FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 66735/11
Jerzy GRZEŚ
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 21 February 2017 as a Committee composed of:
Nona Tsotsoria, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Marko Bošnjak, judges,
and Andrea Tamietti, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 10 October 2011,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 7 July 2016 requesting the Court to strike the application 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 Jerzy Grześ, is a Polish national, who was born in 1955 and lives in Kielce.
2. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Justyna Chrzanowska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention that he had been denied effective access to court in civil proceedings.
4. The application had been communicated to the Government.
THE LAW
5. The applicant complained that he had been denied effective access to court since his legal-aid lawyer’s opinion had not been served on him within a reasonable time and he was therefore left with no realistic opportunity of having his case brought to and argued before the Supreme Court within the time-limit provided by the law. He relied on Article 6 of the Convention.
6. After the failure of attempts to reach a friendly settlement, by a letter of 7 July 2016 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issue raised by the application. They further requested the Court to strike out the application in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
7. The declaration provided as follows:
“The Government wish to express by way of the unilateral declaration their acknowledgement of the fact that in the present case the applicant was denied access to court in the determination of his civil rights and obligations within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention in conection with the timing of the legal aid lawyer’s refusal to lodge a cassation appeal. Simultaneously, the Government declare that they are ready to pay the applicant the sum of PLN 8,000 which they consider to be reasonable in the light of the Court’s case law in similar cases (Bednarek v. Poland, application no. 57374/09, decision of 25.08.2015; Mazurkiewicz v. Poland, application no. 70356/11, decision of 23.06.2015; Grzegorzewicz v. Poland, application no. 51704/11, decision of 19.11.2013) and the particular circumstances of the foregoing case. The sum referred to above, which 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 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 period plus three percentage points.”
8. By a letter of 9 September 2016, the applicant indicated that did not accept the terms of the unilateral declaration on the ground that the amount proposed was not satisfactory.
9. The Court reiterates that Article 37 of the Convention provides that it may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to one of the conclusions specified, under (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 1 of that Article. Article 37 § 1 (c) enables the Court in particular to strike a case out of its list if:
“for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.
10. It also reiterates that in certain circumstances, it may strike out an application under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicant wishes the examination of the case to be continued.
11. To this end, the Court has examined the declaration carefully in the light of the principles emerging from its case-law, in particular the Tahsin Acar judgment (Tahsin Acar v. Turkey [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75-77, ECHR 2003-VI; see also WAZA Sp. z o.o. v. Poland (dec.), no. 11602/02, 26 June 2007, and Sulwińska v. Poland (dec.), no. 28953/03, 18 September 2007).
12. Having regard to the nature of the admissions contained in the Government’s declaration, as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 (c)).
13. Moreover, in light of the above considerations, and in particular given the clear and extensive case-law on the topic (Siałkowska v. Poland, no. 8932/05, 22 March 2007, and Staroszczyk v. Poland, no. 59519/00, 22 March 2007), the Court is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine).
14. Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declaration, the application could be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).
15. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declaration under Article 6 of the Convention and of the modalities for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 16 March 2017.
Andrea TamiettiNona Tsotsoria
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy