The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday, January 7, that the Romanian state must return 17,000 hectares of land to the Bor\u0219a Landowners\u2019 Association within 12 months of the decision becoming final.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The claimants in the case are 53 Romanian citizens whose land was confiscated by the communist regime. The Court found a violation of the claimant’s property rights along with 27 other claimants in the case V\u0103leanu and Others v. Romania, which became final on November 8, 2022.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Nicoleta Popescu explained that the ECHR granted a grace period of over two years for Romanian authorities to respect the claimant\u2019s property rights and enforce a 2005 court ruling. That judgment had ordered the local Bor\u0219a commission and the county commission to return the 17,000 hectares of forest to the claimant. \u201cIn these two years since the Court’s first decision, the claimant\u2019s representatives had numerous meetings with the government agent, as well as local and central authorities, but with no results,\u201d stated Nicoleta Popescu in an interview with G4Media<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n If the land is not returned, Romania will have to pay compensation of over EUR 61 million. \u201cNow that the Court has ruled that the claimant must return the 17,000 hectares within 12 months of the decision becoming final, the national authorities are obliged to respect and implement the ECHR ruling. Otherwise, the Ministry of Finance will pay EUR 61 million from our money, the taxpayers\u2019 money,\u201d the lawyer added.<\/p>\n The Romanian state may appeal this decision to the ECHR Grand Chamber, but only regarding the amount of compensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n