SAVICKIS AND OTHERS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT
the Convention. Accordingly, just as it did in the Andrejeva case, the Court
will have regard to them in determining whether there has been a violation of
that Article (ibid., § 57 in fine).
2. Compatibility ratione materiae
(a) The parties’ arguments
(i) The respondent Government
115. The respondent Government submitted that the application was
incompatible ratione materiae with the provisions of the Convention, as an
alleged violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 had to relate to “possessions”,
as defined by the case-law of the Court. There was no right under Article 1
of Protocol No. 1 to receive a social security benefit or pension payment of
any kind or amount, unless national law provided for such an entitlement.
116. The respondent Government recognised that the Court had dismissed
this argument in the Andrejeva case. However, they emphasised the nature of
the alleged property right and the lack of legitimate expectations. Firstly, the
additional undertaking by Latvia to provide financial compensation for the
years of employment under the jurisdiction of the former Soviet Union in
order to redress, at least in some way, the consequences of the years of
unlawful occupation, could not be regarded as creating a property right for
the applicants falling within the ambit of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. The
geopolitical and historical context ought not to be disregarded by the Court.
The Court’s competence in the field of social security was not broad enough
to make a State responsible for pecuniary interests originating under the
jurisdiction of another State, particularly in view of the margin of
appreciation afforded to States with regard to general measures of economic
and social strategy. The applicants’ claims fell within the ambit of Article 1
of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention only to the extent that the transitional
provisions of the State Pensions Act granted them the right to receive
retirement pension concerning the periods of employment in the territory of
Latvia.
117. Moreover, the applicants could not have expected, and in fact did not
expect, that Latvia would accept any responsibility for the employment
periods in the territory of the former USSR. Ms Andrejeva had actually
worked and resided in the territory of Latvia during the impugned time
periods and had truly believed that these employment periods would be
regarded as having been carried out in the territory of Latvia. She had
immediately challenged before the administrative court the refusal to include
those periods in the calculation of her pension. In contrast, the applicants in
the present case had not challenged the accuracy of the calculations and
interpretation of the domestic law in their regard. This demonstrated that the
applicants had been fully aware that the domestic law had not entitled them
to a retirement pension for their employment in the territory of the former
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