FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 291/20 and 34644/22
Vincenza PALERMO against Italy
and Daniele BORGONOVO against Italy
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 19 September 2024 as a Committee composed of:
Krzysztof Wojtyczek, President,
Lətif Hüseynov,
Erik Wennerström, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, 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 the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, and in relation to application no. 291/20 also under Article 13 of the Convention, concerning the excessive formalism of the decisions of the Court of Cassation to declare the applicants’ appeals on points of law inadmissible were communicated to the Italian 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.
The Government acknowledged the violation of the applicants’ rights under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, and in relation to application no. 291/20 also under Article 13 of the Convention, resulting from the excessive formalism of the decisions of the Court of Cassation to declare the applicants’ appeals on points of law inadmissible. 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 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. They informed the Court that they were not satisfied with the terms of the unilateral declarations on account of the insufficiency of the amounts proposed.
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 right of access to a Court (see, for example, Zubac v. Croatia [GC], no. 40160/12, 5 April 2018, Succi and Others v. Italy, nos. 55064/11 and 2 others, 28 October 2021, and Patricolo and Others v. Italy, nos. 37943/17 and 2 others, 23 May 2024).
Noting the admissions contained in the Government’s declarations as well as the amounts of compensation proposed – which are consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases (see Patricolo and Others, cited above) – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications (Article 37 § 1 (c)). As regards the applicants’ objection to the terms of the unilateral declaration, the Court has, in the absence of further details, no reasons to consider that the compensation offered by the Government constitutes inadequate or otherwise unreasonable redress for the violation of their Convention rights (see Ryabkin and Volokitin v. Russia (dec.), nos. 52166/08 and 8526/09, §§ 49-50, 28 June 2016, and Igranov and Others v. Russia, nos. 42399/13 and 8 others, § 24, 20 March 2018; and, for a similar approach, Antovski and Others v. North Macedonia (dec.) [Committee], no. 68160/17, 8 December 2022).
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 10 October 2024.
Viktoriya Maradudina Krzysztof Wojtyczek
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 of the Convention
(excessive formalism)
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
Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage
per applicant
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses
per application
(domestic proceeding)
(in euros)
Amount awarded for costs
and expenses per
application
(Strasbourg proceedings)
(in euros)[2]
291/20
20/12/2019
Vincenza PALERMO
1961
Ritorto Adele
Roccella Ionica
29/02/2024
25/03/2024
6,000
The Government undertake not to request the payment of EUR 3,000 – costs sustained by the respondent public authority (Tax Administration - Agenzia delle entrate)– and of the amount for additional expenses of proceedings (ulteriore importo a titolo di contributo unificato) imposed on the applicant by order of the Court of Cassation no. 16513/2019. If the applicant has already paid these amounts, the Government undertake to reimburse them.
1,000
34644/22
04/07/2022
Daniele BORGONOVO
1975
Longo Francesco
Pordenone
29/02/2024
02/04/2024
6,000
The Government undertake not to request the amount for additional expenses of proceedings (ulteriore importo a titolo di contributo unificato) imposed on the applicant by order of the Court of Cassation no. 7259/2022. If the applicant has already paid the amount, the Government undertake to reimburse it.
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants