Published on 25 April 2022

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 13327/17 Branko ZIVLAK against Serbia lodged on 11 February 2017 communicated on 6 April 2022

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the confiscation of the undeclared cash at the border crossing.

On 21 April 2015, while crossing the border between Serbia and Montenegro, the applicant was stopped by the Serbian customs authorities who found that he was carrying 30,000 euros (EUR) in cash. The customs officials temporarily seized EUR 20,000 which the applicant had failed to declare and returned EUR 10,000 which, under the relevant law, he was allowed to carry across the border without any formal declaration.

On the same day, the Prijepolje Misdemeanour Court found the applicant guilty of a failure to declare the above sum, fined him 5,000 Serbian dinars (RSD) and confiscated EUR 20,000 for the benefit of the State budget. On 11 May 2015 that judgment was upheld by the Misdemeanour Appeals Court. On 17 November 2016 the Constitutional Court rejected the applicant’s constitutional appeal as manifestly ill-founded.

The applicant complains under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 about the confiscation of the undeclared cash which had allegedly been owned both by him and a friend crossing the border in a separate vehicle.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has there been a violation of the applicant’s right to the peaceful enjoyment of possessions, within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, particularly with regard to his argument of the shared ownership of the confiscated cash (see Imeri v. Croatia , no. 77668/14, §§ 63-93, 24 June 2021, with further references; see also, concerning the unsubstantiated allegations of the shared ownership, Karapetyan v. Georgia , no. 61233/12, §§ 24 and 38-40, 15 October 2020)?