FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF KOZACHUK AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 6295/17 and 10 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
18 January 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kozachuk and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Mārtiņš Mits, President,
Kateřina Šimáčková,
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 14 December 2023,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
THE LAW
JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS4. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 AND ARTICLE 13 OF THE CONVENTION5. The applicants complained that the length of the civil proceedings in question had been incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention.
6. The Court reiterates that the reasonableness of the length of proceedings must be assessed in the light of the circumstances of the case and with reference to the following criteria: the complexity of the case, the conduct of the applicants and the relevant authorities and what was at stake for the applicants in the dispute (see Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000-VII).
7. In the leading case of Karnaushenko v. Ukraine (no. 23853/02, 30 November 2006), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
8. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of justifying the overall length of the proceedings at the national level. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the length of the proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement.
9. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 and of Article 13 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION11. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Karnaushenko, cited above, §§ 70 and 75), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
Decides to join the applications;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law;Holds(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 18 January 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Mārtiņš Mits
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name
and location
Start of proceedings
End of proceedings
Total length
Levels of jurisdiction
Amount awarded for pecuniary and
non-pecuniary damage per applicant
(in euros)[1]
6295/17
06/01/2017
Mykhaylo Vasylyovych KOZACHUK
1979
17/04/2015
pending
More than
8 years and
7 months and 7 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,800
18376/17
22/02/2017
Leonid Vasylyovych LAKHTYUK
1975
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
20/11/2014
10/12/2020
6 years
and 21 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
600
23943/17
13/03/2017
Andriy Mykhaylovych STOYKA
1977
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
17/04/2015
09/06/2021
6 years and
1 month and 24 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
600
42791/17
02/06/2017
Anatoliy Sydorovych KHOMYCH
1965
17/11/2014
02/11/2021
6 years and
11 months
and 17 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
19926/18
17/04/2018
Oleg Vasylyovych KEREVYCH
1978
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
04/11/2014
11/11/2020
6 years and
8 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
600
47105/18
25/09/2018
Oleksandr Volodymyrovych CHALYY
1971
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
25/11/2014
15/03/2021
6 years and
3 months and 19 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
600
49026/18
05/10/2018
Tetyana Mykhaylivna SOKOLENKO
1976
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
06/04/2015
22/06/2021
6 years and
2 months and 17 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
600
986/19
06/12/2018
Sergiy Mykolayovych KHYMCHENKO
1956
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
17/11/2014
26/04/2022
7 years and
5 months and 10 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,200
20890/19
08/04/2019
Volodymyr Viktorovych PETRUNENKO
1972
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
12/11/2014
29/07/2022
7 years and
8 months and 18 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,600
20909/19
08/04/2019
Grygoriy Vasylyovych POLKOVNIOV
1977
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
08/06/2015
12/11/2020
5 years and
5 months
and 5 days
2 levels of jurisdiction
1,200
44695/19
15/08/2019
Vira Fedorivna SHULYAKOVA
1955
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
17/12/2014
22/10/2021
6 years and
10 months and 6 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.