FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 21667/13
Grzegorz GAJOS against Poland
and 50 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 18 December 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Ksenija Turković, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Pauliine Koskelo, 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 22 June, 7 June and 9 July 2018 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases and the applicants’ reply to these 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, and subsequently Mr J. Sobczak, 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. The applications were communicated to the Government.
5. By letters dated 22 June, 7 June and 9 July 2018 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 Rutkowski and Others v. Poland, nos. 72287/10 and 2 others, 7 July 2015). They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
6. On various dates in 2018 the Court received letters from the applicants informing the Court that they had all agreed to the terms of the Government’s declarations.
THE LAW
7. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
8. The Court finds that following the applicants’ express agreement to the terms of declarations made by the Government the cases should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.
9. The Court has already examined the 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 v. Poland and 398 other applications (dec.), nos. 53491/10 and 72286/10, § 37, 20 June 2017). 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).
10. 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 applications.
11. 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 24 January 2019.
Renata DegenerKsenija Turković
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix
No.
Application no.
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
Amount proposed in Unilateral Declaration
21667/13
19/03/2013
Grzegorz GAJOS
08/07/1975
Warsaw
PLN 15,870
30631/13
22/04/2013
Rafał Marcin ZABOROWSKI
23/06/1980
Łódź
PLN 11,860
33900/14
05/08/2014
Marek Adam WASYLKOWSKI
12/09/1969
Gdańsk
PLN 8,890
37428/15
21/07/2015
Czesław PACH
08/11/1959
Radłów
Edyta KONKA
PLN 27,520
41947/15
14/08/2015
Zbigniew RESZKA
28/12/1952
Warsaw
Natalia OŁOWSKA-CZAJKA
PLN 21,840
43631/15
25/08/2015
Dariusz Artur SKOWRONEK
15/06/1966
Lublin
PLN 6,050
44691/15
02/09/2015
Paweł CHOROŚ
12/09/1975
Warsaw
Marta SKRZYMOWSKA
PLN 17,980
3752/16
12/01/2016
Piotr TOMASZEWSKI
06/03/1987
Siedlce
PLN 15,410
7159/16
20/01/2016
Robert Zdzisław SZAMBOROWSKI
03/09/1974
Przytuły Stare
PLN 15,600
7254/16
29/01/2016
Andrzej Tadeusz PRZEWOSKI
10/10/1966
Kwidzyn
PLN 15,290
8071/16
04/02/2016
Marcin PODKAŃSKI
21/12/1985
Lublin
PLN 14,980
10949/16
08/02/2016
Bernard KNITTER
28/02/1938
Sopot
Mieczysław STEFAŃSKI
01/01/1951
Sopot
Józef ZAGUBIEŃ
08/09/1941
Gdańsk
PLN 40,560 to B. Knitter,
PLN 40,560 to M. Stefański,
