GORGOSHADZE v. GEORGIA

Communicated on 27 January 2017 FOURTH SECTIONApplication no. 65070/10Tengiz GORGOSHADZEagainst Georgialodged on 21 October 2010STATEMENT OF FACTSThe applicant, Mr Tengiz Gorgoshadze, is a Georgian national who was born in 1955 and lives in Batumi.A.  The circumstances of the caseThe facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.In 2007 a major reform process was begun concerning land privatisation in Georgia. On 11 July 2007 the Parliament of Georgia adopted the Act on Recognition of Property Rights to Plots of Land possessed (used) by physical and legal persons (“the Recognition Act”). The purpose of the Recognition Act was to establish a procedure for formal recognition of ownership rights in respect of land. It envisaged three possibilities for legalising ownership rights over land: lawful land ownership, lawful land use, and arbitrary occupation of l …