Representative cases

Our client is an association of forest landowners in Romania, set up to manage their forest property jointly. A substantial part of these forests was included by the authorities in the European ecological network Natura 2000 and in other categories of protected natural areas.

The protection regime brought with it severe prohibitions and limitations of the right of ownership over the forest. Although the law recognises the owners' right to be compensated for the income of which they are deprived by these restrictions, the payment mechanism was, in practice, inoperative, as the Romanian State failed to adopt the implementing rules needed to grant the compensation due.

Having exhausted the domestic remedies in seeking the compensation provided for by law, we applied to the European Court of Human Rights for the protection of the right to property. We argued that the absence of any compensation for the restriction on the use of the land upset the fair balance between the general interest in environmental protection and the right to property guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention.

Following the application to the Court, it held that Romania had breached the applicant's right to property and ordered the State to pay the compensation due for the period during which the owners were deprived of the effective use of their forests, together with the legal costs. The judgment was delivered in 2023.