602. Meaning of 'deprivation'.

The prohibition against deprivation1 is primarily concerned with the expropriation of assets for a public purpose and not with the regulation of rights between private individuals unless the state lays hands or authorises a third party to lay hands on a particular piece of property which is to serve the public interest2. It covers both formal and de facto expropriation3.

'Deprivation' must be permanent4. A temporary seizure of property is an interference to be considered under the first or third rules of Article 1 of Protocol 15 rather than the prohibition against deprivation6.