FIFTH SECTIONCASE OF ANTONENKO AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE(Applications nos. 45009/13 and 53 others -see appended list)      JUDGMENT STRASBOURG20 February 2020 This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.In the case of Antonenko and Others v. Ukraine,The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of: Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, President, Mārtiņš Mits, Lәtif Hüseynov, judges,and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,Having deliberated in private on 30 January 2020,Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:PROCEDURE1.  The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table2.  The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.THE FACTS3.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.4.  The applicants complained of the blanket ban on alienation of their agricultural land.THE LAWJOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 1 of Protocol No. 16.  The applicants complained that the legislative restrictions applicable to their land had breached their right to peaceful enjoyment of their possessions, guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, which reads as follows:Article 1“Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law.The preceding provisions shall not, however, in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest or to secure the payment of taxes or other contributions or penalties.”7.  The Court reiterates that not only must an interference with the right of property be lawful and pursue, on the facts as well as in principle, a “legitimate aim” in the “general interest”, but there must also be a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised by any measures applied by the State, including measures designed to control the use of the individual’s property. That requirement is expressed by the notion of a “fair balance” that must be struck between the demands of the general interest of the community and the requirements of the protection of the individual’s fundamental rights (see Hutten-Czapska v. Poland [GC], no. 35014/97, § 167, ECHR 2006‑VIII).8.  In the leading case of Zelenchuk and Tsytsyura v. Ukraine (nos. 846/16 and 1075/16, 22 May 2018), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case. The Court observed that Ukraine was the only Council of Europe member State with a general ban on sale or any other form of alienation of agricultural land. Given the lack of consistent reasons given for not adopting alternative solutions and the excessive burden imposed on the applicants, the Court concluded that the respondent State had overstepped its wide margin of appreciation in this area and had not struck a fair balance between the general interest of the community and the property rights of the applicants.9.  In the present applications, having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the State failed to strike a fair balance between the general interest of the community and the property rights of the applicants.10.  These applications are therefore admissible and there has been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION11.  Article 41 of the Convention provides:“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”12.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Zelenchuk and Tsytsyura v. Ukraine, cited above, §§ 150, 154-157 and 161), the Court considers that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction.FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,Decides to join the applications;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that there has been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1;Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction.Done in English, and notified in writing on 20 February 2020, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court. Liv Tigerstedt Gabriele Kucsko-StadlmayerActing Deputy Registrar PresidentAPPENDIXList of applications raising complaints under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention(blanket ban on alienation of agricultural land)No.Application no.Date of introductionApplicant’s nameDate of birth Description of plot of landDocument as evidence of ownership of the plot of land   45009/1305/07/2013Mykhaylo Oleksandrovych ANTONENKO31/07/1973Two plots of agricultural land of 1.55 and 5.28 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificates of7 August 2012   50570/1402/07/2014Nina Sergiyivna MIROSHNYCHENKO14/09/1955A plot of agricultural land of 2.3571 hectares in Cherkasy RegionLand