EIT:n suuri jaosto: Työkyvyttömyyseläkkeen lakkauttaminen lainsäädäntömuutoksen johdosta muodosti omaisuuden suojan loukkauksen

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuimen (EIT) suuri jaosto on tänään antamassaan tuomiossa katsonut, että Unkari loukkasi valittajan oikeutta omaisuuden suojaan, kun se oli säätänyt lain, jonka perusteella valittajan työkyvyttömyyseläke lakkautettiin kokonaisuudessaan.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

In today’s Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Béláné Nagy v. Hungary (application no. 53080/13) the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority (9 votes to 8), that there had been:

a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No.1 (protection of property) to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned a social security benefit paid to the applicant, Ms Nagy. She had received a disability benefit for almost ten years, which was then withdrawn. Her claim to re-start the payments was dismissed, because a legislative change had meant that she was no longer eligible to receive the benefit. Ms Nagy complained that the removal of her disability pension had violated her right to the protection of property.

The Court found in particular that Article 1 to Protocol 1 had applied to Ms Nagy’s case, because she had had a legitimate expectation that she would receive the pension, if she had satisfied the criteria set out in the old legislation. The refusal to grant her the benefit had been in accordance with the law (as it arose from the new legislation), and had been in pursuit of a legitimate purpose (saving public funds). However, it had not been proportionate: in particular, because it had involved the complete deprivation of a vulnerable person’s only significant source of income, resulting from retrospectively effective legislation that had contained no transitional arrangements applicable to Ms Nagy’s case.

Koko lehdistötiedote, missä myös linkki koko tuomioon, löytyy täältä: here