SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 19597/25
Tibor HAJNAL and Others
against Hungary
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 21 May 2026 as a Committee composed of:
Stéphane Pisani, President,
Juha Lavapuro,
Hugh Mercer, judges,
and Attila Teplán, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application against Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 30 May 2025,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDUREThe list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
The applicants were represented by Mr I. Barbalics, a lawyer practising in Budapest.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Hungarian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAWAfter unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They further requested the Court to strike out the application in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
The Government acknowledged the excessive length of civil proceedings. They offered to pay the applicants the amounts detailed in the appended table and invited the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay this amount within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook 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 case.
The applicants were sent the terms of the Government’s unilateral declaration several weeks before the date of this decision. The Court has not received a response from the applicants accepting the terms of the declaration.
The Court observes that Article 37 § 1 (c) enables it 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”.
Thus, it may strike out applications under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicants wish the examination of the case to be continued (see, in particular, the Tahsin Acar v. Turkey judgment (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75‑77, ECHR 2003-VI).
The Court has established clear and extensive case-law concerning complaints relating to the excessive length of civil proceedings (see, for example, Gazsó v. Hungary, no. 48322/12, 16 July 2015 and Csatári and Others v. Hungary [Committee], no. 18514/24, 20 May 2025).
Noting 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)).
In the light of the above considerations, 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).
Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declaration, the application may be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).
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 and of the arrangements 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 11 June 2026.
Attila Teplán Stéphane Pisani
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of applicant’s comments, if any
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
19597/25
30/05/2025
(44 applicants)
Tibor HAJNAL
1975
Anita ÁGOSTONNÉ WEKSZLI
1975
Zsolt István ALBERT
1972
Gyöngyi ALBERT -ZARTL
1953
Erika BERZSENYI-RÉDEI
1972
István László BORSICS
1961
Attila Pál EICHINGER
1958
Ágoston FETT
1978
Ferencé FETT
1950
Tamásné FODOR
1936
Józsefné FRÜHWIRT
1950
Lászlóné GANGLER
1950
Violetta GANGLER
1978
Balázs GYENESE
1969
Anna HAJNAL
2006
Lászlóné HAJNAL
1950
Zoltán HAJNAL
1979
Oszkár Zoltán HETTLINGER
1956
Istvánné HORVÁTH
1940
Hajnalka Eszter KÉRINÉ MAITZ
1955
István Gyula KERKÁPOLY
1952
Lászlóné KISS
1974
Veronika KISSNÉ GANGLER
1980
Csaba Norbertné KOVÁCS
1975
Ágnes KOVÁCSNÉ FETT
1971
Gábor Dánielné KÖVÉR
1948
Imre NAGY
1970
István NAGY
1963
Lajos NAGY
1942
Lajosné NAGY
1969
Pál NÉMETH
1935
Tibor Sándor PATAKY
1958
István SOMOGYI
1942
Miklós SOMOGYI
1958
István Gyula SZABÓ
1948
Ildikó SZÉKELY
1954
Margit Éva SZENTÉNÉ BOGDÁN
1953
Anna Lilióza
SZILÁGYINÉ MERCS
1956
János TÖRÖK
1965
Klára Lívia
TÖRÖKNÉ HETTLINGER
1958
Júlia Anna VARGA
1952
Zsuzsanna VIDA
1976
Miklósné WEKSZLI
1955
Zoltán WEKSZLI
1962
02/03/2026
05/04/2026
200
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.