Date of the decision: 08/09/2022
Country: Latvia
Jurisdiction: European Court of Human Rights
Legal basis: Violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 - Positive obligations
Article 8-1 - Respect for home)
Subject
In the case of Jansons v. Latvia (application no. 1434/14), the European Court of Human Rights held, by six votes to one, that there had been:
a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for the home) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention in conjunction with Article 8.
The case concerned the applicant’s complaint that he had been forced out of an apartment he had been living in in a residential building in Riga when his right to reside there had come into dispute. In particular, the residential building had been sold in 2011 and the new owner had placed armed security guards at the entrance to his apartment, blocking his access. Subsequently, a bailiff had forced entry, changed the locks and removed the applicant’s belongings.
The Court found in particular that the legal system in Latvia had not effectively protected the applicant from an arbitrary interference with his rights, owing to non-enforcement of the safeguards set out in law. His eviction had been carried out without the courts ever having assessed the arguments of the tenancy dispute and, despite repeated pleas to the police, they had refused to intervene.
Indeed, according to a report by the Ombudsman, such passivity on the part of the police had been common practice at the time. Guidelines have since been introduced for the police to ensure that tenants can access their homes when faced with property owners’ unlawful actions.
A legal summary of this case will be available in the Court’s database HUDOC (link)
English
Jurisdiction:
Council of Europe - European Court of Human Rights
Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life
Subject:
binding obligations
Evictions
Right to housing
Country:
