The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) determined that Fata Orlovic's right to property was violated and the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina has three months to implement the verdict, Faris Vehabovic, the ECHR judge told Fena news agency on Tuesday.

The Court had determined that Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Human Rights Convention was violated, violating Fata Orlovic's right to property. It is now up to Bosnia to decide how it will implement the verdict, which will probably involve the competent local authorities,” Vehabovic said.

In the case of Orlovic vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ECHR unanimously decided that the European Convention had been violated and ordered that the church built Orlovic's front yard must be removed from her land.

The case dealt with the church which the Serb Orthodox Church built on Fata Orlovic's land during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia when she was displaced from her property.

The Court also determined that the authorities failed to implement two final verdicts related to the case, from 1999 and 2001, when courts ordered that Orlovic's land must be returned to her in the fullest. The ECHR concluded that the authorities have no justification for their inaction which has seriously violated Orlovic's rights.

With six votes in favour, the Court decided that the State had to ensure the implementation of the two earlier final verdicts in Orlovic's favour including her request to remove the church within three months.

In this context, Vehabovic added that the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe will ex officio oversee the implementation of the ECHR verdict within the time limits set by the Court.