FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 42668/21
I.G. against Poland
and 19 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 8 October 2024 as a Chamber composed of:
Ivana Jelić, President,
Alena Poláčková,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Lətif Hüseynov,
Péter Paczolay,
Erik Wennerström,
Raffaele Sabato, judges,
and Ilse Freiwirth, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the cases,
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, Mr J. Sobczak, and subsequently by Ms A. Kozińska-Makowska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention of a violation of their right to a hearing by an “independent and impartial tribunal established by law” since their civil or criminal cases had been decided by various formations of the Supreme Court composed of judges appointed to that court by the President of Poland, pursuant to the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary (Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa, “the NCJ”) as established under the Amending Act on the NCJ and certain other statutes of 8 December 2017 (“the recomposed NCJ”).
4. In particular, five applicants who are lawyers had their disciplinary cases examined by the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. In one case the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court examined the applicant’s appeal against the resolution of the recomposed NCJ not recommending him to a vacant judicial post in another court. Finally, fourteen applicants had their civil or criminal cases examined by various formations of the Civil or Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court composed of judges appointed to that court by the President of Poland, on recommendation of the recomposed NCJ.
5. On various dates in 2024 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Poland in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications against an undertaking by the Government to pay to each of the applicants 10,000 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, to be converted into Polish zlotys at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and free of any taxes that may be applicable. The sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertakes to pay simple interest on it, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.
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 (Article 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court).
7. The Court further notes that the issues raised in the present cases have been examined in a series of judgments concerning successive judicial reforms in Poland initiated in 2017 which aimed to weaken judicial independence, starting with grave irregularities in the election of judges to the Constitutional Court in December 2015 (see Xero Flor w Polsce sp. z o.o. v. Poland, no. 4907/18, 7 May 2021) and then, in particular, remodelling the NCJ and setting up new chambers in the Supreme Court (see paragraph 3 above), while extending the Minister of Justice’s control over the courts and increasing his or her role in matters of judicial discipline (see Grzęda v. Poland [GC], no. 43572/18, § 358, 15 March 2022). In its pilot judgment in the case of Wałęsa v. Poland, (no. 50849/21, 23 November 2023), the Court listed several interrelated systemic problems which entailed repeated breaches of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary (ibid. § 324).
8. The deficiencies in the procedure for the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court, resulting in violations of the applicants’ right to a hearing by an “independent and impartial tribunal established by law” protected by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, have been established in respect of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court (see Reczkowicz v. Poland, no. 43447/19, 22 July 2021), the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs (see Dolińska-Ficek and Ozimek v. Poland, nos. 49868/19 and 57511/19, 8 November 2021) and formations of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court (see Advance Pharma sp. z o.o v. Poland, no. 1469/20, 3 February 2022).
9. The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications. 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 in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 7 November 2024.
Ilse Freiwirth Ivana Jelić
Registrar President
Appendix
List of cases:
No.
Application no.
Lodged on
Case name
Applicant
Year of Birth
Place of Residence
Nationality
Represented by
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of the applicant’s declaration
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
per applicant/household
(in euros)
1.
42668/21
16/08/2021
I.G. v. Poland
I. G.
1979
Warszawa
Polish
Filip CŁAPKA
5/06/2024
11/06/2024
10,000
2.
45530/21
01/09/2021
Szewczuk v. Poland
Jerzy SZEWCZUK
1962
Zamość
Polish
Sebastian KOTUŁA
21/05/2024
21/05/2024
10,000
3.
47767/21
22/09/2021
Chrzanowski v. Poland
Daniel CHRZANOWSKI
1992
Sieradz
Polish
Monika Małgorzata GĄSIOROWSKA
10/05/2024
14/05/2024
10,000
4.
54808/21
25/10/2021
Nowakowski v. Poland
Czesław NOWAKOWSKI
1947
Warszawa
Polish
Olgierd SWIOSTEK
05/07/2024
8/07/2024
10,000
5.
6026/22
14/01/2022
Bujak v. Poland
Patrycja Magdalena BUJAK
1984
Lublin
Polish
Sebastian KOTUŁA
10/05/2024
21/05/2024
10,000
6.
6514/22
20/01/2022
Kowarowski v. Poland
Jan KOWAROWSKI
1948
Łasin Wybudowane
Polish
Joanna LAZAREK
10/05/2024
21/05/2024
10,000
7.
12042/22
14/02/2022
Cieśla v. Poland
Stefan Franciszek CIEŚLA
1955
Warszawa
Polish
Karol TRZASKA
19/03/2024
8/04/2024
10,000
8.
13442/22
03/03/2022
Apfelbaum v. Poland
Erika APFELBAUM
1934
LA HAYE
French
Agata BZDYŃ
2/07/2024
16/07/2024
10,000
9.
15450/22
16/03/2022
Wieczorek v. Poland
Danuta Zofia WIECZOREK
1933
Chicago
Polish
Jarosław SZYDLOWSKI
7/08/2024
29/07/2024
10,000
10.
20244/22
12/04/2022
Łakatosz v. Poland
Herchnć ŁAKATOSZ
1963
Poznań
Polish
Piotr ŁUCZAK
10/05/2024
20/05/2024
10,000
11.
20745/22
12/04/2022
Włoch v. Poland
Lucyna WŁOCH
1975
Poznań
Polish
Piotr ŁUCZAK
10/05/2024
20/05/2024
10,000
12.
28779/22
31/05/2022
Dechnik v. Poland
Household
Zuzanna DECHNIK
1947
Biłgoraj
Polish
Stanisław Andrzej DECHNIK
1946
Biłgoraj
Polish
Monika Małgorzata GĄSIOROWSKA
02/07/2024
17/07/2024
10,000
Jointly to both applicants
13.
30091/22
10/06/2022
Fras v. Poland
Mariusz FRAS
1970
Sosnowiec
Polish
Piotr KŁADOCZNY
13/05/2024
25/04/2024
10,000
14.
30617/22
09/06/2022
Zdanowicz v. Poland
Aneta ZDANOWICZ
1974
Bialystok
Polish
Zbigniew IGNASIAK
26/07/2024
25/07/2024
10,000
15.
31800/22
10/06/2022
Leszczyński v. Poland
Jacek LESZCZYŃSKI
1959
Kobierzyce
Polish
Joanna MISZCZYSZYN
19/03/2024
22/04/2024
10,000
16.
34284/22
28/06/2022
Jurewicz v. Poland
Justyna STASIOŁEK
(name changed)
1974
Łódź
Polish
Marcin GÓRSKI
26/04/2024
24/04/2024
10,000
17.
39684/22
04/08/2022
Ligenza v. Poland
Tomasz LIGENZA
1962
Piła
Polish
Monika Małgorzata GĄSIOROWSKA
20/08/2024
17/07/2024
10,000
18.
41368/22
20/08/2022
Buczek v. Poland
Paweł BUCZEK
1985
Warszawa
Polish
Piotr BARANIAK
19/03/2024
16/04/2024
10,000
19.
41404/22
20/08/2022
Kapuściński v. Poland
Krzysztof KAPUŚCIŃSKI
1969
Gdynia
Polish
19/03/2024
22/04/2024
10,000
20.
48825/22
11/10/2022
Lewiński v. Poland
Daniel LEWIŃSKI
1979
Warszawa
Polish
Monika Małgorzata GĄSIOROWSKA
20/08/2024
17/08/2024
10,000