FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 43553/21
José Manuel ARAÚJO RAMOS against Portugal
and 14 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 11 April 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Anja Seibert-Fohr,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Crina Kaufman, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the applications against the Portuguese Republic lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by the applicants listed in the appended table (“the applicants”), on the various dates indicated therein;
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
1. The applicants were municipal firefighters working for the municipality of Viana do Castelo at the material time.
2. At that time national legislation, in particular Law no. 106/2002, provided for two types of firefighters: municipal firefighters (bombeiros municipais) and “sapper” firefighters (bombeiros sapadores), the latter receiving a higher salary.
3. In 2020 the applicants lodged an administrative liability action with the Braga Administrative Court against the municipality of Viana do Castelo, arguing that their professional tasks were materially the same as those of the “sapper” firefighters, who were paid according to a higher salary scale, and that they should be compensated for the difference in remuneration.
4. On 29 May 2020 the Braga Administrative Court ruled against the applicants.
5. On 27 November 2020, following an appeal by the applicants, the North Central Administrative Court upheld that decision. The judgment was notified to the applicants on 29 January 2021.
6. Under Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention, the applicants complained that the proceedings had been unfair, asserting that they had been discriminated against owing to the difference in salaries between the two professional paths for firefighters. Stating that their representative’s work had been impeded by a health issue and relying on Article 140 of the Portuguese Code of Civil Procedure, the applicants submitted that their applications should not be rejected as out of time.
THE COURT’S ASSESSMENT
7. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
8. The Court reiterates that in assessing whether an applicant has complied with Article 35 § 1 of the Convention, it is important to bear in mind that the requirements contained in that Article concerning the exhaustion of domestic remedies and the six-month period are closely interrelated (see Jeronovičs v. Latvia [GC], no. 44898/10, § 75, 5 July 2016). Thus, as a rule, the six-month period runs from the date of the final decision in the process of exhaustion of domestic remedies (see Blokhin v. Russia [GC], no. 47152/06, § 106, 23 March 2016). The Court also reiterates that compliance with the six-month time-limit must satisfy the Convention criteria and not the arrangements laid down by the domestic law of each respondent State (see Sabri Güneş v. Turkey [GC], no. 27396/06, § 49, 29 June 2012). Application by the Court of its own criteria in calculating time-limits, independently of domestic rules, tends to ensure legal certainty, proper administration of justice and thus, the practical and effective functioning of the Convention mechanism (ibid., § 56). The Court sees no reason to deviate from this rule, as requested by the applicants, in the instant case (see paragraph 6 above).
9. The Court notes that the judgment of the North Central Administrative Court of 27 November 2020 was notified to the applicants on 29 January 2021 (see paragraph 5 above), while the present applications were lodged with the Court on 24 August 2021 (see the appended table). The final domestic decision within the meaning of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention, as applicable before the entry into force of Article 4 of Protocol No. 15, was thus taken more than six months before the date on which the complaints were submitted to the Court. Accordingly, the applications have been submitted out of time.
10. It follows that they must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 11 May 2023.
Crina Kaufman Armen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy Registrar President
Appendix
List of cases
Application no.
Applicant
Year of birth
Date of Submission
Representative
43553/21
Araújo Ramos
1961
24/08/2021
Joana Miranda
43577/21
Alves Nascimento
1961
43654/21
Da Cruz Caneja
1974
43679/21
Correia dos Santos
1987
43686/21
Fernandes Lima
1976
43691/21
Dias Esteves
1978
43740/21
da Silva Rodrigues
1963
43748/21
Outeiro Pinto
1974
43750/21
Pereira Varajão
1991
43752/21
Ribeiro Matos
1969
43754/21
Vieira Afonso Bamba
1972
43759/21
Pedra Bento Alves
1967
43761/21
Carvalho Silva
1987
43763/21
Lima Silva
1972
43768/21
Mota Gomes Miranda
1986