THE CONVENTION ASPECTS OF “FREEZING” AND TEMPORARY CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY

Abstract

In this paper, the authors analyse the Convention aspects of the so-called "freezing" and temporary confiscation of property, regardless of whether it arose from civil or criminal proceedings and from the aspect of the protection of the right to peaceful enjoyment of property as guaranteed by the Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and by the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The introductory part of the paper presents the basic principles by which the ECtHR is guided in determining whether the right to peaceful enjoyment of property was violated. Further on, the national system for regulation of selected security measures that have the effect of freezing and temporary confiscation of property in enforcement proceedings and in criminal proceedings is discussed. The case-law of the ECtHR is also analysed from the aspect of violation of protected rights in the light of rules on the control of the use of property by freezing and temporary confiscation, with particular emphasis on the principle of proportionality.