In January of the current year, Praxis submitted written comments to the European Court of Human Rights as an intervening third party in the Court’s proceedings in the case of Gajic v. Germany (Application No. 31446/02). The case concerns allegations of deprivation of property-related benefits stemming from the use of the applicant’s apartment in the period June 1999 - July 2004 by German contingent of KFOR as a constituent element of the KFOR Multi-National Task Force South-West, stationed in Prizren, Kosovo. 

On August 28, 2007, the European Court of Human Rights declared inadmissible the application in this case. Calling upon its reasoning in Behrami and Behrami v. France and Saramati v. France, Germany and Norway (Application No. 7412/01 and 78166/01), the Court reiterated that the actions or inactions of KFOR are, in principle, attributable to the UN and declared itself incompetent ratione personae to review the acts of Germany carried out on behalf of the UN. In any event, the Court further considered the complaint premature and inadmissible due to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies (before German administrative courts).

Previously, on August 16, 2007, in a decision upon a filed objection, the German Federal Ministry of Defence finally rejected Gajic’s request for rental compensation on the grounds of alleged doubts regarding validity of the submitted evidence on ownership and instructed the complainant to appeal before the Administrative Court in Cologne. The Ministry wrongly estimated the new evidence supporting the objection. By the same token, the Ministry brought the first negative decisions in other 26 cases with similar factual and legal background. Praxis will continue to monitor development of the cases before the competent bodies in Germany and provide necessary legal aid to the affected IDPs.

Download:  Final Decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the Gajic vs. Germany Case