| Applicant name | SHAMMAT |
| Applicant type | Natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Romania |
| Application no. | 15807/14 |
| Date | 04/07/2023 |
| Judges | Faris Vehabović, President, Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Branko Lubarda, judges |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Not prescribed by law |
| Type of privacy | Informational privacy |
| Keywords | Publication personal data; taxdebt |
| Facts of the case | Publication of the applicant’s personal data (full name and home address) in a local newspaper in connection with his failure to fulfil his tax obligations, as well as the lack of appropriate redress thereto |
| Analysis | Refering to the recent case of L.B. against Hungary, the ECtHR quickly establishes that the publication interfered with the applicant’s privacy life and that the domestic authorities had admitted that the publication did not have a legal basis and gave the applicant compensation. The only real discussion in this case is whether this deprived the applicant of a victim status, because he was already provided redress under domestic law. That is not the case, the ECtHR finds, because the amount for non-pecuniary damages offered was 50 euro. Although in itself it is understandable that the ECtHR would find that this would not mean that applicant can no longer claim to be a victim, it is remarkable in that sense that in L.B., the ECtHR did not provide any immaterial damages, but established that the finding of a violation provided sufficient relief in and by itself. |
| Other Article violation? | – |
| Damage awarded | that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 5,000 (five thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 135 (one hundred and thirty-five euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses; |
| Documents | Judgment |