issued by the Registrar of the Court

ECHR 225 (2017)

29.06.2017

Judgments and decisions of 29 June 2017

The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing six judgments¹and 11 decisions²:

two Chamber judgments are summarised below; separate press releases have been issued for two

other Chamber judgments in the cases of Terrazzoni v. France (application no. 33242/12) and

Lorefice v. Italy (no. 63446/13);

a separate press release has also been issued for one decision, in the case of Alam v. Denmark

(no. 33809/15);

two Committee judgments, concerning issues which have already been submitted to the Court, and

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

The judgments in French below are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Dimcho Dimov v. Bulgaria (no. 2) (application no. 77248/12)

The applicant, Dimcho Yordanov Dimov, is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1968 and is

currently detained in Vratsa Prison (Bulgaria). Mr Dimov was an inmate at Varna Prison when he was

assaulted by another inmate, resulting in a fractured jaw and pain in his right ear near the fracture.

Though his assailant was convicted of the assault, the prosecutor refused to open criminal

proceedings against the prison staff for failing to protect Mr Dimov. Furthermore, despite numerous

requests for an examination by a specialist, his injury went undiagnosed for three months before an

X-ray revealed that he had sustained a fracture and that it had not healed properly.

Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on

Human Rights, Mr Dimov complained in particular that the prison had not provided him with

sufficient protection from his fellow prisoner, even though they had known that he had been at risk.

No violation of Article 3

Kosmas and Others v. Greece (no. 20086/13)*

The applicants are five Greek nationals, George Kosmas, his wife Kyratso Kosma and their three

children, who live on the island of Skopelos. The case concerned the privileges enjoyed by

monasteries in Greece relating to real estate of which they had been claiming ownership before the

courts.

Mr George Kosmas claims to own land in the locality of Glysteri on the island of Skopelos. He had

built a tavern at one end of the piece of land, which has been operating for decades. In winter

Mr Kosmas and his wife were the only inhabitants of this stretch of coast on the island. The adjacent

land belonged to the Holy Monastery of Megisti Lavra (Great Laura) and was uninhabited. The

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.

children had two boats to take tourists from the town of Skopelos to the beach and the tavern. The

applicants allege that the operational value of their property has been estimated at 2,400,000 euros.

In 2004 the monastery decided to claim ownership of the land in question in the courts. The Volos

district court found for the monastery and recognised its ownership of the land at issue. In February

2007 Mr Kosmas appealed to the Larissa Court of Appeal, which noted that the monastery had

purchased the land from the true owner by a deed of transfer of ownership certified by the

chancellery of Skopelos, and that it had accordingly owned it in good faith since 1824. The Court of

Appeal observed that there was nothing in Mr Kosma’s predecessors’ title deeds dating from 1883,

1902 and 1909, which he had adduced, to show that his predecessors had drawn up any acts of

possession relating to the land in question. The court dismissed the appeal.

In January 2011 Mr Kosmas lodged an appeal on points of law, but the Court of Cassation upheld the

Court of Appeal’s judgment by judgment of 31 May 2012.

The applicants were evicted in October 2013.

Relying in particular on Article 1 of Protocol no. 1 (protection of property) the applicants

complained, inter alia, that the monasteries, including Megisti Lavra, as private property owners,

were treated on an equal footing to the State, which they submitted had the consequence of

debarring private individuals from the right of adverse possession vis-à-vis the property in question

and encouraging the Greek courts to reject any allegation of abuse of rights by the monasteries.

They also complained about procedural obstacles preventing them from proving that they had

acquired the land at issue by adverse possession. Finally, they criticised the indefinite non-

applicability of statutory limitations of the holy monasteries’ claims to real property.

Violation of Article 1 of Protocol no. 1 - in respect of George Kosmas

Just satisfaction: EUR 75,000 euros (EUR) for all heads of damage and EUR 3,000 for costs and

expenses to George Kosmas.

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

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The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member

States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.