Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 104
January 2008
Merzhoyev v. Russia - 68444/01
Decision 17.1.2008 [Section I]
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1
Possessions
Inability to recover deposits from the Chechen Savings Bank, a part of the Savings Bank of Russia, following its liquidation, despite judicial recognition of entitlement: admissible
Prior to 1992 the applicant deposited his savings with the Chechen Savings Bank, then an integral part of the USSR Savings Banks. After the beginning of hostilities in Chechnya in 1994, the applicant left Chechnya and settled in Moscow. Thereafter he applied to transfer his savings to a Moscow branch of the Savings Bank of Russia, the successor to the USSR Savings Bank. In 2000, following the bank’s refusal to transfer the money, he brought a court action. The courts confirmed his entitlement to the deposits in question, acknowledging “the existence of obligations under the bank deposit agreements between the applicant and the Savings Bank”. However, his action was dismissed on the grounds that the Chechen Savings Bank had been wound up in 1996 and that there existed no legal framework which would enable the transfer and reimbursement of his deposits. In 2003, in accordance with a governmental decree, the Savings Bank of Russia commenced payment of compensation to the former depositors of the Chechen Savings Bank. It was unclear whether the applicant had applied for a payment.
Admissible.
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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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