TRE TRAKTÖRER AKTIEBOLAG v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT
20
3. Conclusion
63. The Court thus concludes that there has been no violation of Article
1 of the Protocol (P1-1).
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 50 (art. 50) OF THE CONVENTION
64. Article 50 (art. 50) provides:
"If the Court finds that a decision or a measure taken by a legal authority or any
other authority of a High Contracting Party is completely or partially in conflict with
the obligations arising from the ... Convention, and if the internal law of the said Party
allows only partial reparation to be made for the consequences of this decision or
measure, the decision of the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the
injured party."
The applicant company sought compensation for pecuniary damage and
reimbursement of its costs and expenses.
A. Pecuniary damage
65. The applicant company claimed that the proceedings leading to the
revocation of its licence caused it losses amounting to 3,996,000 SEK; to
this amount had to be added an allowance for inflation at the annual rate of
5% and interest at 16% per annum. Furthermore, because of the audit report,
Mrs Flenman’s taxable income had been increased by 100,000 SEK (see
paragraph 12 above); although eventually the County Court reduced this
amount and the authorities made a refund of tax, this did not reflect the
annual inflation rate and the claim also extended to this aspect of the case.
66. The Court agrees, however, with the Government’s contention that
there is no causal link between any of the alleged pecuniary damage and the
violation of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) found in this judgment. The
withdrawal of the licence admittedly had adverse effects on the goodwill
and the value of the restaurant Le Cardinal (see paragraph 43 above).
Nevertheless, the Court cannot speculate as to what the result of the
proceedings might have been if the applicant company had been able to
bring this question before a court. The increase in Mrs Flenman’s taxable
income, for its part, had no direct relationship with the revocation of the
licence.
No award can therefore be made in respect of pecuniary damage.
B. Costs and expenses
67. The applicant company claimed, as costs and expenses:
(a) the fees of Mr Bergkrans, TTA’s counsel during the initial phase of
the domestic proceedings (16,000 SEK);