issued by the Registrar of the Court
ECHR 286 (2012)
05.07.2012
Judgments concerning Bulgaria, France, Poland and Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing the following five
judgments, of which two (in italics) are Committee judgments and are final. The others
are Chamber judgments1 and are not final.
Repetitive cases2 and length-of-proceedings cases, with the Court’s main finding
indicated, can be found at the end of the press release. The judgments in French are
indicated with an asterisk (*).
Just satisfaction
Association Les Témoins de Jehovah v. France (application
no. 8916/05)*
The applicant is the French association “Les Témoins de Jéhovah”. By a judgment of 30
June 2011 the Court held that there had been a violation of Article 9 (freedom of
thought, conscience and religion) concerning the taxation of hand-to-hand gifts received
by the association between 1993 and 1996. Today’s judgment concerned the question of
just satisfaction (Article 41).
The Court held that France is to reimburse the applicant association 4,590,295 euros
(EUR) for the taxes unduly paid and EUR 55,000 for costs and expenses.
Globa v. Ukraine (no. 15729/07)
The applicant, Ivan Globa, is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1949 and lives in
Kulikove (Poltava Region, Ukraine). Relying in particular on Article 6 (right to a fair trial
within a reasonable time), he complained about the excessive length of proceedings in a
dispute over tenancy of a flat to which he had been entitled as an employee of a farming
collective and that the resulting final judgment in his favour of March 1999 had never
been enforced.
Violation of Article 6 § 1
Just satisfaction: EUR 5,000 (non-pecuniary damage).
Golovan v. Ukraine (no. 41716/06)
The applicants, Igor and Iryna Golovan, husband and wife, are Ukrainian nationals who
were born in 1968 and 1965 respectively and live in Donetsk (Ukraine). Igor Golovan is
1
Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month
period following a judgment’s delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber
of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further
examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final judgment. If the referral
request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Under Article 28 of the Convention,
judgments delivered by a Committee are final.
Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for
supervision of its execution. Further information about the execution process can be found here:
2
In which the Court has reached the same findings as in similar cases raising the same issues under the
Convention.