Ownership Certificate of18 November 2008   59347/1518/11/2015Eduard Vasylyovych PROKOPCHENKO19/05/1939Two plots of agricultural land of 0.22 and 5.47 hectares in Luhansk RegionLand Ownership Certificates of15 February 2008   59356/1520/11/2015Petro Oleksandrovych IVANOV15/10/1964A plot of agricultural land of 1.86 hectares in Zhytomyr RegionLand Ownership Certificate of22 July 2005   59386/1521/11/2015Mykola Pavlovych GRYSHCHENKO01/01/1947Two plots of agricultural land of 2.0072 and 0.3771 hectares in Kyiv RegionLand Ownership Certificates of7 September 2007   59500/1518/11/2015Tetyana Ivanivna ZUYEVA26/04/1957A plot of agricultural land of 3.2 hectares in Donetsk RegionExcerpt from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 13 January 2014   59534/1517/11/2015Volodymyr Yakovlevych LYSKO19/04/1975A plot of agricultural land of 7.52 hectares in Zaporizhzhya RegionLand Ownership Certificate of14 August 2006   59698/1518/11/2015Viktoriya Vasylivna ANNOPOLSKA11/10/1970A plot of agricultural land of 13.2843 hectares in Kharkiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of19 June 2008   60004/1520/11/2015Petro Oleksandrovych IVANOV15/10/1964A plot of agricultural land of 2.21 hectares in Zhytomyr RegionCertificate of Inheritance Rights of 16 June 2009 60269/1523/11/2015Olena Ivanivna YANYEVA18/04/1959A plot of agricultural land of 4.4487 hectares in Odesa RegionLand Ownership Certificate of7 September 2010 60480/1525/11/2015Stepan Yakovych YANYEV24/11/1958A plot of agricultural land of 4.4655 hectares in Odesa RegionLand Ownership Certificate of24 October 2011 60820/1526/11/2015Valeriy Volodymyrovych STADNIK03/04/1953Two plots of agricultural land of 3.36 and 3.48 hectares in Khmelnytsky RegionLand Ownership Certificates of5 June 2003 and 30 December 2003 60840/1524/11/2015Stepan Ivanovych NIKOLAYENKO09/01/1952Two plots of agricultural land of 2.7285 and 3.0777 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificates of19 September 2011 60853/1525/11/2015Mariya Vasylivna KOLESNYK31/10/1938A plot of agricultural land of 2.95 hectares in Zhytomyr RegionLand Ownership Certificate of13 September 2006 60857/1516/11/2015Volodymyr Petrovych IVANOV28/12/1960Two plots of agricultural land of 1.68 and 0.3449 hectares in Kyiv RegionExcerpts from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 10 April 2015 61364/1501/12/2015Pavlo Dmytrovych STELMASHCHUK26/04/1975A plot of agricultural land of 0.463 hectares in Khmelnytsky RegionImmovable Property Ownership Certificate of24 November 2015 61847/1529/11/2015Sergiy Mykolayovych YAROVYY07/08/1962A plot of agricultural land of 16.73 hectares in Kherson RegionLand Ownership Certificate of20 October 2004 62432/1508/12/2015Andriy Tymofiyovych PAVLOV08/09/1985A plot of agricultural land of 4.84 hectares in Odesa RegionLand Ownership Certificate of29 November 2004 62460/1504/12/2015Tetyana Volodymyrivna KUCHERENKO07/02/1973A plot of agricultural land of 4.9295 hectares in Odesa Region Immovable Property Ownership Certificate of30 November 2015 62476/1503/12/2015Natalya Mykolayivna POLYAKOVA02/12/1954A plot of agricultural land of 9.2586 hectares in Zaporizhzhya RegionLand Ownership Certificate of20 August 2010 62665/1508/12/2015Nikolay Ivanovich DROBOT29/05/1960Two plots of agricultural land of 2.46 and 2.46 hectares in Dnipropetrovsk RegionLand Ownership Certificates of12 October 2010 and 11 October 2012  534/1614/12/2015Alisa Mykolayivna SHVETS28/04/1986A plot of agricultural land of 7.4457 hectares in Kirovohrad RegionExcerpt from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 4 December 2013 535/1614/12/2015Alisa Mykolayivna SHVETS28/04/1986A plot of agricultural land of 7.2318 hectares in Kirovohrad RegionExcerpt from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 10 September 2014 924/1611/12/2015Tetyana Mykhaylivna BURDEYNA03/07/1969A plot of agricultural land of 5.98 hectares in Odesa RegionLand Ownership Certificate of30 March 2005 978/1610/12/2015Nina Mykolayivna SELEZNYOVA26/08/1953A plot of agricultural land of 7.04 hectares in Chernihiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of26 March 2003 1979/1618/12/2015Sofiya Oleksandrivna KAZMERCHUK30/11/1937A plot of agricultural land of 6.41 hectares in Dnipropetrovsk RegionLand Ownership Certificate of1 April 2003 1988/1618/12/2015Anatoliy Dmytrovych KAZMERCHUK30/07/1935A plot of agricultural land of 6.19 hectares in Dnipropetrovsk RegionLand Ownership Certificate of1 April 2003 2177/1625/12/2015Nadiya Semenivna YAKOVLYEVA08/05/1958A plot of agricultural land of 3.11 