Date of the decision: May 29, 2012
Jurisdiction: Council of Europe – European Court of Human Rights
Country: Croatia
Subject: Article 8, evictions, principle of proportionality.
Legal basis: The Court examined the eviction of an elderly lady from her flat, as the holder of a specially protected tenancy of a socially owned flat. Under domestic law, tenants could be evicted for not having lived in the flat for more than six months. In this particular case, Ms Bjedov had not lived in her flat for ten years. The applicant complained that by ordering her to vacate the flat in question the domestic courts had violated her right to respect for her home. She relied on Article 8 of the Convention.
The Court held that the applicant had sufficient and continuing links with the flat at issue for it to be considered her “home” for the purposes of Article 8 of the Convention. The Court also reiterated that, whether certain premises are to be classified as a “home” is a question of fact and does not depend on the lawfulness of the occupation under domestic law (see McCann v. the United Kingdom, no. 19009/04, § 46, 13 May 2008). Eviction order given without authorities having determined the proportionality of the measure. Violation of Article 8.
However, the guarantees of the Convention require that the interference with an applicant’s right to respect for her home be not only based on the law but also be proportionate under paragraph 2 of Article 8 to the legitimate aim pursued, regard being had to the particular circumstances of the case.
In this connection the Court reiterates that any person at risk of an interference with her right to home should in principle be able to have the proportionality and reasonableness of the measure determined by an independent tribunal in the light of the relevant principles under Article 8 of the Convention, notwithstanding that, under domestic law, he or she has no right to occupy a flat (see, mutatis mutandis, McCann v. the United Kingdom, no. 19009/04, § 50, 13 May 2008) (para 66).
To learn more: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-110953
