planning controls. There are also positive obligations to protect property interests,987 for example, putting in place a judicial process to enable disputes to be settled.988 The principle of peaceful enjoyment of property 4. The right to property and its peaceful enjoyment includes the right to exclude others from land. In Chassagnou v France the fact that land had to be used for hunting violated the applicant’s rights.989 5. An arbitration award that is enforceable is a possession and so is a pending claim in civil proceedings so long as it is sufficiently established.990 6. There is no guarantee to obtain possessions through inheritance, although differences in treatment in matters of inheritance could raise discrimination issues.991 7. Property rights will be engaged where property is seized for use in criminal proceedings. In Smirnov v Russia for example, the lengthy retention of a lawyer’s computer for evidence in a criminal case amounted to a violation of Article 1 Protocol 1.992 Similarly a person may have the right under Article 1 Protocol 1 to access seized property in order to be able to challenge sanctions taken against them or participate effectively in their trial.993 Interference with the right to property 8. States can interfere with the right to property provided that this is legitimate, there is a general or public interest and the measures taken are proportionate.994 A fair balance will need to be struck between the demands of the general public interest and the protection of the individual’s right to property. 9. Temporary interference is not a deprivation. There was no violation in Air Canada v UK where their aircraft was temporarily seized to enforce special provisions in drug legislation.995 As to whether there has been a deprivation, the Court will look at the reality of the situation rather than legal formalities.996 987 E.g. European Court, Öneryildiz v. Turkey, 30 November 2004. European Court, Sierpioski v. Poland, 3 November 2009. 989 European Court, Chassagnou v France, 29 April 1999. 990 European Court, Pressos Compania Naviera SA v Belgium, 20 November 1995. 991 European Court, Marckx v Belgium, 13 June 1979. 992 European Court, Smirnova v Russia, 24 October 2003. 993 European Court, Družstevní Záložna Pria and Others v the Czech Republic, 19 April 2012. 994 African Commission, Communication 276/2003, Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, May 2009, paras 211 and 219. 995 European Court, Air Canada v UK, 26 April 1995/ 996 European Court, Sporrong and Lonnroth v Sweden, 23 September 1982. 988 156