CASE OF ÜNSPED PAKET SERVİSİ SAN. VE TİC. A.Ş. v. BULGARIA
Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Deprivation of property;Article 1 para. 2 of Protocol No. 1 - Control of the use of property);Just satisfaction reserved (Article 41 - Just satisfaction)
George Nicolaou;Guido Raimondi;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Nona Tsotsoria;Päivi Hirvelä;Yonko Grozev
6. The applicant company runs logistics services. On 23 June 2007 one of the company’s lorries was stopped for inspection at the Yambol customs post. The Bulgarian authorities discovered and seized the following substances from the cabin and trailer: 500,060 tablets (with a total value of 24,584.2 Bulgarian levs (BGN) or 12,200 euros (EUR)); 3,564 grams of white tablets (with a total value of about EUR 40) which included ephedrine hydrochloride; and, 6,880 pills which included testosterone enanthate (with a total value of about EUR 15,000). The lorry was also seized as material evidence. Criminal proceedings were opened against the driver of the lorry. 7. On 26 June 2007 the applicant company, as the owner of the lorry, asked the Yambol Regional Prosecutor to return its vehicle. The prosecutor rejected the request on the grounds that the lorry had to be retained as material evidence until the end of the criminal proceedings (see paragraph 23 below). 8. On 3 August 2007 the applicant company again applied to the Yambol Regional Prosecutor’s Office asking that the lorry be returned in accordance with Article 111 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In particular, the applicant company claimed that: there had been no hidden compartment in the lorry; the driver had abused his position; the holding of the lorry was no longer justified as a forensic expert report had already been prepared; the lorry’s value (around EUR 83,000) was over three times the value of the drugs and therefore the lorry could not be confiscated under Article 242 § 8 of the Criminal Code (see paragraph 16 below); and, lastly, the company faced significant losses because of the lorry’s seizure. At the time of this request the case file was no longer with the prosecution service as it had been transferred to the courts, so the Yambol Regional Prosecutor’s Office did not reply to the request. 9. In the meantime the lorry driver concluded a plea bargain agreement with the prosecutor. The terms of the agreement included a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the driver and the forfeiture of the lorry. 10. On 8 August 2007 the applicant company asked the criminal court competent to approve the plea bargain agreement not to confiscate its lorry. The applicant company emphasised in particular its inability to participate in the criminal proceedings against the driver and to state its position. It further pointed out that as the value of its lorry was three times higher than the value of the smuggled goods, according to the relevant national law the vehicle should not be forfeited (see paragraph 16 below). 11. On 14 August 2007 the Yambol Regional Court confirmed the plea bargain agreement in accordance with Article 382 § 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 22 below). In the agreement the driver confessed that he was guilty of smuggling under Articles 242 § 1 (d) and 242 § 3 of the Criminal Code and accepted the forfeiture of the transported drugs and the lorry under Article 242 §§ 7 and 8 of the Criminal Code. The decision was not subject to appeal and became enforceable on the same day. 12. On 26 May 2008 the applicant company brought proceedings before the Istanbul Second Enforcement Office (“the Office”) against the lorry driver, seeking damages. The Office found that the driver was liable to pay EUR 110,116.75 to the applicant company for the damage his actions had caused. However, the applicant company could not collect any of this amount as the lorry driver had no assets at the time.