FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 14001/13 and 22883/14
Julijana JOVANOVSKA and Others against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
and Marina CVETANOVSKA and Others against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 14 November 2017 as a Committee composed of:
Aleš Pejchal, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Jovan Ilievski, judges,
and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on 8 February 2013 and 11 March 2014 respectively,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix. All applicants are Macedonian nationals who live in Veles. They are represented by Ms D. Čakarovska Grozdanovska, a lawyer practising in Skopje.
The circumstances of the case
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
3. In 1994 company B. launched civil proceedings for debt against company N. On 29 September 1998 and in the context of bankruptcy proceedings in respect of company B., former employees (“the claimants”) of another company that had gone bankrupt were authorised to take over part of B.’s claim against company N., which amounted to 1,466,143 Macedonian denars (MKD) (equivalent to approximately 24,000 euros (EUR)). That figure comprised salary arrears, unpaid social contributions and trial costs. Through submissions dated 8 June 1999, the claimants continued the proceedings in company B.’s stead. As stated later in the proceedings, there were 739 claimants, including the applicants. During the proceedings, the claimants asserted (but later retracted the calculation) that each individual claim amounted to MKD 1,960, (equivalent to approximately EUR 32), of which MKD 1,080 (approximately EUR 18) represented the actual salary arrears.
4. After three remittals, on 14 April 2011 the Veles Court of First Instance terminated the proceedings as company N. had ceased to exist. On 19 April 2012 the Skopje Court of Appeal upheld this decision.
5. Regarding application no. 14001/13, in decisions dated 26 June and 3 December 2012, both the first and second-instance panels of the Supreme Court accepted the applicants’ request for a length-of-proceedings remedy and awarded them MKD 300,000 (approximately EUR 4,880) jointly in respect of non-pecuniary damage. Similarly, regarding application no. 22883/14, by decisions dated 7 May and 4 July 2013, two levels of the Supreme Court acknowledged that there had been a violation of the “reasonable time” requirement with respect to the applicants and awarded them MKD 20,000 (approximately EUR 320) jointly in respect of non‑pecuniary damage.
COMPLAINTS
6. The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the inordinate length of the substantive proceedings and further alleged that the award made by the Supreme Court had been too low.
THE LAW
7. The Court considers that, in accordance with Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court, the applications ‒ of which the subject matter is the alleged excessive length of the impugned proceedings ‒ should be joined, given their similar factual and legal background.
8. It must determine whether the applicants’ complaint meets the preliminary requirements set out in Article 35 § 3 (b) of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“3. The Court shall declare inadmissible any individual application submitted under Article 34 if it considers that:
...
(b) the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage, unless respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto requires an examination of the application on the merits and provided that no case may be rejected on this ground which has not been duly considered by a domestic tribunal.”
9. The Court will therefore examine whether: (i) the applicants have suffered a significant disadvantage; (ii) whether respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols attached thereto requires an examination of the applications on the merits; and (iii) whether the case was duly considered by a domestic tribunal (see Hudecova and Others v. Slovakia (dec.), no. 53807/09, § 24, 18 December 2012).
10. In this connection it notes that the “significant disadvantage” criterion applies where, notwithstanding a potential violation of a right from a purely legal point of view, the level of severity attained does not warrant consideration by an international court (see Adrian Mihai Ionescu v. Romania (dec), no. 36659/04, 1 June 2010; Korolev v. Russia (dec.), no. 25551/05, 1 July 2010; and Gaftoniuc v. Romania (dec.), no. 30934/05, 22 February 2011). The level of severity must be assessed in the light of the financial impact of the matter in dispute and the importance of the case for the applicant (see Burov v. Moldova (dec.), no. 38875/03, § 25, 14 June 2011).
11. The present case concerns civil proceedings in which 739 claimants, including the applicants, requested payment of a debt amounting in total to MKD 1,466,143. Given the number of claimants, it appears that the sum in dispute for each individual applicant was MKD 1,980 (approximately EUR 32). Notwithstanding the financial situation of the applicants at the time, the Court does not consider that the sum each applicant claimed would have had a significant effect on their private life (see ibid., § 27 and Spasić v. Serbia (dec.), no. 21477/13, 3 February 2015).
