Property and Proportionality in Housing Law and Eviction Litigation
The EVICT project organizes a special online seminar on the interplay between property rights and proportionality within housing law and eviction litigation, with Dr. Rachael Walsh (Trinity College Dublin), Dr. Sarah Fick (University of the Western Cape) and Prof. Michel Vols (University of Groningen, EVICT). In this seminar the speakers will reflect on the influence of human rights and the proportionality principle in eviction proceedings in their ‘own’ jurisdictions: Ireland, South Africa, and the Netherlands.
Property, Proportionality and Marginality: Assessing the Impact of Non-Ownership Rights
By Dr. Rachael Walsh
Property rights are often characterised as entailing robust exclusionary powers that are not diluted by conflict with non-ownership rights. However, at ECHR and national court levels, there is increasing evidence that the enforcement measures available to owners are influenced by the rights of non-owners, including unlawful occupiers. This paper assesses these developments through the lens of the rights of vulnerable non-owners, considering how the home rights of members of the Travelling Community may re-shape laws that have previous penalised unlawful occupation of land by such individuals.
Property versus proportionality: how the ECHR changed the Dutch fight against squatting
By Prof. Michel Vols
Squatting is illegal in the Netherlands and the public prosecution service is allowed to evict squatters. Yet, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Article 8 ECHR requires that squatters must have the opportunity to have the proportionality of the upcoming eviction tested by a court before the eviction takes place. In most cases, the squatters lose, but in some cases they win. The talk discusses how the ECHR changed the way squatting is tackled, and a new piece of legislation that aims to speed up the eviction proceedings.
The meaning of just and equitable evictions in terms of the South African Constitution
By Dr. Sarah Fick
This talk will consider the protection against evictions from one’s home in terms of the South African Constitution. Section 26(3), read with section 172(1)(b), of the Constitution provides that no one may be evicted without a court order. A court may only grant an eviction order if, considering all of the relevant circumstances, the eviction would be just and equitable. The talk briefly compares this protection to that provided by the ECHR.
Programme
16:00 Opening by Michelle Bruijn
16:05 Talk by Rachael Walsh – ‘Property, Proportionality and Marginality: Assessing the Impact of Non Ownership Rights’
16:20 Q&A
16:25 Talk by Michel Vols – ‘Property versus proportionality: how European law changed the way squatting is tackled in the Netherlands’
16:40 Q&A
16:45 Talk by Sarah Fick – ‘The meaning of just and equitable evictions in terms of the South African Constitution’
17:00 Q&A and discussion
17:30 Closing remarks by Michelle Bruijn
About the chair and speakers
Dr. Michelle Bruijn is a postdoctoral researcher in the EVICT project, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Within the EVICT project, she conducts postdoctoral research on the meaning and impact of the international right to housing in national eviction cases. She is also is the Web Editor of eviction.eu and she supervises and coordinates the monthly talk series.
Dr. Rachael Walsh is Assistant Professor at the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, researching and teaching on the interface between public and private law in the context of property. She is the author of Property Rights and Social Justice: Progressive Property in Action (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
Prof. Dr. Michel Vols is the Principal Investigator in the EVICT project and full professor of law at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His main fields of research are housing law, human rights, public safety, and legal methodology. He received several grants and awards including an ERC Starting Grant (1.5 million euros) and a Dutch VENI-grant (250.000 euros).
Dr. Sarah Fick is a senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape, in Cape Town, South Africa. Her research focus in the protection against eviction in terms of the South African Constitution. She has written a number of articles with Prof Michel Vols comparing the South African situation with that of Europe.
The seminar will be held online and takes place on the 21st of April from 4:00 to 5:30 PM (Amsterdam/Berlin/Paris, UTC+01:00).
Join this talk
The talk will take place online. Join us on Bluejeans. Signing up is not necessary. A recording of this talk is available here.
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