Information Note on the Court’s case-law 57

October 2003

Mascolo v. Italy (dec.) - 68792/01

Decision 16.10.2003 [Section I]

Article 35

Article 35-1

Exhaustion of domestic remedies

Effective domestic remedy

Proceedings for eviction of tenant: applicant absolved from obligation to make use of the remedy introduced by the Pinto Act

The applicant complained of the length of proceedings for eviction of a tenant and h is prolonged inability to recover his flat.

Admissible under Article 6 § 1 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1: The respondent Government argued that the applicant ought to have made use of the remedy for compensation introduced by the Pinto Act. The Court fo und that, in the present case, the Government themselves had not been satisfied by the domestic remedy introduced by the PintoAct, since they had waited until the Court of Cassation had confirmed that the Act was applicable to proceedings to evict tenants before raising this objection with the Court, and had failed to supply national judgments, delivered on the basis of the PintoAct, concerning the financial repercussions for the right of property of the excessive length of proceedings for eviction of a ten ant. In addition, when, in its judgment of 18 June 2002, the Court of Cassation had resolved domestic points of contention as to whether the Pinto Act was applicable to proceedings to evict tenants, the deadline had expired for the applicant to be able to use the remedy offered by the Pinto Act. Consequently, the Court ruled that, in the circumstances of the present case, the applicant was absolved from the obligation to avail himself of this remedy. The objection of non-exhaustion was therefore dismissed.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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