12. The safeguard clause set out in Article 35 § 3 (b) compels the Court to examine the case in any event if respect for human rights so requires. This would apply where a case raises questions of a general character affecting the observance of the Convention, for instance whether there is a need to clarify the respondent State’s obligation under the Convention or to induce the respondent State to resolve a structural deficiency (see Zwinkels v. the Netherlands (dec.), no. 16593/10, § 28, 9 October 2012).
13. The Court observes that the problem of excessive length of proceedings in the respondent State has been addressed on numerous occasions in its judgments (see, among many other authorities, Dumanovski v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, no. 13898/02, 8 December 2005; Nankov v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, no. 26541/02, 29 November 2007; Savov and Others v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, no.12582/03, 25 September 2008; and Rizova v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, no. 41228/02, 6 July 2006). Accordingly, the examination of the present applications on the merits would not bring any new element to the Court’s existing case-law.
14. The Court therefore concludes that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols does not require an examination of the applications on the merits.
15. Finally, Article 35 § 3 (b) does not allow an application to be rejected on the grounds of “no significant disadvantage” if the case has not been duly considered by a domestic tribunal. The purpose of this provision is to ensure that every case is subject to a judicial examination, whether at national or European level (see Korolev, cited above).
16. The Court notes that the Supreme Court examined the applicants’ length of proceedings complaint, made final rulings in which it acknowledged that there had been a violation of the “reasonable time” requirement, and awarded just satisfaction in respect of non-pecuniary damage. Accordingly, the Court is satisfied that the present applications were duly considered by a domestic tribunal within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (b) of the Convention.
17. The three conditions of the inadmissibility criterion having therefore been satisfied, the Court finds that the applications must be declared inadmissible under Article 35 §§ 3 (b) and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 7 December 2017.
Renata DegenerAleš Pejchal
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix
Application no 14001/13
Julijana JOVANOVSKAFatime ABDULOVSKAMarijan ABRASHEVGorica ACESKADimche ACKOVAnica ACKOVAGazimfer ALIEVABojka AMPOVAAnica ANASTASOVAMagda ANASTASOVARahilka ANASTASOVASlavica ANASTASOVAUbavka ANASTASOVSKARada ANASTOVSKAAngja ANDONOSKAIvanka ANDONOVSKARoska ANDONOVSKATrajana ANDONOVSKAVioleta ANDONOVSKAAna ANDOVADragica ANDOVALenche ANDOVADragica ANDOVSKAElica ANDOVSKAIvanka ANDOVSKARodna ANDOVSKASnezhana ANDOVSKAVaska ANDOVSKAVioleta ANDOVSKAZorka ANDOVSKAGordana ANDREEVALena ANDREEVSKAGrozda ANEVAVesna ANGELKOVSKAStanka ANGELOVAVioleta ANGELOVABlagica ANGELOVSKARuzhica ANGELOVSKABlagojka ANGJELKOVADonka ANGJELOVABisera APOSTOLOVSKAMarika APOSTOLOVSKASloboda APOSTOLOVSKAZora APOSTOLOVSKABoca ARSOVSKALjiljana ARSOVSKALjubica ARSOVSKADajana ARTINOVAAtidje ASANOVAIsmeta ASANOVASevinch ASANOVANikolina ATANASOVASnezha ATANASOVAZorica ATANASOVABlagojka ATANASOVSKACveta ATANASOVSKACveta ATANASOVSKANevenka ATANASOVSKASlobodanka ATANASOVSKABorche ATANASOVSKINadezhda BABUNSKAMaazes BEKIROVANasuf BILALOVIKJKaterina BOBEVSKADesanka BOGDANOVSKAMarionka BOGDANOVSKAGjurgja BOGOEVSKALjiljana BOGOJESKAToni BOJKOVSKIVera BONDIKJOVAVeselinka BOSILKOVAKostadinka BOZHINOVAStanika BOZHINOVSKATodorka BRANKOVIKJLjubichka BRZAKOVSKAAleksandra BUKOVSKANadezhda CHABOVSKASvetlinka CANEVASpaska CHAUSHOVSKADragomirka CEBOVAVesna CHINGAROVADushanka CHOREVAVioleta CHUCHUKOSKASpasija CHOKOVATodora CVETKOVAVera CVETKOVABogdana CVETKOVSKAMarushka DAMJANOVSKAAneta DASKALOVALeman DAUDOVAIzeta DAUTISnezhana DAVCHEVAVelika DAVCHEVAStojanka DAVCHEVAMakedonka DAVCHEVSKALiljana DAVCHEVARatka DAVCHEVSKAMirjana DAVEVARajna DELOVAGjulsefa DEMIROVAMukades DEMIROVAMarika DIMCHEVSKABisera DIMESKADragica DIMITRIEVSKALjiljana DIMITRIJEVSKADobrinka DIMITROVASnezhana DIMITROVACveta DIMKOVAVesna DIMKOVAPandorka DIMOSKAStojna DIMOSKAAcka DIMOVABlagojka DIMOVACveta DIMOVADilbera DIMOVAElizabeta DIMOVALila DIMOVAMakedonka DIMOVAMilka DIMOVASnezhana DIMOVASvetla DIMOVAZhivanka DIMOVABlaga DIMOVSKADanica DIMOVSKAErmenka DIMOVSKAGordana DIMOVSKAMica DIMOVSKANikolina DIMOVSKASlavica DIMOVSKASnezhana DIMOVSKAStanka DIMOVSKAVera DIMOVSKAZora DIMOVSKASilvana DIOVARodna DJAJKOVAJagodka DUKOSKARistana ELENOVAIgbal EMINZura EMINOVANadezhda FILIPOVALiljana FILIPOVSKATasija GALEVSKACvetanka GJORGJEVIKJBosilka GJORGJIEVAGordana GJORGJIEVAVitora GJORGJIEVAGordana GJORGJIEVSKAJagotka GJORGJIEVSKALiljana GJOHEVAMitra GJUROVASlavica GJUROVSKACena GOCHESKAPavlina GOCHEVAVaska GOGOVAPera GORGIEVAPavlina GJORGIEVSKASuzana GOSHEVABorjana HRISTOVAVeselka HRISTOVADobrica IGANATOSKAStojna IGEVSKATrajanka IGEVSKANadica IGNATOVSKALenche IGNOVADesanka IGNOVSKASlobodanka IGNOVSKAMarika ILIEVAMarijonka ILIJEVADesanka ILIJEVSKAGrozda ILIJEVSKAJelica ILIJEVSKALiljjana ILKOVAVenka ILKOVAMilka ILKOVSKAVioleta ILKOVSKARoza ISIJANOSKAGjulbear ISMAILOVABiljana IVANOVADragica IVANOVAStojna IVANOVACveta JAKOVLEVACveta JANAKIEVALiljana JANEVAJasmina JANEVSKAMenka JANEVSKAJagoda JANKOVSKAGordana JOLDASHEVAGalaba JOLESKALjiljanka JORDANOVALjubenka JORDANOVALjupka JORDANOVARumena JORDANOVSKATodor JORDANOVSKITodorka JOSIFOVAZora JOSIFOVAUbavka JOSIFOVSKAMenka