EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

          342

18.6.1999

Press release issued by the Registrar

JUDGMENT IN THE CASE OF ZUBANI v. ITALY

 The European Court of Human Rights (Grand Chamber) has awarded a total of 1,000,000,000 Italian lire as compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage to the four applicants in the case of Zubani v. Italy (application no. 14025/88), in a unanimous judgment[1] under Article 41 (just satisfaction[2]) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

 The Court held that the Italian Government must pay 1,000,000,000 ITL overall to Aldo, Angela, Letizia and Maddalena Zubani, all Italian nationals over eighty-years-old, as compensation for losses sustained following the unlawful occupation of their land by the Municipality of Brescia in 1980, notably in relation to the length of the proceedings brought by the applicants following the occupation of their land. In its principal judgment of 7 August 1996 the Court held that there had been a breach of Article 1 of Protocol 1 (protection of property), leaving the question of just satisfaction to be decided.

 Judgment was given by a Grand Chamber of seventeen judges, composed as follows:

Elisabeth Palm (Swedish) President,
Antonio Pastor Ridruejo (Spanish),
Giovanni Bonello (Maltese),
Jerzy Makarczyk (Polish),
Riza Türmen (Turkish),
Jean-Paul Costa (French),
Viera Strážnická (Slovakian),
Corneliu Bîrsan (Romanian),
Peer Lorenzen (Danish),
Marc Fischbach (Luxemburger),
Volodymyr Butkevych (Ukrainian),
Josep Casadevall (Andorran),
Hanne Sophie Greve (Norwegian),
András Baka (Hungarian),
Rait Maruste (Estonian),
Snejana Botoucharova (Bulgarian), Judges,
Carlo Russo, ad hoc Judge,
 

and also Paul Mahoney, Deputy Registrar.

 The full text of the judgment can be found on the Court’s Internet site: http://www.dhcour.coe.fr.  It is available in English and French.

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Registry of the European Court of Human Rights
F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Contacts:  Roderick Liddell (telephone: (0)3 88 41 24 92)
Or:  Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15)
Fax:   (0)3 88 41 27 91

 The European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959 in Strasbourg to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.  On 1 November 1998 a permanent Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Court and Commission.

[1] The judgment was notified in writing on 16 June 1999.

[2] Former Article 50 of the Convention (before the incorporation of Protocol No. 11)