FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 15281/15
Virgil BĂRBUIA against Romania
and 4 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 13 September 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Georges Ravarani, President,
Marko Bošnjak,
Péter Paczolay, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by some of the applicants,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
2. The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
A. Joinder of the applications
3. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
B. Complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
4. The Government pleaded non-exhaustion of domestic remedies under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention since the applicants had not pursued an action for tortious liability.
5. Those applicants who replied to the Government’s observations disagreed with the preliminary objection of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.
6. In the case of Brudan v. Romania (no. 75717/14, § 68, 10 April 2018), the Court held that following its judgment in the case of Vlad and Others v. Romania (nos. 40756/06 and 2 others, 26 November 2013), the action for tortious liability had been included by the domestic courts as an effective remedy to complain about the excessive length of proceedings, before both criminal and civil courts in Romania. In Brudan (cited above), the Court also found that the High Court for Cassation and Justice’s judgment of 30 January 2014, which consolidated the domestic case-law on actions for tortious liability, had acquired a sufficient level of certainty on 22 March 2015. It therefore concluded that this remedy must be exhausted, as of that date, for the purposes of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention (see Brudan, cited above, § 88).
7. The present applications were all lodged with the Court after 22 March 2015 (see the appended table) and the applicants were therefore required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention to avail themselves of this domestic remedy (see Brudan, cited above, § 89). It appears from the case files that the applicants have not lodged actions for tortious liability before the domestic courts, or have failed to provide the Court with a final decision rendered by the competent court in such proceedings.
8. Accordingly, the Government’s objection of failure to exhaust domestic remedies must be upheld. It follows that these complaints must be rejected as inadmissible, pursuant to 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 4 October 2018.
Liv TigerstedtGeorges Ravarani
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Date of birth
Representative’s name and location
Start of proceedings
End of proceedings
Total length
Levels of jurisdiction
Domestic court file number
15281/15
17/04/2015
Virgil Bărbuia
24/04/1949
08/10/2008
13/11/2014
6 year(s) and 1 month(s)
3 level(s) of jurisdiction
15075/3/2010
22657/15
02/06/2015
Gheorghe Stoia
23/04/1954
Simona Dobrin,
Sibiu
29/03/2007
13/01/2015
7 year(s) and 9 month(s) and
16 day(s)
3 level(s) of jurisdiction
10612/1/2010**
37494/15
27/08/2015
(4 applicants)
Household
Maria Boloș
21/04/1961
Nicoleta-Bianca Boloș
11/12/1983
Felicia-Alexandra Boloș-Ciocan
14/10/1985
Felician Boloş
06/07/1957
16/06/2003
10/02/2015
11 year(s) and 7 month(s) and
26 day(s)
3 level(s) of jurisdiction
3124/83/2003
41499/15
29/07/2015
Gheorghe Colțea
22/03/1948
06/05/2003
05/02/2015
11 year(s) and 9 month(s)
2 level(s) of jurisdiction
1296/197/2012
44159/15
31/08/2015
Vasile Rujei
15/08/1938
Ioan-Manasie Rujei
17/11/1936
Maria Camelia Țațu,
Timișoara
24/08/2009
02/03/2015
5 year(s) and 6 month(s) and
7 day(s)
2 level(s) of jurisdiction
5201/30/2009**
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