PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 36124/06) against the Kingdom of Sweden lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Swedish national, Mr Ralf Gunnar Olsby (“the applicant”), on 23 August 2006.

The applicant was represented by Mr P. Cronhult, a lawyer practising in Stockholm. The Swedish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms I. Kalmerborn, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The applicant alleged that he had been deprived of effective access to court in contravention of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

On 30 September 2008 the application was communicated to the Government. It was also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time (Article 29 § 1).

On 1 February 2011 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1 of the Rules of Court) and the above application was assigned to the newly composed Fifth Section.

The Government submitted a unilateral declaration which did not offer sufficient basis for finding that respect for human rights as defined in Article 37 § 1 the Convention had been fulfilled (Prencipe v. Monaco, no. 43376/06, §§ 62-63, 16 July 2009). The Court was therefore required to continue the examination of the case.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1943 and lives in Sundbyberg.

By letter dated 9 August 2005, the Enforcement Authority (Kronofogdemyndigheten) informed the applicant that its representative would come to his home on 17 August 2005 to attach property to secure his tax debts amounting to SEK 979,503 (approximately EUR 110,000). It noted that he had previously been informed about his debts but that, since he had not paid, an attachment would be carried out. It is not known when the letter was sent or when the applicant received it.

On 19 August 2005 the Enforcement Authority attached SEK 9,128 (approximately EUR 950) from a bank account belonging to the applicant. A document called Proof of Attachment (bevis om utmätning) was sent to the applicant confirming this and advising him how to go about appealing against the decision and that this had to be done within three weeks from the date that the decision was served on him. The applicant, who was on holiday at the time, did not receive the Proof of Attachment until he returned home on 8 September 2005 and was formally served the decision.

In a decision of 24 August 2005 the Enforcement Authority distributed and paid the attached money to the creditor, in this case, the State itself. The decision was open to appeal within three weeks from the date of the decision.

On 20 September 2005 the applicant requested the Enforcement Authority to rectify (besluta om rättelse) the decision concerning attachment as he considered it to be incorrect. The Enforcement Authority, in a decision of the same day, rejected the applicant’s request for rectification on the ground that it had been submitted too late. It further stated that it was not possible to appeal against the decision in that part and that, as regarded its other decisions, appeals were possible within the time-frames of which the applicant had previously been notified.

On 22 September 2005 the applicant appealed against the attachment decision to the District Court (tingsrätten) of Stockholm. He mainly objected that the Enforcement Authority had not sufficiently taken into account, and made deductions for, the need to cover his basic living expenses.

In a comment (yttrande) by the Enforcement Authority in connection with the appeal, it stated that the appeal had been made within the stated time-limit but that, since the decision as regards the distribution and payment of the funds had gained legal force, the applicant’s appeal could not be tried by the court.

On 19 October 2005 the District Court dismissed the appeal after first having noted that the decision as regarded the payment of the attached funds had gained legal force on 15 September 2005 and that the applicant had appealed against the attachment decision on 22 September 2005. Thereafter the court, with reference to case-law from the Supreme Court, stated that an appeal against an attachment decision that was lodged after a decision regarding the payment of the attached funds had gained legal force could not be considered by the court.

The applicant appealed against the decision to the Svea Court of Appeal (hovrätten) requesting that it quash the lower court’s decision. The applicant submitted that he had not been aware of the attachment decision until 8 September 2005, when he was formally served the Proof of Attachment, and that he had never been notified of the fact that the Enforcement Authority, five days after the attachment decision, had distributed and paid the attached money. In his view, it should not have been permitted to distribute attached money until the actual attachment decision had gained legal force.

On 16 December 2005 the Court of Appeal upheld the District Court’s decision in full.

The applicant appealed to the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) which, on 28 February 2006, refused leave to appeal.