FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 5791/11
Katarzyna DŁUGOSZ against Poland
and 59 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 12 December 2017 as a Committee composed of:
Aleš Pejchal, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Armen Harutyunyan, 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 declarations submitted by the respondent Government on 3 March 2016 and 28 February and 13 July 2017 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases and the applicants’ reply to that declarations,
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 3 March 2016 and 28 February and 13 July 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 11 January 2018.
Renata DegenerAleš Pejchal
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
Introduced by
Amount proposed in Unilateral Declaration
5791/11
13/01/2011
Katarzyna DŁUGOSZ
09/08/1972
Rzeszów
Katarzyna Długosz
PLN 12,920
6102/11
20/01/2011
Sławomir KOGUT
13/05/1964
Rzeszów
Sławomir Kogut
PLN 12,480
44805/11
22/06/2011
Janusz MIERNICKI
26/01/1937
Warsaw
Janusz Miernicki
PLN 23,120
77330/11
29/11/2011
Janusz MIERNICKI
26/01/1937
Warsaw
Janusz Miernicki
PLN 43,680
26224/12
25/04/2012
Wiesław WAKULIŃSKI
28/02/1959
Warsaw
Wiesław Wakuliński
PLN 4,240
33343/12
21/05/2012
Jacek KOMOROWSKI
20/09/1976
Marki
Jacek Komorowski
PLN 12,560
38582/12
04/06/2012
Sławomir WYSOCKI
15/02/1969
Kamińsk
Sławomir Wysocki
PLN 14,380
42422/12
21/06/2012
Dariusz BŁASZCZYK
09/11/1976
Włocławek
Dariusz Błaszczyk
PLN 7,920
43421/12
28/05/2012
Tadeusz SOKOŁOWSKI
27/07/1956
Nowogród Bobrzański
Tadeusz Sokołowski
PLN 19,380
43510/12
27/06/2012
Andrzej WLASTELICZ
26/01/1964
Warsaw
Andrzej Wlastelicz
PLN 4,510
46716/12
10/07/2012
Włodzimierz CELEJEWSKI
20/12/1963
Psary
Włodzimierz Celejewski
PLN 19,370
50461/12
02/08/2012
Artur PYRZANOWSKI-KLUCZYŃSKI
03/11/1976
Czerwony Bór
Artur Pyrzanowski-Kluczyński
PLN 7,360
54027/12
08/08/2012
Mariusz ROZENCWAJG
05/08/1961
Gdańsk
Marcin KRAKOWSKI
Mariusz Rozencwajg
PLN 16,550 for the first set of proceedings and PLN 21,840 for the second set of proceedings
60258/12
21/11/2012
Jerzy GÓRECKI
13/10/1974
Gdańsk
Jerzy Górecki
PLN 21,700
61012/12
30/08/2012
Tomasz MAŚLANKA
Cracow
Monika SAWARSKA
Tomasz Maślanka
PLN 24,220
61024/12
04/09/2012
Sławomir MALINOWSKI
14/06/1974
Marki
Sławomir Malinowski
PLN 16,045
62459/12
06/09/2012
Paweł CZYŻ
09/01/1978
Bielsko-Biała
Paweł Czyż
PLN 15,920
63776/12
13/09/2012
Wojciech KUCHARCZYK
11/10/1958
Dobczyn
Wojciech Kucharczyk
PLN 6,040
65503/12
30/11/2012
Leszek FISZER
03/02/1963
Legnica
Leszek Fiszer
PLN 7,800
66711/12
01/10/2012
Tomasz KACZMARSKI
18/07/1982
Warsaw
Tomasz Kaczmarski
PLN 30,730
66858/12
11/10/2012
Mariusz SŁABOSZ
16/04/1975
Sosnowiec
Mirosława SŁABOSZ
Mariusz Słabosz
PLN 9,660
68398/12
11/10/2012
Damian OBREMSKI
31/10/1972
Krzywaniec
Damian Obremski
PLN 13,510
69056/12
24/09/2012
Krzysztof RACIS
08/10/1975
Warsaw
Krzysztof Racis
PLN 26,080
69128/12
10/10/2012
Krzysztof KRYŃSKI
25/07/1982
Radziejowice
Krzysztof Kryński
PLN 4,240
32823/13
17/05/2013
Jarosław JANKOWSKI
05/10/1968
Poznań
Damian NOWICKI
Jarosław Jankowski
PLN 8,724
44451/13