PLN 40,560 to J. Zagubień
11004/16
05/02/2016
Andrzej Tadeusz PRZEWOSKI
10/10/1966
Kwidzyn
PLN 29,660
11893/16
12/02/2016
Michał CHOJECKI
10/11/1988
Rzekuń
PLN 5,630
12089/16
26/02/2016
Marzena Katarzyna SKŁUCKA
27/04/1966
Wien
PLN 44,460
13103/16
20/04/2016
Sebastian KOWALSKI
05/06/1991
Sztum
PLN 4,240
13240/16
29/02/2016
Janusz GUZIK
18/02/1965
Łęczyca
PLN 10,380
17441/16
09/03/2016
Krzysztof DUTKIEWICZ
30/06/1982
Dubliny
PLN 16,720
20969/16
17/05/2016
Przemysław JORDAN
23/01/1982
Katowice
PLN 15,280
23596/16
21/04/2016
Grzegorz SUSKI
29/09/1959
Gdańsk
Marcin LIPSKI
PLN 44,870
23634/16
22/04/2016
Dominik MROZIŃSKI
10/01/1984
Tarnobrzeg
Sebastian MROZIŃSKI
PLN 20,280
23874/16
21/04/2016
Cezary KOWALCZYK
08/04/1978
Lublin
Sebastian KOTUŁA
PLN 12,360
23897/16
18/04/2016
Jan PRZYWARA
21/12/1959
Gdańsk
PLN 42,370
26288/16
31/05/2016
Marcin PAZIO
14/11/1985
Siedlce
PLN 21,400
28055/16
16/05/2016
Andrzej WŁODARCZYK
24/12/1970
Strzelce Opolskie
PLN 9,270
31163/16
24/06/2016
Dariusz MIKULSKI
02/10/1983
Warsaw
PLN 3,740
31989/16
30/05/2016
Waldemar CZYŻ
19/07/1972
Żółtańce Kolonia
PLN 16,220
32677/16
29/06/2016
Norbert DWORAKOWSKI
09/10/1964
Hajnówka
PLN 10,590
36439/16
05/09/2016
Grzegorz Jacek SKOWROŃSKI
10/05/1975
Brzeg
Jolanta GRUDZIEŃ
PLN 8,900
38899/16
07/10/2016
Arkadiusz KRUCZEK
18/04/1973
Gdańsk
PLN 24,460
39510/16
23/06/2016
Karol PIŁAT
12/05/1988
Lublin
PLN 7,800
43382/16
29/08/2016
Krzysztof SKRZYPEK
20/08/1965
Kamińsk
PLN 34,320
43776/16
20/07/2016
Konrad KOSOWSKI
19/01/1981
Konstancin-Jeziorna
PLN 10,380
48262/16
08/08/2016
Jacek WOŁOSZCZUK
29/06/1966
Chełm
PLN 10,170
52298/16
29/08/2016
Małgorzata ŁEPIK-SZOSTAK
25/12/1967
Chełm
PLN 13,190
53555/16
30/08/2016
Marek PRZYWARA
12/02/1961
Gdańsk
Marcin LIPSKI
PLN 51,450
54057/16
06/09/2016
Mirosław Stanisław KAWALEC
13/10/1967
Dorohusk
PLN 10,170
55205/16
15/09/2016
Jarosław Sławomir KUCIŃSKI
25/08/1996
Chełm
PLN 16,220
57263/16
20/09/2016
Andrzej BETIUK
22/11/1966
Chełm
PLN 16,220
58288/16
28/09/2016
Jarosław SOKOŁOWSKI
03/07/1969
Chełm
PLN 16,220
60112/16
24/11/2016
Przemysław MISZTA
05/12/1979
Nowogród Bobrzański
PLN 12,480
77767/16
09/12/2016
Łukasz TYBULCZUK
15/04/1991
Warsaw
Monika GĄSIOROWSKA
PLN 15,730
78947/16
03/12/2016
Krzysztof CIEMIŃSKI
05/03/1987
Warsaw
PLN 15,580
3004/17
05/01/2017
Mariusz WITAN
03/10/1982
Warsaw
Anna IMBIRSKA
PLN 15,720
10438/17
10/01/2017
Robert RAKOWSKI
15/06/1974
Żytkowice
PLN 26,410
18745/17
03/03/2017
Grzegorz LUCHOWSKI
18/07/1971
Chełm
PLN 16,220
25261/17
27/03/2017
Szymon MACIUSZONEK
27/10/1967
Warsaw
Piotr KAWALEC
PLN 35,200
26121/17
29/03/2017
Filip GAWRYSZEWSKI
23/04/1989
Warsaw
Natalia SERWIŃSKA
PLN 8,470
26124/17
29/03/2017
Leszek BŁASZCZAK
02/05/1988
Warsaw
Natalia SERWIŃSKA
PLN 8,470
27241/17
29/03/2017
Jakub WROŃSKI
15/06/1984
Warsaw
PLN 15,720
33541/17
26/04/2017
Emil GAŁECKI
14/11/1982
Warsaw
PLN 7,410
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