The Chief Rabbinate of the Jewish Community in Izmir, No. 1574/12, ECtHR (Second Section), 21 March 2023

Right to property and registration of an old synagogue. Registration in the name of the public treasury. Uninterrupted and unchallenged possession for over four centuries.

Art. 1, Prot. 1, ECHR 

1. From a procedural point of view, the Chief Rabbinate is a legitimate claimant who must be recognised as having the capacity to sue, as it represents its faithful and constitutes a religious institution dating back to the Ottoman period. 

2. The interference of the public authorities with the unequivocal, uninterrupted and unchallenged possession for more than four centuries of both the land and the synagogue, immovable property characterised by a use linked to the religious life of the Jewish community, is unjustified.

3. The unforeseeable refusal to register the property in the name of the Rabbinate, following the application of irrelevant provisions, is not compatible with the principle of legality and therefore violates the applicant's right to respect for his property, guaranteed by Article 1, Protocol 1 of the Convention.