CASE OF CHINNICI v. ITALY (No. 2)
Preliminary objection joined to merits and dismissed (Article 34 - Victim);Remainder inadmissible;Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Deprivation of property);Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
George Nicolaou;Guido Raimondi;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Ledi Bianku;Nona Tsotsoria;Päivi Hirvelä
4. The applicant was born in 1945 and lives in L’Aquila. 5. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 6. The applicant was the owner of a plot of land designated as industrial land in L’Aquila. The land in issue – of a surface area of 10,059 square metres – was recorded in the land register as Folio no. 4, Parcel no. 222. 7. In 1989, the regional administrative authorities granted the Consortium for the industrial development of L’Aquila (“Consorzio per il nucleo di sviluppo industriale di L’Aquila”, hereinafter “the Consortium”) permission to occupy a portion of the applicant’s land in order to begin the construction of an industrial compound. 8. On an unspecified date, the applicant brought an action for damages in the L’Aquila District Court against the regional administrative authorities seeking compensation for the remaining portion of land which had become unusable following the occupation. 9. On 9 April 1991 the regional administrative authorities issued an expropriation order in respect of the land. 10. Pursuant to the order, the consortium offered the applicant a global sum of 106.400.000 Italian lire (ITL) (equivalent to EUR 55,000) as compensation for the expropriation and compensation for the period during which the land had been occupied before the expropriation order had been issued. 11. The offer was refused by the applicant on the ground that he considered it inadequate. 12. On 9 May 1991, contesting the amount that he had been awarded, the applicant brought proceedings against the Consortium in the L’Aquila Court of Appeal. He argued that the amount determined by the regional authorities was extremely low in relation to the market value of the land. 13. On 14 August 1992 Law no. 359 of 8 August 1992 came into force (“Urgent measures aimed at stabilising public finances”). Article 5 bis of the Law laid down new criteria for calculating compensation for the expropriation of building land. The Law was expressly applicable to pending proceedings. 14. On 3 November 1993, the applicant accepted the consortium’s offer and requested the termination of the proceedings (“cessazione della materia del contendere”). 15. By a provisional judgment delivered on 22 November 1994, the Court of Appeal acknowledged the entry into force of Law no. 359 of 8 August 1992 and held that the amount of the compensation for the expropriation had to be in accordance with the new criteria laid down in the legislation’s Article 5bis. The court therefore rejected the applicant’s request to terminate the proceedings, appointed an expert and instructed him to assess the compensation for the expropriation according to the new criteria. 16. On an unspecified date, the expert submitted his report. 17. By a judgment delivered on 23 July 2002 and filed with the court registry on 1 August 2002, the Court of Appeal held that the applicant was entitled to compensation in the sum of EUR 77,556.40, as calculated according to the criteria laid down in Law no. 359 of 1992. Moreover, the Court of Appeal held that the applicant was entitled to compensation for the period during which the land had been occupied before the expropriation order had been issued, in the sum of EUR 12 778,37. The amounts were subject to tax, deducted at the source at a rate of 20%. 18. On an unspecified date the consortium appealed on points of law. 19. By a judgment delivered on 21 November 2006 and filed with the court registry on 8 January 2007, the Court of Cassation remitted the case to the L’Aquila Court of Appeal. 20. By a judgment delivered on 24 January 2013, filed with the court registry on 12 March 2013, the L’Aquila Court of Appeal acknowledged the Constitutional Court’s judgment no. 348 of 24 October 2007, whereby Article 5 bis of Law no. 359 of 8 August 1992 had been declared unconstitutional, and held that the applicant was entitled to compensation corresponding to the full market value of the property. 21. Therefore, drawing on the court-ordered expert report submitted during the first set of proceedings, the Court of Appeal concluded that the applicant was entitled to compensation in the sum of EUR 108,578.96 (equivalent to ITL 210,236,000), which reflected the market value of the land at the time of the expropriation (1991), plus statutory interest. It did not, however, adjust the amount for inflation.