Communicated on 17 May 2016
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 35142/15
Zoltán BALOGH and Others
against Slovakia
lodged on 9 July 2015
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicants are fifty-one Slovak nationals, whose details are set out in the appendix. They are represented before the Court by Ms Olga Szabó, a lawyer practising in Patince.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
On 23 December 2004 the applicants, together with 126 other people, sought restitution of a plot of land under Law no. 503/2003 on the Restoration of Land Ownership (“the 2003 Act”) before the Komárno Land Office (Pozemkový úrad) (now the Komárno District Office).
On 27 May 2010 the Komárno Land Office dismissed the claim on the grounds that all the claimants, including the applicants, lacked standing to bring a restitution claim.
Represented by four individuals, they all sought judicial review of that decision. At the start of the proceedings, the Nitra Regional Court invited the designated representatives to prove their authority to act on behalf of the claimants. No such proof was submitted.
On 21 November 2011 the Nitra Regional Court upheld the administrative decision of the Land Office of 27 May 2010. The claimants, including the applicants, lodged an appeal on 13 January 2012.
On 29 January 2014 the Supreme Court quashed the Regional Court’s judgment and remitted the case to it on the grounds that the latter had failed to establish the representatives’ authority to act on behalf of all the claimants. The proceedings before the Regional Court had been conducted merely in the presence of the designated representatives; the court had failed to summon the claimants in person and to have its judgment served on them. Therefore, the Regional Court had breached the claimants’ right of access to court.
On 21 January 2015 the Constitutional Court rejected a complaint lodged by the applicants about the length of the proceedings before the Land Office and the Regional Court. The Constitutional Court held that the complaints about the length of the administrative proceedings before the Land Office and about the length of the proceedings on judicial review could not be considered together. Having separated the complaints concerning those two sets of proceedings, the Constitutional Court rejected the complaint concerning the administrative proceedings on grounds of non-exhaustion of ordinary remedies, since the applicants had failed to challenge the alleged inactivity of the Land Office pursuant to Article 250t § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (konanie proti nečinnosti orgánu verejnej správy). The Constitutional Court stated that it would have been appropriate to lodge such an action in order to remedy any possible delays in the proceedings before the administrative authority. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court found that there had been no excessive delays in the judicial review proceedings held before two levels of jurisdiction, which had amounted to four years and five months at the material time.
The proceedings are currently pending before the Regional Court.
B. Relevant domestic law
Code of Civil Procedure (no. 99/1963 Coll.)
Chapter 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure governs the administrative judiciary. In accordance with its provisions, administrative tribunals review the lawfulness of decisions taken by public administration authorities by way of administrative‑law actions under Section (Hlava) 2 of that Chapter and administrative‑law appeals under Section 3 of that Chapter. The administrative tribunals also have jurisdiction to review complaints concerning the inactivity of public administration authorities (Section 4). The latter rules entered into force on 1 January 2003.
Under Article 250t § 1, any natural or legal person who alleges that a public administration authority is not dealing with a matter in a timely fashion, contrary to law and without a weighty reason, may apply to an administrative tribunal for an order instructing the authority concerned to proceed with the matter and to decide on it. However, such a remedy may be pursued only after the exhaustion of all ordinary remedies available, in accordance with the relevant legislation. Under Article 250u the authority’s failure to comply with a judicial order is punishable by a fine of up to 3,280 euros.
COMPLAINT
The applicants complain, under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention, about the length of the proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Have the applicants exhausted all effective domestic remedies, as required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
2. If domestic remedies have been exhausted, was the length of the restitution proceedings in the present case in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?
3. Did the applicants have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their complaint under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?
In this regard, did the Constitutional Court provide an effective domestic remedy in accordance with Article 13 of the Convention, despite the fact
that it had refused to assess the length of the administrative phase of the proceedings on the grounds that the applicants had not used the remedy provided for by Article 250t § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which was further subject to the exhaustion of other remedy in accordance with the relevant legislation,that the remedy under Article 250t § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not appear capable of affording any compensation for non-pecuniary damage, andthat the Constitutional Court’s approach would appear to be at odds with the Court’s approach examining the length of proceedings in their entirety (see Ištván and Ištvánová v. Slovakia, no. 30189/07, § 71, 12 June 2012)?
