FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 57260/19
Zbigniew PASTUSZKA against Poland
and 13 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 9 March 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Gilberto Felici,
Raffaele Sabato, 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 formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the 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 and Article 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings, limitation of access to court and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law to complain about the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Polish Government (“the Government”).
The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Poland in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications as regards complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, concerning the excessive length of proceedings, and Article 13 of the Convention, related to the lack of the domestic remedy in that regard, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay them the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will 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 undertake 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 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 Court 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 the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications in the part covered by the friendly settlement.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list as regards the complaints concerning the excessive length of the proceedings and lack of an effective domestic remedy.
The applicants also raised other complaints under Article 6 § 1 the Convention, having argued that the excessive length of the proceedings had made their right of access to court illusory.
The Court has examined these complaints and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints are manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention (see Bieliński v. Poland, no. 48762/19, §§ 71-72, 21 July 2022).
It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention as regards the complaints concerning the excessive length of the proceedings and lack of an effective domestic remedy;
Declares the remainder of the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 30 March 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Alena Poláčková
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 the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
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 declaration
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
per applicant
(in euros)[1]
57260/19
26/10/2019
Zbigniew PASTUSZKA
1954
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
2,100
57377/19
26/10/2019
Krystyna MICHAŁOWSKA - JAŚKOWSKA
1952
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
2,100
57386/19
26/10/2019
Krzysztof MOCZKOWSKI
1951
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
2,100
57396/19
26/10/2019
Hieronim SOKOŁOWSKI
1954
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
4,200
57419/19
26/10/2019
Maciej ŚLIWIAK
1955
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
2,500
57486/19
26/10/2019
Mirosław ORECHWO
1958
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
4,200
57557/19
26/10/2019
Lilianna GÓRALSKA-RATAJ
1963
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
4,200
58837/19
25/10/2019
Ryszard WRZESIŃSKI
1958
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
4,200
4080/20
30/12/2019
Jan Marian MATUKIN
1949
09/12/2022
25/08/2022
4,200
24603/20
28/05/2020
Bozena BUGAJ
1957
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
4,200
24795/20
28/05/2020
Adam OKÓLSKI
1958
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
4,200
24799/20
15/05/2020
Elżbieta PIESZCZYŃSKA
1958
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
2,100
25355/20
08/06/2020
Iwona ZDUNIAK
1954
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
3,380
33285/20
27/07/2020
Sławomir CYBULSKI VEL CYCHOWSKI
1952
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
09/12/2022
16/08/2022
2,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.