CASE OF AVAKEMYAN v. ARMENIA
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Enforcement proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court);Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions);Violation of Article 13+6-1 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 6 - Right to a fair trial;Enforcement proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court)
Aleš Pejchal;Armen Harutyunyan;Ledi Bianku
5. The applicant was born in 1947 and lives in Yerevan. 6. On an unspecified date the applicant brought a claim in the Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun District Court of Yerevan against K., a private individual, seeking payment of a certain amount of money. It appears that before the beginning of the court’s examination of the case the applicant and K. concluded an agreement to settle the debt, which envisaged, inter alia, a time-frame for payment. 7. On 3 May 2005 the District Court delivered a judgment upholding the settlement. It also stated that bailiffs would enforce the judgment if it was not complied with. No appeal was lodged and the judgment became final. 8. As K. did not comply with the terms of the settlement, the District Court issued a writ of execution and on 13 June 2005 a bailiff instituted enforcement proceedings. According to the applicant, the bailiff found no funds or property belonging to K. during the enforcement procedure. 9. By a letter of 7 June 2007 the bailiff informed the applicant that he had found out during the enforcement proceedings that K. had inherited a house but had not registered her ownership of it. The bailiff advised the applicant to institute proceedings against K. in order to have her ownership of the house recognised. 10. It appears that later in 2007 the applicant brought a claim in the Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun District Court to have K.’s ownership of the house recognised. 11. On 24 October 2007 the District Court, relying on Article 1225 § 5 of the Civil Code, granted the applicant’s claim and recognised K. as the owner of the house in question. There was no appeal and the judgment became final. 12. On 19 November 2007 the bailiff, acting on a writ of execution issued by the District Court, instituted proceedings to enforce the judgment of 24 October 2007. 13. On 22 November 2007 the bailiff requested that the State Committee of the Real Estate Registry recognise K.’s ownership of the house, register it and issue a copy of the ownership certificate. 14. In reply, the Real Estate Registry on 4 December 2007 informed the bailiff that in order to register K.’s rights to the house it needed an application from K., the original of the District Court’s judgment of 24 October 2007 and receipts for the State fee and other related payments. It also mentioned that K. was unlawfully occupying a plot of land whose status was unclear. 15. On 8 February, 4 July and 4 August 2008 respectively, the bailiff made similar requests to the Real Estate Registry in which he stated, with reference to section 22 of the Law on the State Registration of Property Rights, that an application from K. was not required. He also stated that the issue of registration-related payments would be decided upon initiation of the registration process and that receipts would be submitted. 16. In 2008 the applicant brought a claim in the Administrative Court against the Real Estate Registry and the bailiff, seeking to oblige them respectively to register K.’s ownership of the house and to confiscate it from her. 17. On 1 December 2008 the Administrative Court granted the applicant’s claim by ordering the Real Estate Registry to register K.’s rights to the house and the bailiff to confiscate it from her. In particular, the Administrative Court found that both the refusal of the Real Estate Registry to register K.’s ownership rights and the non-enforcement by the bailiff of the judgment of 3 May 2005 owing to a lack of funds on the part of K. had been groundless as K.’s ownership of the house had been recognised by the final court judgment of 24 October 2007. It appears that no appeal was lodged against the Administrative Court’s judgment and it became final. 18. According to the applicant, none of the three court judgments was enforced. 19. On 18 February 2010 the applicant sought the payment of interest by K. via a claim in the District Court. On 1 March 2011 the District Court accepted his claim and ordered K. to pay him 17,727 US dollars (USD), to be converted into Armenian drams. The judgment became final on 1 April 2011. The applicant sought enforcement of the judgment on 2 April 2012 but was refused by the bailiff since he had failed to act within the time-limit of one year starting from the final judgment. That term had expired on 1 April 2012. Moreover, the applicant had also failed to submit a power of attorney to the bailiff. 20. On 10 February 2012 K. submitted a receipt for the payment of the debt to the bailiff and he terminated the enforcement proceedings on 13 February 2012.