R.B.B.Y. v. Spain

Decision adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, concerning communication No. 95/2019¹*, ²**

1. *Adopted by the Committee at its seventy-fourth session (25 September–13 October 2023). ↩
2. **The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: Aslan Abashidze, Mohamed Ezzeldin Abdel-Moneim, Nadir Adilov, Mohammed Amarti, Asraf Ally Caunhye, Laura-Maria Crăciunean-Tatu, Peters Sunday Omologbe Emuze, Santiago Manuel Fiorio Vaesken, Ludovic Hennebel, Joo-Young Lee, Karla Vanessa Lemus de Vásquez, Seree Nonthasoot, Lydia Carmelita Ravenberg, Julieta Rossi, Preeti Saran, Shen Yongxiang and Michael Windfuhr. Pursuant to rule 23 of the rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol, Mikel Mancisidor de la Fuente did not participate in the examination of the communication. ↩

The author is R.B.B.Y., a national of Ecuador. She submitted an individual communication on behalf of herself and her 10-year-old daughter, A.V.B., and her 3-month-old son, V.E.B.Y. She claims that the State party would violate her rights, and those of her family, under article 11 (1) of the Covenant if it evicted them without ensuring that they have alternative housing. The author is represented by counsel.

Since 2016, the author and her children have lived in an apartment that they occupied under a formal rental agreement. In November 2017, the author had to stop paying rent but did not have any alternative housing. At the date of submission of the communication, the author owed €‎4,000 for several months of unpaid rent and her only income was an unemployment benefit payment of €‎430 per month. On 18 September 2018, Court of First Instance No. 4 of Badalona declared the lease terminated, ordered the author to surrender the property and set an eviction date for 12 November 2018. On 12 November 2018, the eviction was postponed because the author had recently given birth, and a new date was set for 14 January 2019. On 27 December 2018, the author applied for social housing.

On 11 January 2019, the Committee, through its Working Group on Communications, registered the communication and requested the State party to take interim measures to suspend the eviction of the author and her children pending the consideration of the communication or to provide them with adequate alternative housing, in genuine and effective consultation with them.

On 6 November 2019, the State party requested the Committee to suspend its consideration of the communication. The request was transmitted to the author for her comments. The State party indicated that the eviction had been suspended internally and that no new date had been set.

On 19 October 2021, the Committee sent a reminder to the author asking her to submit her comments on the State party’s request for suspension of consideration of the communication. On 21 October 2021, the author submitted her comments on the State party’s request for suspension. On 15 December 2021, the author informed the Committee that a new eviction date had been set for March 2022. On 31 March and 22 June 2023, the secretariat requested an update from the author. On 7 July 2023, the author informed the Committee that she had been allocated social housing and requested that the communication be closed.

At its meeting on 9 October 2023, the Committee, having noted the author’s request for discontinuance on the ground that she had found alternative housing, decided to discontinue consideration of the communication, in accordance with rule 18 of its rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol.