ECHR orders Azerbaijan to pay €75,000 over Ganja property demolition

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered the Azerbaijani government to pay €75,450 (£63,000) to a family whose property was unlawfully demolished by local authorities.

The ruling, published on 7 July, concerns Firuz Verdiyev and Safayat Verdiyeva, whose commercial building in the western city of Ganja was destroyed in 2013.

The Strasbourg-based court found that Azerbaijan had violated the family's right to property and their right to a fair trial.

The dispute began in August 2013, when the Kapaz District Executive Power demolished a 271.9 sq m (2,926 sq ft) commercial facility owned by the Verdiyev family.

The family, who also owned the surrounding 0.3-hectare plot of land, said the demolition was carried out without their consent, despite them holding valid ownership documents.

The Verdiyevs launched legal action against both the local executive authority and the district police, seeking 770,000 Azerbaijani manats (€400,000) in compensation for the building, their lost belongings, and moral damages.

Local courts initially dismissed the claims. Following a series of appeals, the Ganja Court of Appeal ordered the local authority to pay the family 50,000 manats (€26,000) for the loss of the building.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan later upheld this sum, adding only 2,000 manats (€1,000) in moral damages.

The family then took their case to the ECHR, arguing that they had been unlawfully deprived of their property and had not received fair compensation.

In its judgment, the ECHR criticised the Azerbaijani courts for relying on a highly brief assessment to determine the compensation amount.

"The domestic courts... relied on a one-page expert report which referred only to the State Register," the ECHR judgment said.

"However, no explanation was given regarding the valuation methodology used."

The Azerbaijani government had argued that the land plot itself remained in the family’s possession, meaning there was no barrier to them using it.

However, the family maintained they could no longer use the land because local authorities had built a road and planted trees across the site.

The ECHR awarded the family €71,750 in pecuniary damages and €3,700 in non-pecuniary damages.

The Strasbourg court has previously ruled against Azerbaijan in dozens of similar cases involving forced demolitions, most notably during mass urban redevelopment projects in the capital, Baku.