JOVANOVASpasenka JOVANOVAVelika JOVANOVABranka JOVANOVSKAMagdalena JOVANOVSKAMarija JOVANOVSKARadojka JOVANOVSKASlobotka JOVANOVSKASunca JOVANOVSKATatjana JOVANOVSKAUbavka JOVANOVSKACveta JOVESKABlagica JOVEVSKARajna JOVEVSKASnezhana JOVEVSKAGrozda JOVIKVesna KACHUROVAMenka KADJABANOVASanda KALESHOVALepa KAMCHEVADarinka KARAKOLEVAJagoda KICEVSKASonja KJIMOVAMira KIMOVSKAVioleta KIMOVSKAMarina KITANOVALjubka KITANOVSKAEmine KJAMILOVAVesna KLINCHAROVADragica KOCEVAMirjana KOCEVAPetrana KOCEVAShekerinka KOCEVAAngelina KOCEVSKABlagojka KOCEVSKADobrinka KOCEVSKASilvana KOCHANOVSKALiljana KOCHOVSKAVerka KONESKABozhidarka KOSTADINOVSKABlagojka KOSTOVAMarina KOSTOVALenche KOSTOVSKAOlga KOSTOVSKATalija KOTEVAGjurgja KRSTEVAPandorka KRSTEVAVasilina KRSTEVALozenka KRSTEVSKAMilica KRSTEVSKAZora KUZMANOSKACvetanka KUZMANOVAMenka LAPEVSKASuzana LAZARKOVADragan LAZAROVAnastasija LAZAROVSKANada LAZAROVSKAOlga LAZAROVSKAZlata LAZAROVSKAVesna LAZEVSKAJagoda LAZOSKALenche LAZOVANevena LAZOVAValentina LAZOVAZlata LEVKOVATimka LONDOVAVera MACHAVELOVASlavica MADJEVIKJVesna MALEZANOVADragica MANEVALjiljana MANEVAMarionka MANEVASnezhana MANEVACveta MANEVSKAGrozda MANEVSKALenka MANEVSKALiljana MANEVSKASonja MARKOSKA SHULESKAJordanka MARKOVAVioleta MARKOVSKAFeride MEHMEDOVAMarika MICELINOVACveta MIJOVABlagojka MILANOVAVidana MILANOVAZorka MILANOVSKABojana MILENKOVAMena MILOSHEVSKAMarija MIROVAMarinka MIROVSKABlaga MITEVANada MITEVABlaguna MITEVSKAVasilka MITEVSKAMarica MITIKJLiljana MITREVAMarija MITREVSKAVelika MITREVSKALenche MLADENOVSKAGrozda NAJDOVSKAJagoda NAJDOVSKAMirjana NAJDOVSKAKaliopa NAKJINOVAUbavka NAKJVSKAIlvanka NAKOVALiljana NANEVAGrozda NANOVAMarija NASTOVASilvana NASTOVAPavlina NASTOVSKAIneska NAUMOVASvetlana NAUMOVALilja NEDELKOVSKALjiljana NEDELKOVSKAElica NEDEVSKAMagda NESTOROVASlavica NESTOROVAGordana NESTOROVSKAIvka NICHEVSKADanica NIKOLOVAGordana NIKOLOVAMarika NIKOLOVASlobotka NIKOLOVAVera NIKOLOVAIlinka NIKOLOVSKARuska NIKOLOVSKAVerka NIKOLOVSKAVesna NIKOLOVSKAMirjana OCEVASlavica OCEVACveta ONCHEVAVioletka ONCHEVSKAMarijonka ORDEVAEsma OSMANOVATina PANOSKADesa PANOVAFilimena PANOVAMarija PANOVASnezhana PANOVAMalinka PANOVSKAOlivera PANOVSKAVasilka PANOVSKAVelika PANOVSKASnezhana PAUNOVAEfka PAVLOVAKarolina PAVLOVSKAMarija PAVLOVSKAMiljanka PAVLOVSKAStojna PAVLOVSKAZvonko PAVLOVSKICanda PERKOVAVioletka PEROVAKaterina PEROVSKAMirjana PESHANKOVAGjurgja PESHOVANikola PETKOVAnka PETKOVSKADanica PETRESKAZhivka PETRESKACveta PETROVAIcana PETROVARumenka PETROVASuzana PETROVAVera PETROVACveta PETROVIKJPandora PETROVSKATimka PETROVSKADobrinka PETRUSHEVAVesna PETRUSHEVAAltana PETRUSHEVAValentina PETRUSHEVAGjina PETRUSHEVSKAMilica PETRUSHEVSKAPavlina PETRUSHEVSKASlavica PETRUSHEVSKASvetlanka POPANOVAVera POPOVAAngjelina POPOVSKASilvana POPOVSKAJordanka PORECOVAElizabeta PRNAROVAVioleta PUPULIEVAShterjo PUSHEVDanica RADEVSKASanija