FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 59790/17
Marcin HOFFMAN against Poland
and 13 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 17 December 2020 as a Committee composed of:
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Erik Wennerström, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting 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 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants and their representatives is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints 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 court were communicated to the Polish Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
The Government informed the Court that they proposed to make unilateral declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
In each application the Government acknowledged a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the excessive length of proceedings, as well as a violation of Article 13 on account of the lack of an effective remedy. They offered to pay the applicants the amounts detailed in the appended table and invited the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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 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 payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.
The applicants were sent the terms of the Government’s unilateral declarations several weeks before the date of this decision. The Court has not received a response from the applicants accepting the terms of the declarations.
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 cases 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 and criminal proceedings and the lack of effective remedy (see, for example, Rutkowski and Others v. Poland, nos. 72287/10 and 2 others, §§ 160 and 186, 7 July 2015, with further references).
Noting the admissions contained in the Government’s declarations as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases against Poland – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications (Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention; see also the conclusions reached in the first group of cases submitted in the pilot-judgment procedure, Załuska and Rogalska v. Poland and 398 other applications (dec.), nos. 53491/10 and 72286/10, §§ 48-55, 20 June 2017).
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 applications (Article 37 § 1 in fine).
Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declarations, the applications may be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (see Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).
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;
Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declarations and of the arrangements for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 21 January 2021.
Liv TigerstedtLinos-Alexandre Sicilianos
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
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 Polish Zloty PLN)[1]
59790/17
09/08/2017
Marcin HOFFMAN
1971
Ponikiewski Patryk
Bielsko – Biała
17/06/2020
06/08/2020
27,820
60071/17
09/08/2017
Mirosława LORAJ
1961
Cichoń Zbigniew
Kraków
17/06/2020
07/08/2020
40,560
69071/17
08/09/2017
Łukasz DUDEK
1983
17/06/2020
27/07/2020
12,600
72120/17
26/09/2017
Alicja KUŚNIEREK
1951
17/06/2020
24/07/2020
26,820
59/18
14/12/2017
Grzegorz DEPTUCH
1972
25/06/2020
14/09/2020
3,040
1374/18
22/01/2018
Rafał JARNO
1990
25/06/2020
10/08/2020
8,890
2560/18
30/12/2017
Janina MITAL
1932
Słupska-Uczkiewicz Bogdana
Wrocław
25/06/2020
16/10/2020
12,230
5564/18
22/01/2018
Włodzimierz SŁOWIŃSKI
1956
25/06/2020
12/08/2020
11,860
6921/18
18/12/2017
Włodzimierz SŁOWIŃSKI
1956
25/06/2020
21/09/2020
19,640
904/19
13/12/2018
Henryk KORPYTA
1962
17/06/2020
10/08/2020
10,600
7797/19
16/01/2019
Jakub Rafał ZAIC
1962
25/06/2020
03/09/2020
13,000
13231/19
06/03/2019
Piotr SZMIDT
1973
Lipski Marcin
Gdańsk
17/06/2020
14/08/2020
19,840
13238/19
06/03/2019
Małgorzata SZMIDT
1953
Lipski Marcin
Gdańsk
17/06/2020
14/08/2020
19,840
21410/19
13/04/2019
Włodzimierz SŁOWIŃSKI
1956
17/06/2020
20/07/2020
6,240
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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