FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 70562/10
Janusz DEC against Poland
and 31 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 10 July 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Aleš Pejchal, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Jovan Ilievski, judges,
and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 13 July and 6 October 2017 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases and the applicants’ reply to that declaration,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.
2. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms J. Chrzanowska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. All the applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the excessive length of proceedings in their cases and under Article 13 of the Convention about the lack of, or insufficient, redress for the excessive length of proceedings granted to them by the national courts.
4. On 7 July 2015 the applications were communicated to the Polish Government pursuant to Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, by virtue of the ninth operative provision of the pilot-judgment given in the case of Rutkowski and Others v. Poland (see Rutkowski and Others v. Poland, nos. 72287/10 and 2 others, §§ 223-228 and the ninth operative provision, 7 July 2015).
5. By letters dated 13 July and 6 October 2017 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by the applications. In each case the Government acknowledged a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the excessive length of proceedings and violation of Article 13 on account of the lack of an effective remedy, securing sufficient redress for a violation of Article 6 § 1. They offered payment of sums specified in respect of each applicant in a table appended to their declarations. The Government further undertook to adopt a range of general measures in respect of other persons who were victims of similar violations or might be affected by similar violations in the future. The sums referred to above, which are specified in the appendix to the decision, are to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. They will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the Convention. In the event of failure to pay these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on each of them, from expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default periods plus three percentage points. In addition, the Government made a declaration on general measures to be adopted in implementation of the Rutkowski and Others pilot judgment (see Załuska and Rogalska v. Poland and 398 other applications (dec.), nos. 53491/10 and 72286/10, §§ 23-25, 20 June 2017). They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
THE LAW
6. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
7. On various dates in 2017 all applicants informed the Court that they had agreed to the terms of the Government’s declarations.
8. The Court finds that following the applicants’ express agreements to the terms of the declarations made by the Government the cases should be treated as friendly settlements between them and the Government.
9. Article 39 of the Convention, conferring on the Court the power to strike a case out of its list of cases in the event of a friendly settlement, provides:
“If a friendly settlement is effected, the Court shall strike the case out of its list by means of a decision which shall be confined to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached.”
10. The Court has already examined the first group of 400 unilateral declarations submitted by the Government in the pilot-judgment procedure in the case Rutkowski and Others, cited above. It found that, in view of the amounts proposed by the Government in their unilateral declarations on the individual measures of redress, there have been no circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which would require the continued examination of the cases where a friendly settlement has been concluded (see Załuska and Rogalska (dec.), cited above, § 37). It has also been satisfied that, having regard to the general measures taken or to be taken in the future by the respondent Government, the settlement was based on “respect for human rights” as interpreted in the context of the pilot-judgment procedure (see ibid, § 45).
11. The same conclusions apply to the instant cases. The Court therefore takes note of the friendly settlements reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlements are based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.
12. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases pursuant to Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 6 September 2018.
Renata DegenerAleš Pejchal
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
Amount proposed in Unilateral Declaration
70562/10
25/11/2010
Janusz DEC
06/11/1968
Rzeszów
PLN 32,290
8788/11
28/01/2011
Bogusław KLESZCZ
Czarna
Tomasz ZIELIŃSKI
PLN 8,690
16517/11
07/02/2011
Zbigniew KOZDÓJ
07/06/1969
Osiecznica
PLN 8,990
55549/12
14/08/2012
Robert WYTRYKOWSKI
07/11/1978
Wołomin
PLN 23,710
55877/12
26/06/2012
Jacek ZDANOWSKI
10/02/1971
Warszawa
PLN 12,110
56488/12
22/08/2012
Wojciech FEJDYCH
22/04/1971
Janowice
PLN 15,600
57555/12
29/08/2012
Bogdan PYZOWSKI
29/08/1979
Nowy Targ
PLN 18,000
58900/12
05/09/2012
Dariusz BŁASZCZYK
09/11/1976
Włocławek
PLN 10,480
59424/12
02/09/2012
Sebastian HOLK
25/07/1979
Gdańsk
PLN 2,270
70223/12
24/10/2012
Robert TABAKA
05/06/1983
Racibórz
PLN 4,040
72574/12
19/10/2012
Stanisław WICIŃSKI
14/11/1947
Tuchola
PLN 28,770
72607/12
08/11/2012
Rafał WYCHOWANIEC
15/02/1978
Brześć Kujawski
PLN 9,360
76727/13
22/11/2013
Robert SZCZĘSNY
08/06/1963
Warszawa
PLN 16,150
77676/13
19/11/2013
Mariusz Tadeusz BENEK
19/08/1988
Mazoncowice
PLN 8,990
39982/14
14/04/2014
Jerzy SZEWCZUK
14/01/1962
Mircze
PLN 21,880
40018/14
23/06/2014
Józef KOZIEŁ
07/12/1951
Kielce
Agnieszka MASSALSKA
PLN 8,480
41564/14
15/09/2014
Janusz POLK
22/10/1986
Brzeg
PLN 4,680
45603/14
10/06/2014
Czesław KOWALCZYK
25/01/1966
Gdańsk
Wiktor SZEWCZYK
PLN 33,570
45640/14
12/06/2014
Andrzej Tadeusz KIJOWSKI
15/07/1954
Warszawa
PLN 7,660
49841/14
02/07/2014
Kamil WALASZEK
17/11/1984
Bielsko-Biała
PLN 14,280 for the first set of proceedings and PLN 10,300 for the second set of proceedings
50650/14
15/01/2015
Mariusz PERLIŃSKI
23/04/1971
Katowice
PLN 12,110
53376/14
21/07/2014
PiotrRUDNY
05/10/1944
Mielec
Marcin BŁACH
PLN 22,440
53449/14
21/07/2014
PiotrMIKOŁAJEWSKI
24/09/1960
Warszawa
Marcin BŁACH
PLN 22,440
54610/14
16/07/2014
Dariusz ZIEMNICKI
09/10/1979
Żytkowice
PLN 6,790
63947/14
09/10/2014
Jakub Damian GAŃKO
25/06/1987
Grójec
PLN 9,360
64122/14
05/09/2014
Ireneusz SZOŁTYSKI
07/04/1966
Malbork
PLN 7,800
73050/14
03/11/2014
Henryk ŁUCZYŃSKI
14/10/1957
Lublin
PLN 6,240
1005/15
13/12/2014
Przemysław ROMANOWSKI
16/09/1977
Erfurt
PLN 7,800
1140/15
15/12/2014
Bartłomiej MAREK
31/08/1972
Strzelce Opolskie
PLN 12,900
2260/15
25/01/2015
Janusz TRELA
13/09/1963
Racibόrz
PLN 12,600
20192/15
20/04/2015
Krzysztof BĄCZEK
05/01/1972
Nowa Sól
PLN 16,720
23090/15
04/02/2015
Szczepan ŁACIAK
23/11/1973
Cieszyn
PLN 12,480
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy