FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 78986/12
Halina JAROCKA and Wiesława ZAK
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 26 May 2020 as a Committee composed of:
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Armen Harutyunyan, judges,
and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 26 November 2012,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 20 November 2019 requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases and the applicants’ reply to that declaration,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. The applicants, Ms Halina Jarocka and Ms Wiesława Żak, are Polish nationals, who were born in 1935 and 1946 respectively and live in Chełm and Krapkowice respectively. They were represented before the Court by Mr M. Gębicki, a lawyer practising in Chełm.
2. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Sobczak of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. The applicants complained under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention of the unreasonable length of administrative proceedings in their case and of an ineffective remedy in that respect. They also alleged a breach of their right to property pursuant to Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention on account of the unreasonable length of the proceedings
4. The application was communicated to the Government.
5. After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, by letter dated 20 November 2019 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by the application.
6. They acknowledged a violation of the applicants’ rights guaranteed by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention resulting from the unreasonable length of the proceedings in their case and the violation of Article 13 of the Convention with respect to the lack of an effective domestic remedy for their complaint under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. The Government further acknowledged that the length of the administrative proceedings in the present case also gave rise to an interference with the applicants’ right to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions.
7. They undertook to pay to each of the applicants 2,600 euros (two thousand six hundred euros) to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Polish zlotys at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. These sums will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay these sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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. They further requested the Court to strike out the application.
8. On 2 January 2020, the Court received a letter from the applicants informing the Court that they had agreed to the terms of the Government’s declaration.
THE LAW
9. The Court finds that following the applicants’ express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government the case should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.
10. It 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.
11. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases pursuant to Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 18 June 2020.
Renata DegenerLinos-Alexandre Sicilianos
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy