FIRST SECTION<\/p>\n
DECISION<\/p>\n
Application no. 22899\/12
\nAnte \u0160ARE
\nagainst Croatia<\/p>\n
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 22\u00a0January 2019 as a Committee composed of:<\/p>\n
Krzysztof Wojtyczek, President,
\nKsenija Turkovi\u0107,
\nPauliine Koskelo, judges,
\nand Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar,<\/p>\n
Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 March 2012,<\/p>\n
Having deliberated, decides as follows:<\/p>\n
THE FACTS<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0The applicant, Mr Ante \u0160are, is a Croatian national who was born in 1938 and lives in Zagreb. He was represented before the Court by Mr\u00a0\u017d.\u00a0\u017divkovi\u0107, a lawyer practising in \u0160ibenik.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0The Croatian Government (\u201cthe Government\u201d) were represented by their Agent, Ms \u0160.Sta\u017enik.<\/p>\n A.\u00a0\u00a0The circumstances of the case<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0On 22 November 2007 the applicant and five other claimants lodged a civil action against Z.P. \u2013 a joint stock company with its seat in Zagreb \u2013 with the \u0160ibenik Municipal Court (Op\u0107inski sud u \u0160ibeniku). They sought recognition of their ownership of certain plots of land and their registration in the land register. They indicated in their action the value of the claim as being 101,000 Croatian kunas (HRK).<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0On 10 September 2008 the \u0160ibenik Municipal Court dismissed the claimants\u2019 action as unfounded.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0\u00a0The applicant and five other claimants lodged an appeal and on\u00a01\u00a0February 2010 the \u0160ibenik County Court (\u017dupanijski sud u \u0160ibeniku) dismissed it and upheld the first-instance judgment.<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0\u00a0On 18 March 2010 the claimants lodged an appeal on points of law (revizija) with the Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske).<\/p>\n 8.\u00a0\u00a0On 17 January 2011 the Supreme Court declared the appeal on points of law inadmissible by virtue of the value of the claim. It held that the claimants\u2019 civil action had included two claims arising from different legal bases and therefore it divided the value of dispute in two.<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0\u00a0The claimants then lodged a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske), which was rejected on 15 September 2011 on the grounds that the case raised no constitutional issue. On 30 September 2011 this decision was served on the applicant\u2019s representative.<\/p>\n B.\u00a0\u00a0Relevant domestic law and practice<\/p>\n