issued by the Registrar of the Court

ECHR 415 (2016)

15.12.2016

Judgments and decisions of 15 December 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing seven judgments¹and

57 decisions²:

two Chamber judgments are summarised below; for two others, in the cases of M.P. v. Finland

(application no. 36487/12) and Ignatov v. Ukraine (no. 40583/15), separate press releases have been

issued;

for two decisions, in the cases of Žirovnický v. the Czech Republic (nos. 60439/12 and 73999/12) and

Bıdık v. Turkey (no. 45222/15), separate press releases have been issued;

a separate press release has also been issued for 11 partial decisions concerning Turkey;

lastly, three Committee judgments, which concern issues which have already been submitted to the

Court, and the 44 other decisions can be consulted on Hudoc and do not appear in this press release.

The judgments below are available only in English.

Colloredo Mannsfeld v. the Czech Republic (application no. 15275/11)

The applicant, Jerome Colloredo Mannsfeld, is a Czech national who was born in 1949 and lives in

Zbiroh (the Czech Republic). The case concerned restitution proceedings for movable property

located in Opočno Castle. The property was confiscated from the applicant’s predecessor during the

German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1942, and once again in 1945 after the Second World War

had ended.

National legislation adopted in 1991 provides for the restitution of properties that had been

transferred to the State between 25 February 1948 and 1 January 1990. In 1992 the applicant’s

father thus brought an action for the restitution of property in Opočno Castle. The applicant entered

the proceedings as heir and legal successor to his father, when he died in 1998. Owing to the large

number of items concerned, the action was decided in three sets of successive proceedings from

1999 to 2012. The first set of proceedings – in which a collection of paintings was returned to the

applicant – is not part of the present application before the European Court.

In 2006, in the course of the second proceedings, the Pardubice District Court, finding the applicant’s

claim well-founded, ordered the State to return a large set of items to him. However, this judgment

was subsequently overturned by the Regional Court. Referring in particular to a decision of 1947 by

the Ministry of Agriculture in which the Opočno Castle State was declared cultural property, the

Regional Court considered that the property in question had been taken away from the applicant’s

predecessor before 25 February 1948 and that therefore the legislation on restitution did not apply.

The supreme jurisdictions, also explicitly referring to the 1947 decision as evidence, all went on to

uphold the Regional Court’s judgment.

Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month period following a Chamber

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: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution

Inadmissibility and strike-out decisions are final.

In the third set of proceedings, the District Court followed the conclusion of the Regional Court and

dismissed the applicant’s claim. This decision was upheld by all levels of courts, including the

Constitutional Court in April 2012.

Relying in particular on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human

Rights, the applicant complained about the courts’ rejection of his claim for restitution of property

located in Opočno Castle. He alleged in particular that the restitution proceedings had been unfair as

the Regional Court had based its decision in the second set of proceedings on a document – the

1947 decision – which had not been shown to the parties or discussed by them and which had also

affected the outcome of the third set of proceedings.

Violation of Article 6 § 1

Just satisfaction: EUR 6,400 euros (EUR) (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 1,242 (costs and

expenses)

Vaščenkovs v. Latvia (no. 30795/12)

The applicant, Maksims Vaščenkovs, now deceased, is a national of Latvia who was born in 1986.

The case, continued by his grandmother, concerned the justification for his pre-trial detention.

In August 2011 Mr Vaščenkovs was arrested by the Latvian police and placed in pre-trial detention

initially on suspicion of robbery and later on suspicion of theft. His subsequent appeal against the

decision was dismissed by the Latgale Regional Court.

Although detained on suspicion of theft, in September 2011 the public prosecutor decided to charge

Mr Vaščenkovs with robbery and theft and transferred the case to the Ludza District Court for

adjudication. His detention was then extended on three occasions by the investigative judge, in

October and December 2011 and in April 2012. This continued detention was justified by reference

also to suspected robbery which allowed the permissible time-limit for his detention to be increased

from 12 to 24 months. The judge thus decided to further extend Mr Vaščenkovs’ detention in August

and November 2012 and in January 2013, justifying his protracted detention by referring also to the

robbery charge. These decisions were not subject to appeal.

Mr Vaščenkovs complained on several occasions to the Ludza District Court claiming that it had

failed to provide reasons for his detention on suspicion of robbery, without success.

Relying on Article 5 § 3 (right to liberty and security/reasonableness of pre-trial detention),

Mr Vaščenkovs complained that the domestic courts had failed to provide sufficient reasons for the

suspicion that he had committed robbery.

Violation of Article 5 § 3

Just satisfaction: EUR 3,000 (non-pecuniary damage)

This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions,

judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. To receive

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