Appendix
1. Mr Zoltán Balogh was born in 1961 and lives in Kolárovo
2. Ms Mária Bezúrová was born in 1940 and lives in Kolárovo
3. Ms Terézia Csenteová was born in 1921 and lives Kolárovo
4. Ms Cecília Csontosová was born in 1943 and lives in Kolárovo
5. Ms Mária Csontosová was born in 1938 and lives in Kolárovo
6. Ms Edita Donková was born in 1958 and lives in Kolárovo
7. Ms Katrína Erdélyiová was born in 1944 and lives in Komárno
8. Mr Ján Fekete was born in 1942 and lives in Kolárovo
9. Mr Jozef Fekete was born in 1958 and lives in Kolárovo
10. Mr Imrich Fekete was born in 1946 and lives in Zemné 305
11. Ms Magdaléna Feketeová was born in 1960 and lives in Kolárovo
12. Ms Edita Fördősová was born in 1959 and lives in Kolárovo
13. Mr Štefan Gőgh was born in 1933 and lives in Kolárovo
14. Mr Vojtech Gőgh was born in 1944 and lives in Kolárovo
15. Ms Margita Hegyiová was born in 1933 and lives in Kolárovo
16. Mr Alexander Horváth was born in 1947 and lives in Kolárovo
17. Ms Terézia Horváthová was born in 1937 and lives in Kolárovo
18. Ms Serena Jirková was born in 1931and lives in Hurbanovo
19. Ms Alžbeta Kériová was born in 1949 and lives in Kolárovo
20. Ms Irena Kissová was born in 1942 and lives in Komoča
21. Ms Juliana Kósová was born in 1933 and lives in Kolárovo
22. Ms Mária Mészárosová was born in 1948 and lives in Kolárovo
23. Mr Ladislav Molnár was born in 1932 and lives in Kolárovo
24. Ms Mária Molnárová was born in 1940 and lives in Kolárovo
25. Ms Helena Morovičová was born in 1951 and lives in Kolárovo
26. Mr Alexander Nagy was born in 1958 and lives in Kolárovo
27. Ms Terézia Nagyová was born in 1939 and lives in Kolárovo
28. Mr Imrich Ollé was born in 1941 and lives in Kolárovo
29. Mr Imrich Őszi was born in 1928 and lives in Kolárovo
30. Ms Margita Švajdová was born in 1951 and lives in Nové Zámky
31. Mr Koloman Szabó was born in 1941 and lives in Kolárovo
32. Ms Alžbeta Szabóová was born in 1940 and lives in Kolárovo
33. Ms Magdaléna Szabóová was born in 1959 and lives in Kolárovo
34. Ms Margita Szabóová was born in 1939 and lives in Kolárovo
35. Mr František Szépe was born in 1952 and lives in Kolárovo
36. Mr Koloman Szépe was born in 1958 and lives in Kolárovo
37. Mr Ladislav Szépe was born in 1953 and lives in Kolárovo
38. Mr Peter Tánczos was born in 1955 and lives in Kolárovo
39. Mr Tibor Tánczos was born in 1953 and lives in Kolárovo
40. Ms Katarína Tánczosová was born in 1958 and lives in Kolárovo
41. Ms Mária Tánczosová was born in 1935 and lives in Kolárovo
42. Ms Terézia Tánczosová was born in 1930 and lives in Kolárovo
43. Mr Jozef Telekes was born in 1980 and lives in Kolárovo
44. Ms Alžbeta Telekesová was born in 1974 and lives in Kolárovo
45. Ms Zuzana Telekesová was born in 1977 and lives in Kolárovo
46. Mr Ján Tóth was born in 1948 and lives in Kolárovo
47. Ms Rozália Tóthová was born in 1954 and lives in Kolárovo
48. Mr Alexander Varga was born in 1953 and lives in Kolárovo
49. Ms Margita Vermesová was born in 1937 and lives in Zemianska Olča
50. Mr Arpád Nagy was born in 1967 and lives in Kolárovo
51. Ms Alžbeta Forróová was born in 1962 and lives in Kolárovo
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