Resolution CM/ResDH(2011)138[1]
Execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
Zwiazek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego against Poland
(Application No. 42049/98, judgment of 21 September 2004, final on 2 February 2005)
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides that the Committee supervises the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” and “the Court”);
Having regard to the judgment transmitted by the Court to the Committee once it had become final;
Recalling that the violation of the Convention found by the Court in this case concerns the right of access to a court due the Supreme Court’s restrictive interpretation of legislative provisions concerning the restitution of property to the Catholic Church in 1996 (violation of Article 6, paragraph1) (see details in Appendix);
Having invited the government of the respondent state to inform the Committee of the measures taken to comply with its obligation under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by the judgment;
Having examined the information provided by the government in accordance with the Committee’s Rules for the application of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention;
Having satisfied itself that, within the time-limit set, the respondent state paid the applicant the just satisfaction provided in the judgment (see details in Appendix),
Recalling that a finding of violations by the Court requires, over and above the payment of just satisfaction awarded by the Court in its judgments, the adoption by the respondent state, where appropriate:
- of individual measures to put an end to the violations and erase their consequences so as to achieve as far as possible restitutio in integrum; and
- of general measures preventing similar violations;
DECLARES, having examined the measures taken by the respondent state (see Appendix), that it has exercised its functions under Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention in this case and
DECIDES to close the examination of this case.
Appendix to Resolution CM/ResDH(2011)138
Information about the measures to comply with the judgment in the case of
Zwiazek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego against Poland
Introductory case summary
This case concerns a violation of the applicant’s right of access to a court (violation of Article 6§1).
In 1964 the applicant association was granted the management and use of property expropriated by the State Treasury from the Catholic Church. The decision concerning the transfer stipulated inter alia that, on termination of the use of the property, the applicant association would be entitled to recuperate the outlays incurred in connection with any construction work carried out on the buildings, less the normal costs of upkeep.
In 1992, pursuant to the 1989 Law on relations between the State and the Catholic Church in Poland, the Warsaw Property Commission ordered the applicant association to return the property to a religious association, which was then ordered to reimburse the applicant for its outlay of the sum of 42 035 PLN, based on experts’ calculations. The applicant association challenged the amount and proposed its own calculation. However, the Property Commission declared that it lacked jurisdiction to examine further claims. Its decision contained an express clause to the effect that it did not deprive the applicant association of the right to make further claims “in accordance with generally applicable provisions of law”.
The applicant association subsequently filed an action against the State Treasury claiming outstanding expenses incurred for renovation and maintenance. Its request was granted by the first-instance court on 15/12/1995. However, in 1996 the Rzeszów Court of Appeal quashed the judgment and dismissed the applicant’s claim. It concluded, on the basis of the interpretation of the 1989 Law by the Supreme Court, that claims concerning outlays incurred by a former user of a property could be brought before a civil court only in those exceptional cases provided in the 1989 Law, where a property commission was unable to restore a property to its original owner. However, following the Property Commission’s decision to restore in the present case, the State Treasury had ceased to own the property. Accordingly, there were no grounds on which a claim against the Treasury could be brought before a civil court after that date.
The European Court concluded that in the proceedings before the Property Commission in 1992, the applicant association had been misled as to the possibility of pursuing its civil claims before a court and that the resulting restriction on access to a court had been disproportionate, particularly considering what was at stake for the applicant. It noted in this context that had it been made clear to the applicant association from the outset that it was not entitled to sue in a civil court to recover its outstanding claims, it could reasonably be assumed that the applicant association would have argued its claim even more vigorously before the commission and, consequently, might have stood a better chance of recouping a greater proportion of its pecuniary claims (§40).
I.Payment of just satisfaction and individual measures
a) Details of just satisfaction
Pecuniary damage
Non-pecuniary damage
Costs and expenses
Total
-
10000 EUR
916 EUR
10916 EUR
Paid on 14/04/2005
b) Individual measures
Before the European Court the applicant association claimed compensation in respect of damage which allegedly resulted from its loss of opportunity to secure a judicial determination of its claims. The European Court, whilst noting that the first-instance court, in its judgment of 15/12/1995, had assessed the outlays to be reimbursed to the applicant association at 546 133 PLZ[2], stated that it could not speculate as to what would have been the final outcome of the judicial proceedings had the appeal court assumed jurisdiction. In this situation, the European Court awarded the applicant association just satisfaction in the amount of 10000 EUR in respect non-pecuniary damage, considering that it had suffered a loss of opportunity in that it could not obtain a ruling on the merits of its claim.
In the circumstances, no further individual measure appears necessary.
II.General measures
The violation in this case was linked to a specific historical problem of restoration of property expropriated from the Catholic Church under the Communist regime and the terms of Polish legislation in the 1989 Law on the relations between the state and the Catholic Church in Poland. The law addressed, inter alia, the regularisation of property issues created by expropriations carried out in the past against the Church. The property commissions established by that law were intended to settle all property claims arising from the expropriations and could accept relevant applications until the end of 1992, after which, they ceased to exist. All expropriation issues are now governed by the Real Estate Management Act of 1997. Accordingly, no legislative reforms are required in order to prevent similar violations.
The judgment of the European Court has been published on the website of the Ministry of Justice and sent out to the judges of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court and to the presidents of the appeal courts.
In the circumstances no further general measure appears necessary.
III.Conclusions of the respondent state
The government considers that the measures adopted will prevent similar violations and that Poland has thus complied with its obligations under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention.
[1] Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 14 September 2011 at the 1120th Meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies
[2] An amount equivalent at that time to approximately FRF 273,066 (see paragraph 10 of the judgment).
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