10/06/2013
Remigiusz KACZMAREK
07/07/1976
Racibórz
Remigiusz Kaczmarek
PLN 6,240
61490/13
16/09/2013
Janusz TRELA
13/09/1963
Wołów
Janusz Trela
PLN 36,810
67187/13
18/10/2013
Tadeusz Antoni STACHYRA
05/07/1954
Warsaw
Tadeusz Antoni Stachyra
PLN 41,980
68660/13
25/10/2013
Michał WALICKI
20/06/1986
Warsaw
Marcin MAZUR
Michał Walicki
PLN 12,920
68744/13
15/10/2013
Marek GOŁAWSKI
02/05/1966
Michałki
Marek Goławski
PLN 12,510
76685/13
26/11/2013
Innocente SCATTOLIN
06/06/1956
Dąbrówno
Maciej ŁAPUĆ
Innocente Scattolin
PLN 12,920
54/14
06/12/2013
Mariusz GRABIEC
28/08/1977
Lubsko
Mariusz Grabiec
PLN 22,960
1450/14
10/12/2013
Marek MASZKIEWICZ
05/01/1955
Warsaw
Marek Maszkiewicz
PLN 33,720
7916/14
09/01/2014
Daniel Bolesław WICZANOWSKI
27/07/1981
Bielsko-Biała
Daniel Bolesław Wiczanowski
PLN 16,650
10582/14
09/09/2014
Robert ZAGALSKI
10/03/1982
Warsaw
Robert Zagalski
PLN 9,360
12760/14
24/01/2014
Wojciech FALKIEWICZ
19/04/1988
Bielsko - Biała
Wojciech Falkiewicz
PLN 7,800
16754/14
10/02/2014
Mariusz Robert BERGER
24/09/1976
Warsaw
Mariusz Robert Berger
PLN 37,920
18218/14
12/02/2014
Konrad Łukasz IZDEBSKI
01/08/1990
Opole Lubelskie
Konrad Łukasz Izdebski
PLN 6,240
18907/14
14/05/2014
Sylwester Robert WÓJCIK
16/07/1960
Bydgoszcz
Sylwester Robert Wójcik
PLN 7,290
33782/14
11/06/2014
Piotr RODACKI
08/04/1983
Cracow
Piotr Rodacki
PLN 6,380
33807/14
16/04/2014
Sebastian PADZIK
15/05/1981
Żytkowice
Sebastian Padzik
PLN 3,290
33820/14
16/06/2014
Edgar ZALINYAN
03/06/1974
Września
Robert DUDKOWIAK
Edgar Zalinyan
PLN 8,020
59204/14
20/08/2014
Waldemar KOŁB
09/12/1948
Gdańsk
Wiktor SZEWCZYK
Waldemar Kołb
PLN 17,260
59596/14
02/10/2014
Piotr MICHAŁOWSKI
30/04/1959
Koronowo
Piotr Michałowski
PLN 9,360
64072/14
19/09/2014
Andrzej WYCECH
02/05/1966
Węgrów
Andrzej Wycech
PLN 10,480
65509/14
15/09/2014
Tomasz KWAŚNY
02/02/1985
Bytom
Tomasz Kwaśny
PLN 7,800
65529/14
18/11/2014
Arkadiusz KULIBERDA
15/04/1971
Bydgoszcz
Arkadiusz Kuliberda
PLN 11,300
65620/14
21/09/2014
Jolanta GÓRECKA
14/09/1956
Wrocław
Jolanta Górecka
PLN 21,200
66730/14
26/09/2014
Mariusz KRUŻMANOWSKI
14/04/1981
Pułtusk
Mariusz Krużmanowski
PLN 6,240
68262/14
04/11/2014
Rafał KOWALIK
12/01/1976
Częstochowa
Marta KOWALIK
Rafał Kowalik
PLN 8,480
70806/14
09/01/2015
Mariusz NOWAK
11/09/1979
Dąbrowa Górnicza
Mariusz Nowak
PLN 16,200
74613/14
23/10/2014
Robert Zdzisław SZAMBOROWSKI
03/09/1974
Warsaw
Robert Zdzisław Szamborowski
PLN 5,800
75273/14
18/11/2014
Grzegorz NICIA
08/06/1970
Cracow
Grzegorz Nicia
PLN 28,900
8702/15
09/02/2015
Małgorzata GAŃKO
29/10/1987
Sulejówek
Małgorzata Gańko
PLN 8,040
12001/15
03/03/2015
Michał PIETRAS
12/12/1984
Włodawa
Michał Pietras
PLN 7,660
12010/15
03/03/2015
Bartłomiej KURIAN
03/02/1983
Zielona Góra
Bartłomiej Kurian
PLN 9,600
17745/15
03/04/2015
Olga OLSZEWSKA
07/02/1950
Warsaw
Olga Olszewska
PLN 23,980
20191/15
20/04/2015
Sylwia BĄCZEK
07/07/1976
Nowa Sól
Sylwia Bączek
PLN 18,720
25280/15
18/05/2015
Marek RASIŃSKI
29/10/1956
Warsaw
Marek Rasiński
PLN 9,870
25940/15
23/05/2015
Roman Krzysztof BURZYŃSKI
09/08/1955
Bobrowiec
Roman Krzysztof Burzyński
PLN 2,800
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