CEYHAN AND OTHERS v. TURKEY (European Court of Human Rights)

Last Updated on April 24, 2019 by LawEuro

Communicated on 23 January 2019

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 23189/09
Bahri SARAÇ and others
against Turkey
lodged on 8 April 2009

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the accidental demolition of the applicants’ property by a private contractor, which had undertaken to demolish the damaged buildings following the earthquake of 17 August 1999, and the compensation awarded to them by the Yalova Civil Court of General Jurisdiction.

The applicants complain of a violation of their rights under Article 6 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention.

QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES

1. Did the applicants have a fair hearing in the determination of their civil rights and obligations in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, in particular, taking account of the decision of the Court of Cassation, whereby it upheld the first-instance court’s judgment by amending the interest rate applied by the latter (see, mutatis mutandis, Čepek v. the Czech Republic, no. 9815/10, § 48, 5 September 2013)?

2. Has there been a violation of the applicants’ peaceful enjoyment of possessions within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, on account of the domestic court’s application of sections 43 and 44 of the Code of Obligations and the 25% deduction it made in determining the amount of compensation?

In that connection, were the applicants provided with adequate procedural guarantees for their rights under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (see Gereksar and Others v. Turkey, nos. 34764/05 and 3 others, 1 February 2011)?

Moreover, was the default statutory interest rate sufficient vis-à-vis the monetary inflation rates during the given period (see, mutatis mutandis, Aka v. Turkey, 23 September 1998, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998‑VI)?LIST OF APPLICANTS

1. Bahri SARAÇ is a Turkish national who was born in 1964, lives in Yalova and is represented by H.K. Elban and Ms E. Manyas.
2. Salih GÜNAY is a Turkish national who was born in 1961, lives in Yalova and is represented by H.K. Elban and Ms E. Manyas.
3. Gülnaz KOCA is a Turkish national who was born in 1955, lives in Kocaeli and is represented by H.K. Elban and Ms E. Manyas.
4. Nuriye ÖZKAN is a Turkish national who was born in 1960, lives in Yalova and is represented by H.K. Elban and Ms E. Manyas.
5. Ahmet SARAÇ is a Turkish national who was born in 1957, was represented by H.K. Elban and Ms E. Manyas. He deceased in 2010. His application is pursued by his heirs Remzi SARAÇ, Nesrin SARAÇ and Emine SARAÇ.