Sale of British Embassy Building Case

• Jurisdiction: Grecia
• Date: 01 January 1962
• Court: Supreme Court (Greece)

Greece, Court of Cassation (First Chamber).

(Cafcas, President; Charalambis, Rapporteur)

Sale of British Embassy Building Case1

GREECE

Sovereign immunity Property of foreign States immunity from execution Forcible sale of building leased for use as embassy premises Measures of execution subject to authorisation of minister of justice Whether unauthorised measures void or voidable Whether private individual or only foreign State entitled to invoke lack of authorisation of such measures The law of Greece

Summary: The facts:The owner of a building which had been leased for use as premises for the British Embassy in Greece sought to have the compulsory sale of the building by auction declared void on the ground that since the building was leased to a foreign State its sale required the prior authorisation of the Minister of Justice under a Greek law of 1938, which subjected all measures of forcible execution or conservatory measures against the property of foreign States to such authorisation. The application was rejected at first instance and by the Court of Appeal of Athens. The applicant appealed to the Court of Cassation.

Held:The appeal was dismissed.

The purpose of the law of 1938 was to promote friendly relations with foreign States but the prohibition of measures of execution or safeguarding measures rendered such measures void rather than voidable if the appropriate authorisation had not been obtained. The foreign State concerned was alone entitled to invoke this voidability and could renounce reliance upon it, expressly or impliedly.

The following is the text of the judgment of the Court:

According to the provisions of Article 1(1) of Emergency Law No. 15/1938 forcible execution is not to be levied nor is any conservatory measure to be taken upon debts and in general upon movable and immovable property belonging to or bound by any form of legal connection with, a foreign State, without the prior authorisation of the Minister of justice. According to paragraph 2 of the same provision forcible execution levied or conservatory measures taken prior to the entry into force of the law are...