SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGE ZEKIA

The Court, in arriving at the conclusion that Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1) has not been contravened by the forfeiture and destruction of the matrix and copies of the "Little Red Schoolbook", in paragraph 63 stated the following:

"63. The forfeiture and destruction of the Schoolbook, on the other hand, permanently deprived the applicant of the ownership of certain possessions. However, these measures were authorised by the second paragraph of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1), interpreted in the light of the principle of law, common to the Contracting States, where under items whose use has been lawfully adjudged illicit and dangerous to the general interest are forfeited with a view to destruction."

In considering the legality of the seizure of the matrix and of hundreds of copies of the Schoolbook, which took place on 31 March and 1 April 1971 , I concede that the second paragraph of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1) is relevant. The said paragraph (P1-1) speaks of the right of a State if necessary for the general interest to control the use of the property. It deals with the right of a State, provided the conditions stated therein have been complied with, to interfere with the possessory rights of the owner who is at liberty to make use of his property in any way he likes as long as such usage does not go against the law.

The seizure under review was made in pursuance of a warrant issued by a judge under section 3 of the "Obscene Publications Acts 1959/1964". The object of a seizure might very well be to prevent the commission or the furtherance of an offence connected with the protection of morals; it might also be to secure an article for its being produced before the court as an exhibit or even as "corpus delicti". Such an article may constitute the subject-matter of the prosecution and therefore there is nothing wrong in its seizure by an authorised person.

The English court on 1 July 1971 , applying the relevant provision of the aforesaid Acts after the completion of the trial, ordered the forfeiture of the matrix and books already seized. The order was confirmed by the appeal court on 29 October 1971 and the books and articles already forfeited were destroyed.

In ascertaining the legality of the order of forfeiture and the destruction of the items involved, in my view, the first paragraph of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1) fits in more precisely than any other paragraph of the Protocol. The first paragraph relates to deprivation of possession. Surely the forfeiture and destruction of an article owned by somebody else amount to deprivation of possession of such owner. Coming to the other requirements prescribed for the legality of such deprivation; the enabling Acts empowering forfeiture and destruction are admittedly not incompatible with relevant provisions of the Convention. Protection of morals is undoubtedly of public interest and the conditions set out in the aforesaid Acts for ordering forfeiture and destruction have been observed.

I consider it more appropriate therefore to base the legality of the order of forfeiture and destruction complained of on the first paragraph of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1). I am content in rendering my interpretation to confine myself to the wording of the text of the first paragraph and to attach the ordinary meaning to the words used therein.