S.C. I.F.N. COMAUTOSPORT LEASING S.A. v. ROMANIA
Inadmissible
Carlo Ranzoni;Egidijus Kūris;Ganna Yudkivska;Marko Bošnjak;Vincent A. De Gaetano;Georges Ravarani
1. The applicant, S.C. I.F.N. Comautosport Leasing S.A., is a Romanian company, whose registered office is in Bistriţa. It was represented before the Court by Mr V. Petra, a lawyer practising in Bistriţa. 3. On 6 June 2007 the applicant company concluded a vehicle leasing agreement with a third party, the private company V. C. S.R.L. (the lessee), managed by E.V. 4. The contract stated, inter alia, that monthly instalments were to be paid to the applicant company until 5 June 2011, when the property right concerning the vehicle was to be transferred to the lessee, V. C. S.R.L. The contract further stipulated that the lessee was not allowed to use the vehicle for transporting merchandise, unless the lessor had given his or her prior written approval thereto. The contract also stated that the failure of the lessee to pay two successive instalments could entitle the lessor to ask for the termination of contract (reziliere), in accordance with the general principles of contract law. 5. On 22 July 2009 the Customs National Authority squad caught E.V., who was driving the leased vehicle, transporting 120 litres of alcohol, without having the appropriate excise stamp or documentation concerning their provenience. The authorities issued a contravention report, sanctioning E.V. to a fine of 20,000 RON. They also confiscated the vehicle, in accordance with the provisions of Article 220 of the Code of Fiscal Procedure. The report mentioned that the vehicle belonged to the applicant company and was leased to the company V. C. S.R.L. 6. The report was contested by the applicant company. It complained that the vehicle, which was its property, was confiscated from its owner even if it had not participated to and had not had any knowledge about the commission of the act sanctioned by the fiscal authorities. The applicant also mentioned that following the confiscation, the lessee ceased to pay the agreed instalments. It argued that the circumstances constituted a deprivation of property without appropriate compensation. 7. On 21 December 2009 the Cluj Napoca District Court dismissed the applicant company’s complaint, mentioning that the sanction was in accordance with the law, namely the Code of Fiscal Procedure. Noting that the applicant company had concluded a leasing agreement with the company V.C. S.R.L., the court considered that all issues referring to alleged breaches of contract were to be dealt with under the contract responsibility law, and not within the framework of the fiscal procedure, which was meant to determine the lawfulness of the contravention report. 8. The applicant appealed, without addressing the District Court’s arguments referring to the remedy allegedly offered by the contract law. 9. The Cluj County Court dismissed the appeal on 28 April 2010, finding that the lower court’s judgment was lawful and well-founded. The County Court further held that the Code of Fiscal Procedure imposed the sanction of confiscation of the vehicle used for committing a contravention, without differentiating between the owner or the user of the vehicle subject to confiscation. 10. The domestic legal provisions and practice of the Romanian Constitutional Court relevant for the present case are set out in detail in the case of S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. v. Romania (no. 58045/11, §§ 15-20, 4 July 2017).