The shipowner’s responsibility for the transfer of products of another company without legalization documents and the protection of the right to property
JUDGMENT
S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. v. Romania 04-07-2017 (no. 58045/11)
SUMMARY
The confiscation of two oil tankers belonging to the applicant company and which transferred to another company products which were not accompanied by the required legal documents does not infringe the right to property and is compatible with Article 1 of the First Protocol to the ECHR.
Two oil tankers of the applicant company were loaded in Bulgaria, heading for Romania, where they were stopped for inspection by the Romanian customs office. The Romanian authorities found that the liquid transported did not have the same characteristics as those mentioned in the documents. Thus they imposed on the owner company of a fine of about EUR 23,000 for non-compliance with the rules on excisable products. The products were confiscated and and also the boil tankers belonging to the applicant S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. which transported the seized products. No violation of Article 1 of the First Protocol.
PROVISION
Article 1 of the First Additional Protocol
PRINCIPAL FACTS
The applicant, S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L., is a Romanian company incorporated in 1993 with its registered office in Adunaţii Copăceni (Romania). The case concerned the confiscation of two oil tankers belonging to the applicant company, which had been transporting, for another company, goods that had not been accompanied by the requisite legal documents.
On 11 May 2010 the applicant company, whose main activity is the retail distribution of fuel in specialised outlets, entered into a contract with company N. for the carriage of automobile lubricants and other goods. The contract stipulated that N. had to provide the transport documents with the requisite information.
On the same day, two oil tankers of the company S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. were loaded in Bulgaria and driven to Romania, where they were stopped for inspection by the Romanian financial brigade. After laboratory analyses, the Romanian authorities found that the liquid transported did not have the same specifications as those indicated in the documents. They thus imposed on company N., as owner of the goods, a fine of about 23,000 euros for non-compliance with the rules governing products subject to excise duty. They also confiscated the goods and the two oil tankers belonging to the company S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L.
S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. appealed against the decision, challenging the confiscation of its two oil tankers. On 15 November 2010 the Slobozia Court of First Instance upheld its complaint and annulled the part of the procedure corresponding to the confiscation. However, on an appeal by the tax authorities, the Ialomiţa County Court quashed the judgment and dismissed the complaint by S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. as ill-founded.
THE DECISION OF THE COURT
Relying in particular on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the Convention, the company S.C. Service Benz Com S.R.L. complained about the confiscation of its two oil tankers.
No violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
