FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 54563/21
Bertalan BALOG against Hungary
and 8 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 8 December 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Krzysztof Wojtyczek, President,
Ivana Jelić,
Erik Wennerström, judges,
and Attila Teplán, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants and their representatives is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of criminal proceedings were communicated to the Hungarian Government (“the Government”). In some of the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention.
The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Hungary in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay them the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above‑mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
The payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.
THE LAW
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 12 January 2023.
Attila Teplán Krzysztof Wojtyczek
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of criminal proceedings)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Other complaints under well‑established case-law
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
54563/21
14/10/2021
Bertalan BALOG
1966
Szkalka Tamás
Budapest
10/05/2022
08/11/2022
2,700
19802/22
07/04/2022
László KOZSLA
1958
Karalyos Botond Zsolt
Debrecen
04/11/2022
02/11/2022
5,200
24984/22
11/05/2022
Zsolt SIMON
1972
Szabó Noémi Anna
Budapest
08/11/2022
10/10/2022
2,000
26149/22
18/05/2022
József KOSARAS
1981
Kiss Dániel Bálint
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings
10/11/2022
23/09/2022
2,600
31047/22
20/06/2022
Tamás MOLNÁR
1972
Borsos Tamás
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings
26/10/2022
15/09/2022
7,800
31589/22
22/06/2022
György József LÁNG
1964
Kiss Gabor H
Budapest
14/11/2022
11/10/2022
2,600
31999/22
23/06/2022
Sándor PÁSZTOR
1967
Ésik Sándor
Budapest
28/09/2022
11/10/2022
6,500
33329/22
22/06/2022
Valéria BORSOS
1977
Kiss Gabor H
Budapest
14/11/2022
11/10/2022
3,300
33406/22
Ervis KRUJA
1987
Kiss Dániel Bálint
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings
18/11/2022
14/10/2022
2,600
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.