Information Note on the Court’s case-law 199
August-September 2016
Garib v. the Netherlands (referral) - 43494/09
Judgment 23.2.2016 [Section III]
Article 2 of Protocol No. 4
Article 2 para. 1 of Protocol No. 4
Freedom to choose residence
Policy imposing length-of-residence and type of income conditions on persons wishing to settle in inner-city area of Rotterdam: case referred to the Grand Chamber
The Inner City Problems (Special Measures) Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2006, empowered a number of named municipalities, including Rotterdam, to take measures in certain designated areas including the granting of partial tax exemptions to small business owners and the selecting of new residents based on their sources of income. In 2005 the applicant moved to the city of Rotterdam and took up residence in a rented property in the Tarwewijk district. Following the entry into force of the Inner City Problems (Special Measures) Act, Tarwewijk became a designated area under a Rotterdam by-law. After being asked by her landlord to move to another property he was letting in the same district, the applicant applied for a housing permit as required by the new legislation. However, her application was rejected on the grounds that she had not been resident in the Rotterdam Metropolitan Region for the requisite period and did not meet the income requirement. Her subsequent appeals were unsuccessful. In 2010 the applicant moved to the municipality of Vlaardingen, which was also part of the Rotterdam Metropolitan Region.
In a judgment of 23 February 2016 (see Information Note 193), a Chamber of the Court found, by five votes to two, that there had been no breach of Article 2 of Protocol No. 4. In particular, the Court held that, in principle, the State had been entitled to adopt the impugned legislation and policy and in the circumstances the domestic authorities had been under no obligation to accommodate the applicant’s preferences.
On 12 September 2016 the case was referred to the Grand Chamber at the applicant’s request.
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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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