FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF SALKOV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 13087/17 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 Salkov 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 their cases 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/ household
(in euros)[1]
13087/17
08/02/2017
Volodymyr Viktorovych SALKOV
1956
19/12/2014
23/06/2021
6 years and
6 months and 5 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
18378/17
22/02/2017
Oleg Valeriyovych IVANISHCHEV
1972
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
21/11/2014
29/09/2021
6 years and
10 months and 9 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
20605/17
06/03/2017
Valentyn Vasylyovych TVERDOKHLIB
1963
26/11/2014
29/06/2021
6 years and
7 months and 4 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
1532/18
29/12/2017
Igor Anatoliyovych PRYSHKO
1979
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
11/11/2014
pending
More than
9 years and 4 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,800
19904/18
17/04/2018
Oleksandr Anatoliyovych GARDETSKYY
1978
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
07/04/2015
30/09/2021
6 years and
5 months and 24 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
600
57092/18
23/11/2018
Igor Volodymyrovych ROGATYUK
1976
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych
Chernigiv
03/11/2014
15/12/2021
7 years and
1 month and 13 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
38183/18
27/07/2018
Oleksandr Pavlovych PROSKURIN
1958
19/01/2015
pending
More than 8 years
and 10 months and 5 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
2,300
2370/19
11/12/2018
Household
Olga Petrivna KOTOVSKA
1982
Mariya Dmytrivna KOTOVSKA
1959
Mukan Ivan Vasylyovych
Staryy Sambir
15/12/2006
pending
More than 16 years
and 11 months and 2 days
1 level of jurisdiction
8,400
12788/19
27/02/2019
Anatoliy Grygorovych LOZA
1946
08/06/2010
16/11/2011
26/07/2016
24/05/2011
19/05/2016
27/06/2018 (decision of 27/06/2018 received by the applicant on 27/08/2018)
7 years and 4 months
and 23 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
38492/21
22/07/2021
Oleg Yuriyovych ANDRUSHCHENKO
1988
Sobyna Pavlo Mykolayovych
Okhtyrka
28/03/2019
pending
More than 4 years and
7 months and 18 days
1 level of jurisdiction
1,500
3741/23
30/12/2022
Galyna Mykhaylivna SHEPELEVA
1972
Trushkivska Lesya Viktorivna
Kyiv
25/03/2014
31/08/2022
8 years and 5 months
and 7 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,200
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.