CASE OF YAGTZILAR AND OTHERS v. GREECE
Violation of Art. 6-1 regarding the right of access to court;Violation of Art. 6-1 regarding the length of proceedings;Violation of P1-1
András Baka
7. In 1925 the Greek State occupied an olive grove of a total area of 3,877,000 sq. m in Chalkidiki (northern Greece) and assigned it to the Refugees’ Relief Committee (Επιτροπή Περιθάλψεως Προσφύγων) with a view to settling refugees from Asia Minor there following the mandatory exchange of populations with Turkey under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The land was occupied without any compensation being paid to the owners of the olive grove, of whom the applicants are the heirs. The basis for the occupation was a government ordinance of 14 February 1923 authorising the expropriation and occupation of land before any compensation was paid to its owners. The ordinance was subsequently ratified by a constitutional resolution of 15 September 1924; its content was also incorporated into Article 119 of the 1927 Constitution. 8. On 21 August 1933, by decision no. 81/1933 of the Expropriations Committee of Chalkidiki (Επιτροπή Απαλλοτριώσεων Χαλκιδικής), the Greek State expropriated the land in question. 9. On 8 December 1933 the applicants lodged an application with the appropriate courts for compensation owed them by the State, which had in the meantime taken over from the Refugees’ Relief Committee. Following that application the following judgments, among others, were delivered: (i) interlocutory decision (προδικαστική) no. 28/1934 of the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance ordering a number of expert assessments; (ii) final decision no. 28/1936 of the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance assessing the final unit amount of compensation at 2,008 drachmas (GRD) per square metre; the parties appealed against that decision; (iii) interlocutory judgment no. 54/1938 of the Salonika Court of Appeal setting aside the decision and ordering the parties to produce supplementary evidence; (iv) decision no. 4/1939 of the President of the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance recognising that the applicants were entitled to the compensation assessed; (v) judgment no. 155/1939 of the Salonika Court of Appeal quashing judgment no. 54/1938 and ordering the case to be remitted to the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance; (vi) decision no. 89/1940 of the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance assessing the final unit amount of compensation at GRD 2,720 per square metre; the parties appealed against that decision, but the hearing was not held until 23 January 1961; in the meantime, on 29 April 1959, the applicants had lodged a further application with the Court of Appeal for an assessment of the compensation amount; (vii) judgment no. 96/1961 of the Salonika Court of Appeal ordering a fresh expert assessment, which was begun in 1971 and completed in 1977; at a hearing on 13 February 1979 the applicants claimed GRD 110,000 per square metre and the State raised an objection on the ground that their right to compensation had lapsed; (viii) interlocutory judgment no. 654/1979 of the Salonika Court of Appeal dismissing the objection raised by the State and ordering the applicants to justify their assessment of the value of their land; (ix) judgment no. 1718/1981 of the Salonika Court of Appeal dismissing a further objection raised by the State that the right to compensation had lapsed and assessing the final unit amount of compensation at GRD 50,000 to GRD 180,000 per square metre; the State lodged an appeal on points of law against that judgment, raising the same objection again; (x) judgment no. 1305/1983 of the Third Division of the Court of Cassation, setting aside the Court of Appeal’s judgment on procedural grounds and remitting the case to the Fourth Division; subsequently, on 12 December 1983, the applicants lodged a fresh application with that court for a compensation amount to be assessed; (xi) judgment no. 1684/1984 of the Fourth Division of the Court of Cassation ordering the case to be remitted to the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance to determine the merits of the applications lodged by the applicants on 29 April 1959 and 12 December 1983. 10. On 29 June 1988 the applicants resumed the proceedings before the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance. They also lodged a further application for a final unit amount of compensation to be assessed. They sought GRD 400 per square metre. In its observations in reply of 20 March 1989, the State pleaded again that the applicants’ right to compensation had lapsed. 11. A hearing was held on 22 March 1989. On 22 May 1989 the court ordered the applicants to justify their assessment of the value of their land. On 21 November 1991 the applicants requested the judge rapporteur to set a date for the hearing of witnesses. An expert assessment was also carried out. 12. On 28 February 1992 the applicants asked the court to set a hearing date. The hearing was held on 7 October 1992. 13. On 4 December 1992 the court decided to adjourn its examination of the case on the ground that an investigative measure (αυτοψία) had not been carried out (decision no. 239/1992). 14. On 16 June 1994 the applicants asked the court to fix a hearing date. The hearing was held on 1 September 1994. 15. On 24 October 1994 the Chalkidiki Court of First Instance dismissed as unfounded the objection raised by the State that the applicants’ right to compensation had lapsed and determined the final unit amount of compensation at GRD 395 per square metre (decision no. 233/1994). 16. On 4 January 1995 the State lodged an appeal against that decision. It again raised the same objection. 17. On 17 July 1995 the Salonika Court of Appeal set aside decision no. 233/1994 on the ground that the lower court had incorrectly dismissed the objection raised by the State that the applicants’ claim was statute-barred. Indeed, the Court of Appeal considered that the applicants’ right to compensation had lapsed since at least 1971. Giving judgment on the merits, it dismissed the applicants’ application of 29 June 1988 on the ground that as their claim was statute-barred, they no longer had locus standi (judgment no. 3156/1995). 18. On 6 December 1995 the applicants lodged an appeal on points of law. In their statement of grounds of appeal they submitted that the Court of Appeal had misinterpreted the facts and the constitutional and legislative provisions relating to the limitation of actions, and had wrongly assessed the evidence. They added that, in any event, the objection had already been dismissed by judgments nos. 654/1979 and 1718/1981 of the Salonika Court of Appeal. The applicants stressed, lastly, that they had never received any compensation for the expropriation of their land and that the objection now raised against them contravened the principle of good faith and infringed in particular their right to peaceful enjoyment of their possessions. 19. On 15 July 1997 the Court of Cassation, after examining all the grounds of appeal on points of law submitted by the applicants, dismissed their appeal on the ground that it was ill-founded (judgment no. 1302/1997).