Committee composed of:
Ksenija Turković, President,
Jon Fridrik Kjølbro,
Georges Ravarani, judges,
and, Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
A. The circumstances of the cases
2. The facts of the cases, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
3. The applicants’ respective plots of land were expropriated by the administration. Subsequently, pursuant to section 10 of Law no. 2942 proceedings were initiated before the first instance courts to determine the amount of compensations that should be awarded to the applicants. Based on expert reports, the domestic courts established the amount of compensations and these judgments were subsequently upheld by the Court of Cassation. No interest was applied to the amounts paid. The details of the applications may be found in the appendix.
B. Relevant domestic law and practice
4. A description of the domestic law regarding the new remedy introduced by Law no. 6384 may be found in Turgut and Others v. Turkey (dec.), no. 4860/09, 26 March 2013; Demiroğlu v. Turkey (dec.), no. 56125/10, 4 June 2013; and Yıldız and Yanak v. Turkey (dec.), no. 44013/07, 27 May 2014.
COMPLAINTS
5. Relying on Article 6 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, the applicants complained about the financial loss they had suffered as a result of late payment of the expropriation amounts. In this connection, they maintained that no interest had been applied to the amounts awarded by the courts, that the payment had not been made pursuant to Article 46 of the Constitution, and that the authorities had not complied with the three and a half month time-limit in paying the awarded sums.
6. Some of the applicants also complained under Article 6 of the Convention that the domestic courts had erred in the calculation of the awards.
7. Furthermore, in some cases, the applicants alleged under Article 8 of the Convention that their right to respect for their home had been breached as a result of the expropriation.
THE LAW
8. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
A. Complaint regarding the alleged financial loss suffered by the applicants
9. Relying on Article 6 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, the applicants complained about the financial loss they had suffered as a result of the late payment of the expropriation amounts.
10. The Court will examine this part of the application solely under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention (see, Yetiş and Others v. Turkey, no. 40349/05, § 63, 6 July 2010, and Güleç and Armut v. Turkey (dec.), no. 25969/09, 16 November 2010).
11. The Government noted that pursuant to Law no. 6384 a new Compensation Commission had been established to deal with applications concerning the length of proceedings and the non-execution of judgments. They further noted that the competence of the Compensation Commission was subsequently enlarged by a decree adopted on 16 March 2014 to examine complaints relating to, among other things, the alleged loss of value of the amount of the expropriation compensation due to the effects of inflation and the length of the proceedings. Accordingly, they maintained that the applicants had not exhausted domestic remedies, as they had not made any application to the Compensation Commission.
12. The Court observes that, as pointed out by the Government, a new domestic remedy has been established in Turkey following the application of the pilot judgment procedure in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan v. Turkey (no. 24240/07, 20 March 2012). Subsequently, in its decision in the case of Yıldız and Yanak v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 44013/07, 27 May 2014), the Court declared an application inadmissible on the ground that the applicants had failed to exhaust domestic remedies, that is to say the new remedy. In so doing, the Court considered in particular that this new remedy was a priori accessible and capable of offering a reasonable prospect of redress for complaints concerning the depreciation of awards in expropriation cases.
13. The Court notes that in its decision in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan (cited above, § 77), it stressed that it could nevertheless examine, under its normal procedure, applications of that type which had already been communicated to the Government.
14. However, taking into account the Government’s preliminary objection with regard to the applicants’ failure to make use of the new domestic remedy established by Law no. 6384, the Court reiterates its conclusion in the case of Turgut and others ((dec.), no. 4860/09, 26 March 2013).
15. In view of the above, the Court concludes that this part of the applications should be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non‑exhaustion of domestic remedies.
B. Other complaints
16. The applicants also raised other complaints under Articles 6 and 8 of the Convention. However, in the light of the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, the Court finds that these complaints do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols.
17. It follows that this part of the applications is manifestly ill‑founded and must be rejected in accordance with the Article 35 § 3 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares inadmissible the applications.
Done in English and notified in writing on 21 July 2016.
Hasan BakırcıKsenija Turković
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
No.
Application No and Date of Introduction
Applicant’s Name, date of birth, place of residence and name of representative
Date on which the applicant initiated proceedings and plot no.
Information regarding the judgment of the first-instance courts
Information regarding the final decision of the Court of Cassation
42107/04
06/09/2004
Hasan Eroğlu
06/01/1944
Niğde
Adil Aktay
29/03/2002
Plot no. 104/386
21/11/2003
Ulukışla Civil Court
(E : 2003/318,
K : 2003/505)
1 690 749 107 TRL
23/03/2004
(E : 2004/691, K : 2004/2241)
42108/04
06/09/2004
Ali Avcu
05/07/1926
Horuz
Adil Aktay
11/03/2002
Plot no. 563 (a)
19/12/2003
Ulukışla Civil Court
(E : 2003/141, K : 2003/540)
71 826 921 305 TRL
13/04/2004
(E : 2004/1619, K : 2004/3036)
42109/04
06/09/04
Ali Avcu
05/07/1926
Horuz
Adil Aktay
11/03/2002
Plot no. 563
19/12/2003
Ulukışla Civil Court
(E : 2003/139, K : 2003/538)
23 290 063 462 TRL
13/04/2004
(E : 2004/1629, K : 2004/3037)
44627/09
10/08/2009
Abdullah Ünlü
20/08/1935
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
28/03/2006
Plot no. 147/ 3
23/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/40,
K : 2008/274)
33 547,63 TRY
02/03/2009
(E : 2008/12923, K : 2009/1886)
45988/09
17/08/2009
Fadime Altunay
25/10/1965
Karaman
Mehmet Gündüz
18/07/1968
Karaman
Hanım Çeyiz
25/02/1972
Konya
Hakkı Altunay
10/05/1954
Karaman
Hasan Altunay
05/04/1935
Karaman
Fatma Altunay
01/01/1929
Karaman
Hasibe Gündüz
01/01/1960
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
28/03/2006
Plot no. 144/ 6
23/09/2008
Ulukışka Civil Court
(E : 2008/29, K : 2008/264)
38 260,09 TRY
03/03/2009
(E : 2009/947,
K : 2009/2088)
47356/09
24/08/2009
Mehmet Ali Bakır
19/01/1954
Emine Altunay
01/09/1965
Hasan Ali
Bakır
15/10/1947
Fatma Belen
10/05/1952
Ayşe Balcı
20/03/1963
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
28/03/2006
Plot no. 151/ 35
23/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E/2008/87, K/2008/284)
2 298,66 TRY
02/03/2009
(E/2008/12895, K/209/1885)
47412/09
25/08/2009
Fadime Armut
13/11/1972
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
28/03/2006
Plot no. 150/ 4
23/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/129,
K : 2008/286)
3 905, 45 TRY
02/03/2009
(E : 2008/12908, K : 2009/1884)
47982/09
10/08/2009
Hasan Korkmaz
03/07/1959
Karaman
Adil Aktay
28/03/2006
Plot no. 150/ 5
23/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/39, K : 2008/273)
14 917,71 TRY
02/03/2009
(E : 2008/1291, K : 2009/1889)
47987/09
10/08/2009
Ayşe Başcı
12/02/1931
Karaman
İsmail Keşyapan
01/12/1977
Karaman
Serkan Keşyapan
07/02/1982
Karaman
Erdal Keşyapan
01/03/1980
Karaman
Zehra Keşyapan 03/10/1952
Karaman
Mehmet Ali
Başçı
06/05/1949
Karaman
Fadime Şimşek
25/06/1959
Karaman
Kamil Başçı
01/02/1962
Karaman
Mehmet
Başçı
01/04/1967
Karaman
Şerife Yaldız
07/04/1970
Karaman
Ahmet Başçı
15/01/1955
Karaman
Adil Aktay
28/03/2006
Plot no. 146/ 8
23/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/46, K : 2008/283)
42 836,91 TRY
02/03/2009
(E : 2008/12922, K : 2009/1887)
49789/09
15/08/2009
Özdemir Dede
01/03/1945
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
23/02/2006
Plot no. 101/ 17
01/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/26,
K : 2008/241)
28 946,09 TRY
16/03/2009
(E : 209/1824, K : 2009/2608)
49799/09
15/08/2009
Teslime Toklu
15/01/1959
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
23/02/2006
Plot no. 101/ 10
01/09/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/25,
K : 2008/240)
13 924,44 TRY
30/03/2009
(E : 2009/2988, K : 2009/3408)
53149/09
29/09/2009
Şefika Demir
11/02/1949
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 139/ 13
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/53,
K : 2008/362)
149 859,09 TRY
30/03/2009
(E : 2009/2998, K : 2009/3407)
53152/09
29/09/2009
Hatice Kalkan
01/01/1927
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 140/ 4
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/58,
K : 2008/366)
165 735, 40 TRY
30/03/2009
(E : 2009/2996, K : 2009/3406)
53691/09
05/10/2009
Mustafa Kalkan
20/08/1945
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 140/ 3
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/57, K : 2008/365)
45 544,62 TRY
06/04/2009
(E : 2009/2990, K : 2009/3772)
53692/09
05/10/2009
Mehmet Başçı
03/03/1955
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 139/ 31
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/56,
K : 2008/364)
233 995,97 TRY
06/04/2009
(E : 2009/2997, K : 2009/3775)
53694/09
05/10/2009
Mehmet Başçı
01/04/1967
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 139/ 5
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/132, K : 2008/370)
71 449,34 TRY
(paid on 30/12/2008)
06/04/2009
(E : 2009/2992, K : 2009/3770)
53698/09
05/10/2009
Osman Tuna
20/03/1951
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 151/ 37
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/59, K : 2008/367)
76 827,50 TRY
(paid on 31/12/2008)
06/04/2009
(E : 2009/2999, K : 2009/3771)
54814/09
05/10/2009
Emine Altunay
01/01/1938
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 151/ 33
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/60, K : 2008/368)
208 562,67 TRY
(paid on 31/12/2008)
06/04/2009
(E : 2009/2995, K : 2009/3773)
54842/09
05/10/2009
Mustafa Kalkan
20/08/1945
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 139/ 12
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/52,
K : 2008/361)
180 864,63 TRY
(paid on 30/12/2008)
06/04/2009
(E : 2009/2991, K : 2009/3774)
56460/09
12/10/2009
Asiye Yeşilyaprak
10/11/1957
Karaman
Emine Dağ
15/07/1966
Ermenek
Salahaddin Şimşek
15/10/1968
Karaman
Erol Şimşek
25/07/1972
Karaman
Ali Şimşek
04/08/1960
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 128/ 1
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/50,
K : 2008/360)
446 268,96 TRY
(paid on 30/12/2008)
13/04/2009
(E : 2009/2989, K : 2009/4075)
56478/09
12/10/2009
Mehmet Başçı
03/03/1955
Karaman
Özlem Yıldız
09/10/2006
Plot no. 139/ 30
30/12/2008
Ermenek Civil Court
(E : 2008/55, K : 2008/363)
846 795, 26 TRY
(paid on 30/12/2008)
13/04/2009
(E : 2009/3000, K : 2009/4076)
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