JAMES AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT 17 consequences of application of the legislation such as occurred in the 80 specific transactions before the Court are to be taken into account. The Court will accordingly consider the applicants’ claims on the basis of the above approach. 37. Article 1 (P1-1) in substance guarantees the right of property (see the Marckx judgment of 13 June 1979, Series A no. 31, pp. 27-28, para. 63). In its judgment of 23 September 1982 in the case of Sporrong and Lönnroth, the Court analysed Article 1 (P1-1) as comprising "three distinct rules": the first rule, set out in the first sentence of the first paragraph, is of a general nature and enunciates the principle of the peaceful enjoyment of property; the second rule, contained in the second sentence of the first paragraph, covers deprivation of possessions and subjects it to certain conditions; the third rule, stated in the second paragraph, recognises that the Contracting States are entitled, amongst other things, to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest (Series A no. 52, p. 24, para. 61). The Court further observed that, before inquiring whether the first general rule has been complied with, it must determine whether the last two are applicable (ibid.). The three rules are not, however, "distinct" in the sense of being unconnected. The second and third rules are concerned with particular instances of interference with the right to peaceful enjoyment of property and should therefore be construed in the light of the general principle enunciated in the first rule. B. Second sentence of the first paragraph ("the deprivation rule") 1. Applicability 38. The Court considers that the applicants were "deprived of [their] possessions", within the meaning of the second sentence of Article 1 (P1-1), by virtue of the contested legislation. This point was not disputed before the Court. 2. "In the public interest": private individuals as beneficiaries 39. The applicants’ first contention was that the "public interest" test in the deprivation rule is satisfied only if the property is taken for a public purpose of benefit to the community generally and that, as a corollary, the transfer of property from one person to another for the latter’s private benefit alone can never be "in the public interest". In their submission, the contested legislation does not satisfy this condition. The Commission and the Government, on the other hand, were agreed in thinking that a compulsory transfer of property from one individual to another may in principle be considered to be "in the public interest" if the taking is effected in pursuance of legitimate social policies.