Resolution DH (2000) 44

concerning the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 16 December 1997 in the case of Canea Catholic Church against Greece

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers

on 10 April 2000 at the 704th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 54 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”),

Having regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Canea Catholic Church case delivered on 16 December 1997 and transmitted the same day to the Committee of Ministers;

Recalling that the case originated in an application (No. 25528/94) against Greece, lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 2 August 1994 under Article 25 of the Co n vention by a Greek national, the Right Reverend Frangiskos Papamanolis, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Islands of Syros, Milos and Thera and Acting Bishop of Crete , on behalf of Canea Catholic Church, and that the Commission declared admissible the complaints that the Greek courts' refusal to acknowledge that the Catholic Church in Canea had legal personality amounted to a discriminatory interference with its right of access to a court, its right to respect for its freedom of religion and its right to the peaceful enjoyment of its possessions;

Recalling that the case was brought before the Court by the Commission on 28 October 1996;

Whereas in its judgment of 16 December 1997 the Court unanimously:

- held that the applicant church validly applied to the Commission through Bishop Papamanolis;

- held that there had been a violation of Article 6, paragraph 1, of the Convention;

- held that there had been a violation of Article 14 of the Convention, taken together with Article 6, paragraph 1;

- held that it was unnecessary to rule on the complaints based on Article 9 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, each taken alone or combined with Article 14 of the Convention;

- held that the Government of the respondent State was to pay the applicant Church, within three months, 5 000 000 drachmas in respect of pecuniary damage and 5 908 000 drachmas in respect of costs and expenses and that simple interest at an annual rate of 6% would be payable on those sums from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement;

Having regard to the Rules adopted by the Committee of Ministers concerning the application of Art i cle 54 of the Convention;

Having invited the Government of the respondent State to inform it of the mea s ures which had been taken in consequence of the judgment of 16 December 1997, having regard to Greece’s obligation under Article 53 of the Conve n tion to abide by it;

Whereas during the examination of the case by the Committee of Ministers, the Government of the respondent State gave the Committee information about the measures taken preventing new violations of the same kind as those found in the present judgment; this information appears in the appendix to this resolution;

Having satisfied itself that on 12 March 1998, within the time-limit set, the Government of the respondent State paid the a p plicant Church the sums provided for in the judgment of 16 December 1997,

Declares, after having taken note of the information supplied by the Government of Greece, that it has exe r cised its functions under Article 54 of the Convention in this case.

Appendix to Resolution DH (2000) 44

Information provided by the Government of Greece during the examination of the Canea Catholic Church case

by the Committee of Ministers

As regards the legal personality of the Catholic Church in Greece, Section 13 of the Introductory Law to the Civil Code provides that : "Legal persons that were lawfully constituted at the date of adoption of the Civil Code shall continue to exist. As regards their legal capacity, administration or functioning, the relevant provisions of the Code shall apply".  Both the Civil Code and the Introductory Law entered into force on 23 February 1946.

Although this provision had always been interpreted by Greek courts as including the Catholic Church among "legal persons", this interpretation was not followed in the action brought by Canea Catholic Church at the origin of the present case, thus depriving it of access to a court, contrary to the Convention.

In order to implement the European Court's judgment through appropriate individual and general measures, the government obtained the positive vote of the Parliament on a new law containing an interpretative provision according to which: "Among legal persons lawfully constituted at the date of adoption of the Civil Code, and maintained as such by Article 13 of the Civil Code's Introductory Act, are included all establishments of the Catholic Church, founded or operating in Greece before 23 February 1946" (Article 33 of Law No. 2731, which entered into force on 5 July 1999).  Thus, the problem of access to the court as well as the broader issue of the legal personality of the Catholic Church in Greece are settled, through an authentic interpretation of the Civil Code's Introductory Act by the national legislator.

Moreover, in order to ensure that the interpretation of the laws here at issue respects the Convention, the Court's judgment was transmitted to the Ministry of Justice and to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs on 27 January 1997, and it was published in Greek, together with the Commission's report, in the wide-spread legal journal Diki , No. 29, 1998, p. 547.

The Government of Greece considers that the measures taken will prevent the repetition of any violations similar to those found in this case and that Greece has therefore fulfilled its obligations under Article 53 of the Convention.