Constitutional Court decided to Annul the Provision on Compensation for Damages to Immovable Properties in the Coalfields within the Scope of Mining Operations

The Constitutional Court’s decision dated 22.06.2023 and numbered 2023/117 E., 2023/121 K. (Decision) has been published in the Official Gazette dated 15.09.2023 and numbered 32310. The Constitutional Court decided to annul a part of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Law on the Acquisition of Immovable Properties in the Coalfields (Law). 

• With the decision, the provision in the first paragraph of Article 3 of the Law stating that “… cannot claim any right or compensation for damages incurred due to mining operations.” is annulled.
• The referred provision sets out that the owners of immovable properties located in the coalfields and registered in the name of their possessors cannot claim any right or compensation for the damages caused by mining operations, and therefore, prevents these persons from filing a lawsuit for compensation for the damages caused by mining activities on their properties.
• The referred provision is annulled by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that preventing claims for compensation for damages incurred due to mining operations on immovable properties located in the coalfields constitutes a violation of the right to property and, accordingly, a violation of the right to effective remedies.