CASE OF LENGYEL v. HUNGARY
Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Deprivation of property;Peaceful enjoyment of possessions)
Carlo Ranzoni;Ganna Yudkivska;Marko Bošnjak;Vincent A. De Gaetano;Georges Ravarani
5. The applicant was born in 1960 and lives in Budapest. 6. The applicant was placed in retirement on grounds of disability and received a disability pension as of 1 November 2006, the amount of which was 91,363 Hungarian forints (HUF) (approximately 305 euros (EUR)) per month. The entitlement was based on a final decision of the Supreme Court. At the material time the medical board rated her state of health at 46 per cent. 7. The methodology for disability assessment changed as of 1 January 2008. 8. Act no. CXCI of 2011 on the Benefits Granted to Persons with Reduced Work Capacity was enacted on 29 December 2011 and entered into force as of 1 January 2012. It introduced a new system of allowances and beneficiaries of the old scheme were invited to re-apply under the new rules. 9. The applicant lodged a fresh application for disability allowance under the new law. Pending approval of her new application, she continued to receive a monthly disability allowance in the amount of HUF 89,925 (approximately EUR 300) on the strength of the fact that on the day the new law entered into force, she had been in receipt of a disability benefit. 10. On 29 June 2012 the National Rehabilitation and Social Authority assessed the applicant’s state of health at 59 per cent. She was categorised as a person suitable for rehabilitation on the basis of that assessment. However, owing to the applicant’s other circumstances, her rehabilitation was not recommended. 11. In application of the relevant rules, the applicant’s rehabilitation allowance was established at 45 per cent of the minimum wage, that is, in the amount of HUF 41,850 (approximately EUR 140), by a decision of the Budapest Governmental Office (Directorate of Pension Insurance) given on 19 September 2012 and effective as of 1 December 2012. 12. The applicant appealed. 13. A medical assessment carried out in the course of the second-instance administrative proceedings resulted in the finding that the applicant’s state of health was at 58 per cent. It was reaffirmed that her rehabilitation was not recommended. Since the minor difference in the scores did not alter the calculation of the allowance, the National Rehabilitation and Social Authority upheld the first-instance decision on 17 January 2013. 14. The applicant sought a judicial review. 15. On 23 February 2016 the Budapest Administrative and Labour Court dismissed her action. Having obtained fresh medical assessments and the opinion of the national forensic body, the court was satisfied that the applicant’s state of health was at 54 per cent (her locomotor, digestive and endocrinological conditions were calculated cumulatively as per the method prescribed in Annex 1 to Decree no. 7/2012 (II. 14.) NEFMI). Again, the minor difference in the scores had no bearing on the calculation of the allowance. The court upheld the administrative decisions. 16. On 12 September 2016 the Kúria dismissed the applicant’s petition for review. It observed in particular that the lower courts had found that the applicant’s state of health (for the purposes of the application of rules of disability benefits) had improved and that the applicant had challenged that finding. It pointed out that such an improvement did not necessarily correspond to actual healing from a condition, but could also result from a change in, or stricter application of, the relevant rules of medical assessment. 17. The applicant submitted that, as of August 2015, she no longer received any benefits. The legal or factual circumstances underlying this state of affairs are not known.