hectares in Kherson Region Land Ownership Certificate of24 February 2004 7518/1630/01/2016Iuliyana Ivanivna PUCHKOVA04/07/1957A plot of agricultural land of 6.7586 hectares in Zaporizhzhya RegionLand Ownership Certificate of 8 July 2006 7843/1620/01/2016Oleksandr Mykolayovych POLUSHKIN25/05/1957A plot of agricultural land of 4.12 hectares in Poltava RegionLand Ownership Certificate of4 December 2003 8534/1605/02/2016Lyudmyla Onysiyivna KRUTS29/05/1960Two plots of agricultural land of 1.1277 and 1.1501 hectares in Odesa RegionExcerpts from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 9 December 2015 8628/1620/01/2016Olena Volodymyrivna POLUSHKINA17/09/1968A plot of agricultural land of 4.12 hectares in Poltava RegionLand Ownership Certificate of4 December 2003 10799/1627/01/2016Borys Oleksiyovych KIMNATNYY08/07/1953A plot of agricultural land of 5.767 hectares in Zaporizhzhya RegionLand Ownership Certificate of8 August 2000 11628/1614/02/2016Tetyyana Gennadiyivna YAROVA15/08/1966A plot of agricultural land of 16.94 hectares in Kherson RegionLand Ownership Certificate of20 October 2004 12768/1624/02/2016Oleg Viktorovych KATSARSKYY15/06/1982A plot of agricultural land of 2 hectares in Odesa RegionLand Ownership Certificate of27 October 2003 14997/1625/02/2016Volodymyr Oleksiyovych GORENKO03/07/1941A plot of agricultural land of 1.2743 hectares in Kirovohrad RegionLand Ownership Certificate of2 December 2008 15407/1609/03/2016Illya Mykolayovych SHVAB01/09/1937A plot of agricultural land of 2.4691 hectares in Zhytomyr RegionLand Ownership Certificate of18 October 2002 16892/1610/03/2016Viktor Vasylyovych PEROV26/06/1949A plot of agricultural land of 5.586 hectares in Luhansk RegionLand Ownership Certificate of28 September 2004 19197/1619/03/2016Lyudmyla Ivanivna RYKOVA20/06/1955Two plots of agricultural land of 4.07 and 4.07 hectares in Dnipropetrovsk RegionLand Ownership Certificates of6 January 2005 27154/1625/04/2016Nataliya Volodymyrivna LOGVINOVA02/12/1961A plot of agricultural land of 3.84 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of 31 August 2004 27365/1625/04/2016Galyna Mykhaylivna BOLDYREVA30/03/1970Two plots of agricultural land of 6.85 and 2.78 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificates of1 November 2007 35452/1608/06/2016Lyudmyla Oleksiyivna KOZYRYEVA15/06/1946A plot of agricultural land of 1.2697 hectares in Kirovohrad RegionLand Ownership Certificate of18 August 2009 36306/1616/06/2016Oleksandr Mykolayovych BULYMENKO13/11/1971A plot of agricultural land of 10.59 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of10 September 2004 36309/1616/06/2016Lyudmyla Volodymyrivna BULYMENKO19/06/1977A plot of agricultural land of 10.53 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of7 August 2006 36319/1616/06/2016Oleksandra Mykolayivna BULYMENKO22/01/1937A plot of agricultural land of 4.53 hectares in Mykolayiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of22 July 2010 44881/1620/07/2016Svitlana Volodymyrivna ZHURAVLYOVA03/08/1981Two plots of agricultural land of 1.2565 and 1.272 hectares in Odesa RegionExcerpts from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 13 July 2016 30321/1816/06/2018Sergiy Volodymyrovych YUZKIV26/04/1980A plot of agricultural land of 1.7026 hectares in Vinnytsya RegionLand Ownership Certificate of4 October 2012 24/1927/11/2018Olga Grygorivna CHEKANOVA01/09/1959A plot of agricultural land of 2.64 hectares in Odesa RegionLand Ownership Certificate of6 August 2001 7056/1916/01/2019Sergiy Mykhaylovych YIVZHENKO17/04/1972A plot of agricultural land of 4.09 hectares in Poltava RegionExcerpt from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 19 October 2013 11071/1915/02/2019Anatoliy Mykolayovych MAGDA24/06/1959A plot of agricultural land of 3.9146 hectares in Kharkiv RegionLand Ownership Certificate of 16 November 2012 11073/1915/02/2019Alyona Anatoliyivna MAGDA03/12/1988A plot of agricultural land of 1.86 hectares in Kharkiv RegionExcerpt from the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property of 29 June 2017 13714/1903/03/2019Mariya Ivanivna NEZNAYKO24/01/1921A plot of agricultural land of 1.32 hectares in Zhytomyr RegionLand Ownership Certificate of25 October 2002 14033/1901/03/2019Tamara Ivanivna VOYNALOVYCH02/04/1942A plot of agricultural land of 1.41 hectares in Zhytomyr Region Land Ownership Certificate of25 October 2002 14036/1901/03/2019Oleksiy Oleksandrovych VOYNALOVYCH03/05/1939A plot of agricultural land of 2.6 hectares in Zhytomyr RegionLand Ownership Certificate of25 October 2002