FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 83229/17
Renata MUCHA against Poland
and 7 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 6 October 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Erik Wennerström, President,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Lorraine Schembri Orland, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicants’ details are set out in the appendix.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law 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.
In the present applications, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the applicants’ complaints about the length of the proceedings concerning inheritance matters, that had lasted, in respect of the applicants, between 20 December 2011 and 20 October 2016, are inadmissible.
The Court observes that the applicants were required to complain to a domestic court under the 2004 Act about a breach of the right to have a case examined in judicial proceedings without undue delay (see Charzyński v. Poland (dec.), no. 15212/03, §§ 39-42, 1 March 2005). The applicants lodged such a complaint on 29 May 2017, after the proceedings in their cases had ended. The complaint was therefore rejected on 12 June 2017 by the Wroclaw Court of Appeal as lodged not in accordance with the formal requirements and was thus never examined on the merits.
Accordingly, the complaints under Article 6 of the Convention must be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non-exhaustion of the domestic remedies. In view of the above, the complaints under Article 13 of the Convention are manifestly ill-founded.
The Court finds that the applications are inadmissible and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 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 27 October 2022.
Viktoriya Maradudina Erik Wennerström
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Case name
Lodged on
Applicant
Year of Birth
Place of Residence
Nationality
1.
83229/17
Mucha v. Poland
06/12/2017
Renata MUCHA
1966
Jastrzebie Zdroj
Polish
2.
83237/17
Maciejczyk v. Poland
06/12/2017
Paweł MACIEJCZYK
1941
Rybnik
Polish
3.
83314/17
Maciejczyk v. Poland
07/12/2017
Jan MACIEJCZYK
1938
Pstrazna
Polish
4.
83462/17
Wawrzyniak v. Poland
03/12/2017
Mirosława WAWRZYNIAK
1966
Jastrzębie Zdrój
Polish
5.
83625/17
Widera v. Poland
06/12/2017
Jadwiga WIDERA
1951
Rybnik
Polish
6.
1126/18
Krawieczek v. Poland
06/12/2017
Grzegorz KRAWIECZEK
1971
Rybnik
Polish
7.
2145/18
Gardian v. Poland
08/12/2017
Hanna Urszula GARDIAN
1971
Gorzyce
Polish
8.
6707/18
Chachaj-Maciejczyk v. Poland
17/12/2017
Róża CHACHAJ-MACIEJCZYK
1946
Gaszowice
Polish