Autonomous interpretation of the concept of “property” in the practice of the ECtHR in the context of land and agrarian law of Ukraine

Abstract

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Particular attention is paid to the autonomous interpretationby the European Court of Human Rights of the concept of property within the meaning of the abovementioned Convention.The European Court of Human Rights interprets the concept of “property” quite broadly, including not only traditional objects of thematerial world, but also a number of intangible assets. In addition to classic tangible assets (such as land), the European Court of HumanRights also includes a “legitimate expectation” to receive certain assets to the content of the concept of “property”. It is extremelyimportant in Ukrainian land law when a person may not be de facto the owner of the land plot due to bureaucratic abuses of the subjectsof power. At the same time, this position of the Strasbourg Court gives potential owners or land users an additional degree of protectionof their rights.The legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights according to which licenses or special permits that “constitute economicvalue” may also be recognized as property and be protected in accordance with Art. 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention arealso significant. This approach to the interpretation of the concept of “property” is particularly important for the subjects of agrarian law,given that the national agrarian legislation provides for many permits, licenses and other permitting documents for economic entities.Based on the analysis of national legislation and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, it is concluded that thecase law of the European Court of Human Rights is a source of agrarian and land law, which provides new opportunities to argue legalpositions in jurisdictional protection of property rights. The necessity of implementation in the national law enforcement and law-ma -king activity of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the context of protection of the rights of participants of land andagrarian legal relations to their property is substantiated.Based on the analysis of national legislation and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, it is concluded that thecase law of the European Court of Human Rights is a source of agrarian and land law, which provides new opportunities to argue legalpositions in jurisdictional protection of property rights. The necessity of introduction in the national law enforcement and law-makingactivity of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the context of protection of the rights of participants of land andagrarian legal relations to their property is substantiated.