The claimant had taken a lease of property from a local authority. Relying upon an option for renewal, he invested substantially in the property, but it was then decided that the option was ultra vires.
Held: Property rights protected under the Convention included such rights. The concept of ‘possessions’ in Art. 1 includes a legitimate expectation of obtaining effective enjoyment of a property right resulting from the ultra vires act of a public authority. The council had acted under a mistaken belief as to its capacity. No third party interest would have been affected, and the interference in private property rights was disproportionate.
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of P1-1 ; Pecuniary damage – financial award ; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award ; Costs and expenses partial award – domestic proceedings ; Costs and expenses partial award – Convention proceedings
Judges:
Pellonpaa, President, Sir Nicolas Bratza, E. Palm, V. Stranick, S. Pavlovschi, L. Garlicki, J. Borrego Borrego
Citations:
44277/98, Times 03-Jul-2003, (2003) 38 EHRR 12, [2003] ECHR 320
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Citing:
Appeal from – Stretch v West Dorset District Council CA 10-Nov-1997
A local authority has no ability to grant an option to renew a lease, even though it has the power to grant a lease and would benefit from the wrongful grant. The land was held for an express statutory purpose and was not ‘corporate land’ within the . .
Cited – Pine Valley Developments Ltd And Others v Ireland ECHR 29-Nov-1991
ECHR Preliminary objection rejected (victim); Preliminary objection rejected (non-exhaustion); No violation of P1-1; No violation of Art. 14+P1-1; Violation of Art. 14+P1-1; No violation of Art. 13; Just . .
Cited – Credit Suisse v Allerdale Borough Council CA 20-May-1996
Builder’s Guarantee Ultra Vires LA
The council set out to provide a swimming pool using powers under s.19 of the 1976 Act. Purporting to use powers under s.111 of the 1972 Act, it set up a company to develop a site by building a leisure pool and time-share units, with a view to . .
Cited – Pressos Compania Naviera S A And Others v Belgium (Article 50) ECHR 3-Jul-1997
Hudoc Judgment (Just satisfaction) Struck out of the list; Pecuniary damage – financial award; Non-pecuniary damage – finding of violation sufficient
‘possessions’ can be ‘existing possessions’ or assets, . .
Cited by:
Appealed to – Stretch v West Dorset District Council CA 10-Nov-1997
A local authority has no ability to grant an option to renew a lease, even though it has the power to grant a lease and would benefit from the wrongful grant. The land was held for an express statutory purpose and was not ‘corporate land’ within the . .
Cited – London Borough of Harrow v Qazi HL 31-Jul-2003
The applicant had held a joint tenancy of the respondent. His partner gave notice and left, and the property was taken into possession. The claimant claimed restoration of his tenancy saying the order did not respect his right to a private life and . .
Cited – Birmingham City Council v Qasim and Others CA 20-Oct-2009
The council argued that the defendant was not a tenant granted to him as a secure tenancy since he had not been granted the tenancy in accordance with its policies. An employee had manipulated the Council’s system to grant tenancies to bypass the . .
Cited – Times Newspapers Ltd and Others v Flood and Others SC 11-Apr-2017
Three newspaper publishers, having lost defamation cases, challenged the levels of costs awarded against them, saying that the levels infringed their own rights of free speech.
Held: Each of the three appeals was dismissed. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights, Landlord and Tenant, Local Government
Updated: 07 June 2022; Ref: scu.184221