Altogether 21 Slovaks will now receive the compensation, but less than what they had requested. The court stressed in the ruling it is not bound with the expert opinions translated from Slovak. It decided that they will obtain together €2.17 million as a compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, the TASR newswire reported.
The grievants will get from €32,000 to €216,000, said Marica Pirošíková, Slovakia’s representative at the court.
The owners of the flats had originally asked for nearly €8 million as the compensation for the loss caused by the regulation of the rent, and further €50,000 as the compensation for non-pecuniary damage. The Slovak government however doubted the claims, saying they are exaggerated. The ECHR eventually ruled that the owners will also receive together €79,922 as compensation for their spending and expenses, TASR wrote.
The ECHR judges only decided about the compensation, as the court already ruled last January that Slovakia violated the human rights of the flats’ owners when it had regulated the rent. It was the first ruling issued in the case. ECHR is still scrutinising another 13 similar complaints submitted by more than 170 people.
