FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 64055/13 and 7192/14
Henryk GOWIN
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 6 February 2018 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 1 October 2013 and 3 February 2014 respectively,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 28 February 2017 requesting the Court to strike the application no. 64055/13 out of the list of cases and the applicant’s reply to that declaration,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. The applicant, Mr Henryk Gowin, is a Polish national, who was born in 1963 and is detained in Grodków.
2. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms J. Chrzanowska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the excessive length of criminal proceedings against him 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 letter dated 28 February 2017 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by the application no. 64055/13. The Government acknowledged a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the excessive length of criminal proceedings against the applicant 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 10,750 Polish zlotys (PLN). 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 sum referred to above is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It 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 this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on each of it, 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 application in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
THE LAW
6. Having regard to the identical subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
7. On 18 April 2017, the Court received a letter from the applicant informing the Court that he had agreed to the terms of the Government’s declaration.
8. The Court finds that following the applicant’s express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government the case should be treated as a friendly settlement between the applicant 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 case. The Court therefore 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 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 1 March 2018.
Renata DegenerAleš Pejchal
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy