The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found [3] that Serbia violated Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property), in a case concerning the impact of a neighboring construction project on the applicant’s living conditions and the market value of her property.

The construction of a six-storey building less than two meters from the applicant’s ground-floor apartment resulted in loss of natural light and ventilation. Further, the experts concluded that the apartment was transformed into a basement, which impaired normal living conditions and reduced its market value by at least 20%.

Despite warnings from the residents and internal findings by the Construction Inspectorate and the Ministry’s urban planning inspector identifying irregularities in the issued permit, the authorities took no corrective action. The domestic courts failed to assess the impact of these conditions on the applicant’s daily life and provided no compensation or redress for the decrease in property value, contrary to prior Supreme Court practice.

The ECtHR found a violation of Article 8, noting the severity of the long-term impact on the applicant’s home and her vulnerability. The Court also found a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, highlighting the authorities’ failure to address irregularities in the permit, the lack of compensation despite proven financial loss, and not considering the value reduction as significant contrary to established domestic case-law.