RAMADANOVSKAEvka RISTESKAElica RISTOVAJana RISTOVAMileva RISTOVASuzana RISTOVABlagica RISTOVSKANadica RISTOVSKARodna RISTOVSKARusimka RISTOVSKASlavica RISTOVSKASlavica RISTOVSKAStevka RISTOVSKAZora RISTOVSKANada RIZOSKABojanka SAMARAKOVAMakedonka SAZDOVSKASlavica SAZDOVSKASlavica SEKULOSKACveta SEKULOVASnezhana SEKULOVSKALekpek SEMANAleksandar SHIJANMarjonka SHKRTOVALiljana SHOLEVADonka SHOPOVALenche SHTERIJOVASlavjanka SHURKOVAStojna SIMONOVAVasilka SIMONOVAAngjelina SIMONOVSKAAnica SLAVEVSKALenche SLIVKOVASnezhana SMILEVAFidanka SOKOLOVALuiza SOKOLOVASlavica SOLEVACveta SHONTEVSKAZinka SPASOVSKARodna SREBRENOVSKAGordana STAJIKJIlijana STAMKOVAMirjanka STANCHEVACveta STANCHEVALeta STANKOVSKAVera STAVREVASafija STEFANOVSlavica STEFANOVSKASlavica STEFANOVSKASuzana STEFANOVSKASnezhanka STERJOVADosta STEVANOSKAGrozda STEVANOVSKASnezhana STOEVSKAMenka STOILKOVIKJCvetanka STOJANOSKADobrica STOJANOSKAZoran STOJANOVDaniela STOJANOVADesa STOJANOVAMilevka STOJANOVASnezana STOJANOVASnežana STOJANOVAVesna STOJANOVAMarija STOJANOVSKAPena STOJANOVSKAVelika STOJANOVSKADraga STOJKOVSKAJagoda STOJKOVSKASnezha STOJKOVSKALiljana STRAHINIKJGjuliza SULIMANOVATatjana SVEKJAROVASlobodanka TANEVAMilka TASEVAGordana TASHEVAEvica TASKOVARoza TASKOVSKABistra TEMELKOVARosa TEMELKOVAMarijonka TEMELKOVSKALjubica TEOVAZagorka TEOVSKAZorka TERZIEVSKABlagojka TOCINOVALenche TOCINOVABiljana TODEVSKAPetrana TODOROSKAEvka TODOROVAKostadinka TODOROVALjubica TODOROVAMenka TODOROVAVojdena TODOROVAMarjana TODOROVSKAMirjana TODOROVSKAVioleta TODOROVSKADesanka TODOSOVSKAVera TOLESKACvetanka TONEVAGorica TONEVSKAStanika TOSHEVADanica TOSHESKASnezhana TOSHEVSKABetka TRAJCHESKAVioletka TRAJCHEVSKAMenka TRAJKOVANadka TRAJKOVAMilka TRAJKOVSKAMirjana TRAJKOVSKARosa TRAJKOVSKASlavica TRAJKOVSKASnezhana TRAJKOVSKASofka TRAJKOVSKATrajanka TRAJKOVSKAVenka TRAJKOVSKATrajanka TRENCHOVAMare TRENKOVSKADesanka TRIKIKJBiljana TRIMANOVALila TRPKOSKAAnastasija UNCHEVAGjulfida USEINOVAStana UTEVSKAMirka VASILEVANatka VASILEVAStefanka VASILEVATrajanka VASILEVAVeselka VASILEVSKALidija VELICHKOVAVerka VELICHKOVABlagojka VELICHKOVSKABlaga VELINOVAKatica VELJANOVALozena VELJANOVSKALjubenka VELKOVAPetranka VELKOVASonja VELKOVARodna VELKOVSKASava VELKOVSKASuzana VELKOVSKAZhivka VELKOVSKASlavica VIDOSKAMira VIDOVSKALjubica VILAROVALiljana VLAHOVALenche VOJDINOVSKACveta ZDRAVESKAJagoda ZDRAVESKADragica ZDRAVEVSKAZora ZDRAVEVSKALenche ZDRAVKINKarolina ZDRAVKOVALjubica ZDRAVKOVAAjrie ZEKJIROVAJagoda ZINZIROVSKA
Application no 22883/14
Marina CVETANOVSKA Frosina ANASTASOVA Lepa ANDREEVA Liljana DINOVA Violeta KODJABASHIEVA Milka MARKOVA Lilijana MILADINOVA Mara MISHEVA Slobotka NEDELKOVAVita OCEVSKATrajana PANOVAVerka PANOVASlobodanka RISTOVAMarika SLAVEVSKABisera STOILOVSKACveta STOJANOVANada TOSHEVALiljana ZHABEVA
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy