Published on 17 June 2024
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 25747/21
Florina Mariana Liana MORARIU
against Romania
lodged on 29 April 2021
communicated on 29 May 2024
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns access to court, for a mentally ill person divested of her legal capacity, to contest the activity of her legal guardian and to recover possession of some of her assets which had been sold by the legal guardian on her behalf.
1. Proceedings with a view to replacing the legal guardian
The applicant, who had been divested of legal capacity on 15 March 2011, lodged, on 8 May 2019, an action seeking replacement of her legal guardian because, allegedly, the latter had mismanaged her assets and had failed to take an interest in her well-being. Her request was dismissed on 9 March 2020 by the Cluj Napoca District Court on the grounds, notably, that the legal guardian had committed no abuse, as demonstrated by the fact that the reports she had drafted concerning the management of the applicant’s assets had been duly approved by the Cluj Napoca mayor’s office (the social welfare authority). The decision was upheld by a final decision of 3 November 2020 of the Cluj County Court.
2. Proceedings with a view to recovering possession of the applicant’s assets
On 22 April 2019 the applicant’s daughter lodged, on behalf of her mother, an action for recovery of possession of several plots of land, amounting to a total of 80 hectares, that the applicant had inherited and which had been allegedly sold to third parties by her legal guardian, unbeknownst to her. On 3 December 2020 the Cluj County Court rejected the action, on the grounds that only her legal guardian had the power to represent the applicant’s interests in court. On 19 May 2021 the Cluj-Napoca Court of Appeal dismissed as ill-founded the appeal lodged by the applicant’s daughter on her behalf. The parties did not lodge an appeal on points of law.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Did the determination of the applicant’s civil rights satisfy the requirements of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular:
(a) Did the applicant have access to a court for the determination of her civil rights and obligations, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the proceedings for the recovery of her possessions (final decision of 19 May 2021)?
(b) Did the applicant have a fair hearing in the determination of her civil rights and obligations, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, in the proceedings for replacing the legal guardian (final decision of 3 November 2020 of the Cluj County Court), in so far as the courts dismissed her request allegedly solely on the basis of a report validated by the social welfare authority? Was the applicant able to present evidence in support of her allegations of misconduct on the part of the legal guardian?
2. Has there been an interference with the applicant’s peaceful enjoyment of her possessions, within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, in the proceedings which gave rise to the decision of 19 May 2021?
If so, was this interference provided for by law and proportionate, within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1?