Individual Application

Violation of the right to property due to the excessive nature of the imposed fines

During the exit controls carried out by the officials at the Free Zone Customs Office, a sum of cash money was found in the car which the applicants were in. The customs officers seized the money. Upon the applicants’ objection, the seized money was returned to them. On the other hand, they were imposed administrative fines for having committed misdemeanour. They challenged the imposed fines; however, their challenge was dismissed. Their subsequent appeal was also rejected. Finding a violation, the Constitutional Court concluded that the interference with the applicants’ right to property placed an excessive and extraordinary burden on the applicants.