FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 50042/07
Ion HOGOIU and Others against Romania
and 5 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 28 January 2016 as a Committee composed of:
Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
Egidijus Kūris,
Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,
and Karen Reid, 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 is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Romanian 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.
After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, 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.
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 applications 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 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 payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.
The Court has not received a response from the applicants which accepts the terms of the unilateral 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 applications”.
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 the principles emerging from the Court’s case-law, and in particular the Tahsin Acar v. Turkey judgment ([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, Vlad and Others v. Romania, nos. 40756/06, 41508/07 and 50806/07, 26 November 2013).
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 – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications (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 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 (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 18 February 2016.
Karen ReidVincent A. De Gaetano
RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant name
Date 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 / household
(in euros)[i]
50042/07
29/10/2007
Household
(3 applicants)
Ion HOGOIU
18/06/1950
Liviu-Petre HOGOIU
23/09/1982
Oana-Mariana HOGOIU
27/11/1984
Household
(3 applicants)
Țipilica DIACONU
19/08/1963
Edmond-Ionuț DIACONU
15/11/1984
Andrei-Răzvan DIACONU
30/03/1986
02/07/2014
12/10/2015
1,620
21496/11
25/03/2011
Household
(3 applicants)
Marian CRĂCIUN
02/09/1975
Adriana CRĂCIUN
04/08/1974
Săndina CRĂCIUN
21/07/1953
Cristina VLAD
26/08/1979
Maria ANDREI
18/11/1936
20/08/2015
12/11/2015
1,890
64967/13
04/10/2013
Ronaldo BARTOLUCCI
15/03/1957
26/08/2015
06/11/2015
450
73489/13
15/11/2013
Household
Cornel COJOCARU
16/08/1957
Emanuela COJOCARU
16/07/1972
29/07/2015
11/09/2015
2,160
4370/14
19/12/2013
Household
(2 applicants)
Șerban-Mihai-Constantin FLORIȚA
10/01/1947
Corina Eugenia FLORIȚA
15/11/1947
Household
(2 applicants)
Ioana MISĂILĂ
23/06/1936
Daniela-Iulia-Ioana BURNEI
03/04/1968
Household
(2 applicants)
Ingrid-Wilfede ZIEGLER
10/03/1985
Constanța-Stela ZIEGLER
05/03/1950
Grigore IONISIE
06/01/1951
Ioan ISPAS
05/01/1947
Adriana AVRAM
18/07/1955
Marius-Ilie MĂTIEȘ
05/05/1947
Tiberius Josef VILICS
21/10/1954
Constantin MORAR
01/02/1934
Mărioara HAVRINCEA
08/09/1950
Ada BACIU
21/12/1956
03/08/2015
11/09/2015
990
11086/14
29/01/2014
Dumitru CANĂ
19/02/1952
17/08/2015
06/11/2015
1,080
[i] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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