Alessia Iolanda Matonti
The "Ljubljanska Banka Case" and State-controlled Companies: From "Locus Standi" to Responsibility of States
Abstract
Informations and abstract
Keywords: Article 34 of the ECHR; Socially Owned Enterprises; State-owned Enterprises; International Responsibility of States
The paper analyses a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights, issued on 12 May 2015 in the case "Ljubljanska Banka D.D. v. Croatia" (application no. 29003/07). The Court declared the application inadmissible, because the Ljubljanska Bank, a Slovene joint-stock company under prevalent public control, has no standing to lodge an individual application with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention. The decision highlights two complementary issues: on the one hand, the Court states that the bank in question, as «it does not enjoy sufficient institutional and operational independence from the State», constitutes a 'governmental organization' with no locus standi; on the other, in re-calling its earlier decision starring the same bank, the Court reiterates the attribution to the home State of the conducts of public companies.