Published on 13 April 2026
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 12405/25
Suzana SOKOLOVIĆ
against Serbia
lodged on 15 April 2025
communicated on 24 March 2026
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns a decision by the domestic authorities to cull/euthanise the applicant’s livestock due to an alleged risk of spreading of an infectious disease, as well as the subsequent civil proceedings for damages brought by the applicant in this context.
The applicant, who is a hog farmer, complains, under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, about the “arbitrary destruction of her livestock” and the “lack of adequate compensation” thereafter. Relying on Article 6 of the Convention, she furthermore complains that the judgments of the Pirot Court of First Instance and the Niš Court of Appeal contained no proper reasoning.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Having regard to the reasons given by the Pirot Court of First Instance (P.br.4650/21) and the Niš Court of Appeal (26Gž.2418/2022) in their judgments of 26 May 2022 and 3 August 2022, respectively, 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 (see, for example and among other authorities, Paun Jovanović v. Serbia, no. 41394/15, §§ 100 and 101, 7 February 2023, with further references)?
2. Has there been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 as regards, in particular, the decision of the national authorities to cull/euthanise the applicant’s livestock and/or her complaint that she was not afforded adequate compensation in this connection by the respondent State’s administrative and judicial authorities (see, for example and mutatis mutandis, Lekić v. Slovenia [GC], no. 36480/07, §§ 92, 94, 95, 105 and 107-110, 11 December 2018, and S.A. Bio d’Ardennes v. Belgium, no. 44457/11, §§ 33, 44 and 51, 12 November 2019, both with further references)?