CASE OF RUIZ-VILLAR RUIZ v. SPAIN

On 8 July 1991 the Spanish State instituted proceedings before the Ciudad Real Judge of first instance No. 1 to obtain an order that the Ruidera Lakes (Lagunas de Ruidera), located on part of the land which belonged, partly, to the applicant’s mother (and which he inherited after her death), should be considered the source to the Guadiana River and was therefore in the hydraulic public domain. 5. On 27 March 2002 the Ciudad Real Judge ruled in favour of the applicant’s mother (and several other defendants) and declared that the Ruidera Lakes fell into the private domain. However, on 6 November 2003 the Ciudad Real Audiencia Provincial quashed that judgment and declared that the Ruidera Lakes had to be classified as being in the public domain. 6. The applicant’s mother, along with the other co-defendants, lodged an appeal on points of law (recurso de casación) with the Supreme Court. On 2 July 2004 the Ciudad Real Audiencia Provincial sent the complete file, along with the appeals lodged by the parties, to the Supreme Court. On 22 June 2009 the Supreme Court issued a judgment ruling against all the appellants and upholding the judgment of the Ciudad Real Audiencia Provincial. 7. On 4 September 2009 the applicant (as his mother’s heir with locus standi) lodged an amparo appeal with the Constitutional Court complaining, inter alia, of the excessive length of the proceedings. By a decision of 28 July 2010, served on the applicant on 2 September 2010, the Constitutional Court dismissed the appeal on the grounds that it had no constitutional relevance.