FIRST SECTION

DECISION

AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF

Application no. 59273/00 by Pasquale PICONE against Italy

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section) , sitting on 27 June 2002 as a Chamber composed of

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mrs F. Tulkens , Mr P. Lorenzen , Mrs N. Vajić , Mr E. Levits , Mr A. Kovler , Mr V. Zagrebelsky , judges , and Mr E. Fribergh , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 June 2000,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant is an Italian national, born in 1942 and living in Naples. He is represented before the Court by Mr T. Galiani , a lawyer practising in Rome.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

The applicant is the owner of an apartment in Rome, which he had let to I.M.

In a registered letter of 30 April 1987, the applicant informed the tenant that he intended to terminate the lease on expiry of the term on 31 December 1987 and asked her to vacate the premises by that date.

In a writ served on the tenant on 6 October 1987, the applicant reiterated his intention to terminate the lease and summoned the tenant to appear before the Rome Magistrate.

By a decision of 10 February 1988, which was made enforceable on 26 February 1988, the Rome Magistrate upheld the validity of the notice to quit and ordered that the premises be vacated by 31 December 1988.

On 22 March 1991, the applicant served notice on the tenant requiring her to vacate the premises.

On 30 April 1991, he served notice on the tenant informing her that the order for possession would be enforced by a bailiff on 14 June 1991.

On 14 May 1991, the applicant made a statutory declaration that he urgently required the premises as accommodation for himself.

Between 14 June 1991 and 21 September 1999, the bailiff made thirty-seven attempts to recover possession. Each attempt proved unsuccessful, as the applicant was never granted the assistance of the police in enforcing the order for possession.

Pursuant to Section 6 of Law no. 431/98, the tenant asked the Rome District Court to set a new date for the enforcement of the order for possession. The date was set for 19 July 2000.

On 10 July 2001, the tenant spontaneously left the premises and the applicant recovered possession of the apartment.

THE LAW

The applicant complains under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that his inability to recover possession of his apartment amounted to a violation of the right to property.

The applicant further complains under Article 6 of the Convention about the duration of the eviction proceedings.

The Government submitted that the applicant has not exhausted domestic remedies, firstly because he had failed to bring proceedings in the administrative courts challenging the refusal to provide police assistance and, secondly, because he had never challenged the justification of the adjournments ordered by the bailiff by lodging an application under Article 617 of the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) which deals with objections to enforceable acts.

With regard to the first objection of non-exhaustion, the applicant argues that there was no domestic remedy and maintains that the Prefect never issued a decision in refusing to grant police assistance.

The Court recalls that it has already dismissed this objection in the Immobiliare Saffi case (see the judgment Immobiliare Saffi v. Italy [GC], no. 22774/93, §§ 40-42, ECHR 1999-V). The Court sees no reason to depart from its previous finding. This objection should therefore be rejected.

With regard to the second objection of non-exhaustion, the applicant maintains that the adjournments ordered by the bailiff were not due to procedural flaws but to the fact that he could not evict the tenant without police assistance. Such proceedings would therefore have been entirely ineffective. It would not therefore have been helpful to object to the adjournments under Article 617 of the CCP.

The Court notes that although the applicant could have applied to the judge responsible for enforcement proceedings challenging the adjournments by the bailiff if they had been unlawful, in the instant case the bailiff had not acted unlawfully but could not enforce the eviction order without police assistance. Accordingly, since an objection cannot be lodged against a decision not to provide police assistance, it cannot be considered to be an effective remedy. Furthermore, the Government have not cited any decisions of the Italian courts showing otherwise. The Government’s objection must therefore be dismissed.

The Government maintain that the measures in question amount to a control of the use of property which pursues the legitimate aim of avoiding the social tensions and troubles to public order that would occur if a considerable number of orders for possession were to be enforced simultaneously. In their opinion, the interference with the applicant’s property rights was not disproportionate; therefore, there is no violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.

As to the length of the enforcement proceedings, the Government submit that the delay in granting police assistance is justified on grounds of the order of priorities established according to public-safety requirements. In any event, the Government stress that following the entry into force of Law No. 431 of 9 December 1998, the Prefect is no longer competent to determine the order of priority for the enforcement of the evictions. The date of enforcement should now be set by the District Court.

The Court considers that the application raises complex and serious issues, which require a determination on the merits. It follows that it cannot be considered manifestly ill founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. No other ground for declaring the application inadmissible has been established.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Declares the application admissible, without prejudging the merits of the case.

Erik Fribergh Christos Rozakis Registrar President