Постановление Европейского суда по правам человека от 22.12.2009 «Дело Леханова (Lekhanova) против России» [англ.]

p title (see paragraph 31 below). Accordingly, the court refused to accept the applicant's membership card as valid proof of her title to the flat at issue (see, however, paragraphs 14 and 17 above). The court also rejected the applicant's eviction claim against Ms K, because only the proven owner could seek eviction. However, the court awarded the applicant 3,000 Russian roubles (RUB) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and RUB 2,000 in litigation costs (lawyer's fees, photocopying fees, compensation for loss of time). The court refused to award the applicant's representative P's travel expenses between her residence town (Moscow) and Voronezh.
22. The applicant appealed, contending that the 2003 ruling of the Constitutional Court could not be applied to events in the 1990s. On 16 February 2006 the Regional Court set aside the judgment in the part concerning compensation in respect of non-pecuniary damage and upheld it in the remaining part. The appeal court held that the Constitutional Court had only determined the constitutional meaning of the relevant provisions of the Civil Code in force at the material time.

5. Subsequent proceedings

23. In May 2006 Ms K obtained an official certificate confirming her title to the flat. It appears that she sold it to another person in the same month.
24. By an order of 6 September 2006, the District Court lifted the charging order in respect of the flat in question. The applicant appealed. On 16 January 2007 the Regional Court upheld this order.
25. On an unspecified date the applicant applied to the Bailiffs' Service for enforcement of the judgment of 5 October 2005. On 19 April 2007 the Bailiffs' Service indicated that the judgment could not be enforced against the housing cooperative because it had ceased its activity in January 2007.
26. On 20 April 2007 the Regional Court refused leave for supervisory review of the judgments of 5 October 2005 and 16 February 2006.

B. Other proceedings

27. In reply to the applicant's complaint concerning the above civil dispute, by a letter of 12 February 2007 the Prosecutor General's Office advised her to sue the housing cooperative for damages in view of their failure to honour their contractual obligations.
28. In separate proceedings, on an unspecified date, the authorities opened a criminal investigation into the applicant's allegations that the private company's acts had deprived her of her flat. In August 2008 the case was discontinued because the statutory time-limit for criminal prosecution had expired.

II. Relevant domestic law and practice

29. Under Article 167 of the Civil Code 1994, a voided transaction does not give rise to any legal consequences beyond those related to its annulment, and is void ab initio. In a voided transaction the parties should return to each other what was received or, if not practicable, they should pay compensation. Under Article 302 of the Civil Code, the first owner can claim property back from a purchaser in good faith who has acquired it from an unauthorised seller without knowing or being in a position to know that the seller was unauthorised. However, such a claim can only arise if the property was lost, stolen or otherwise taken out of the first owner's control.
30. By a ruling of 21 April 2003, the Constitutional Court interpreted Article 167 of the Code as not allowing the first owner to reclaim his property from a purchaser in good faith unless there is a special legislative provision to this effect. Instead, a claim vindicating prior rights (виндикационный иск) could be lodged under Article 302 of the Code.
31. Under Article 219 of the Civil Code, ownership title to a building or other newly built premises requiring State registration, arises from the

> 1 2 3 4 5 ... 6 7