FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF VOLYANSKA AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 32035/20 and 8 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
8 June 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Volyanska and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Carlo Ranzoni, President,
Lado Chanturia,
María Elósegui, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 17 May 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.
4. The applicants complained of the excessive length of civil proceedings and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law.
THE LAW
JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5. 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 CONVENTION6. 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.
7. 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).
8. 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.
9. Having examined all the material submitted to it, and having also reiterated the three-month extension of the six-month time-limit for lodging an application, introduced on account of the COVID‑19 pandemic (see Saakashvili v. Georgia (dec.), nos. 6232/20 and 22394/20, §§ 46-59, 1 March 2022), 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.
10. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
11. 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 CONVENTION12. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
13. 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 8 June 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Carlo Ranzoni
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]
32035/20
23/07/2020
Larysa Volodymyrivna VOLYANSKA
1952
Leshchenko
Andriy Viktorovych
Odesa
07/12/2008
14/08/2015
27/05/2013
25/09/2019 (decision received on 31/10/2019)
8 years and 7 months and
3 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,300
12800/21
22/02/2021
Myroslava Mykhaylivna BUTRYN
1984
27/07/2012
03/11/2020
8 years and 3 months and
8 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,200
36546/21
05/07/2021
Vira Mykolayivna BULGAKOVA
1952
08/07/2008
01/02/2021
12 years and 6 months and
25 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
4,200
47412/21
14/09/2021
Oleksandr Yevgeniyovych MAKSYMYKHIN
1985
10/03/2017
16/02/2023
5 years and 11 months and
7 days
2 levels of jurisdiction
1,500
48342/21
20/09/2021
Valeriy Grygorovych CHERNENKO
1961
23/04/2013
08/04/2021
7 years and 11 months and
17 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
1,200
52163/21
13/10/2021
Ruslan Vasylyovych MUDRYK
1973
Chernilevska Ruslana Vitaliyivna
Vinnytsya
31/07/2014
14/04/2021
6 years and 8 months and
15 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
57524/21
14/11/2021
Valeriy Ivanovych PANCHENKO
1963
Chernilevska Ruslana Vitaliyivna
Vinnytsya
31/07/2014
14/04/2021
(received by the applicant on 17/05/2021)
6 years and 8 months and
15 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
59492/21
02/12/2021
Olena Ivanivna VOROBEY
1970
29/08/2011
03/06/2021
9 years and 9 months and
6 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
2,400
5871/22
19/01/2022
Volodymyr Ivanovych BEREGOVYY
1956
17/04/2013
21/11/2014
20/03/2014
21/07/2021
7 years and 7 months and
5 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
900
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.