SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 25240/25
József Lajos RAFAEL against Hungary
and 9 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 9 April 2026 as a Committee composed of:
Stéphane Pisani, President,
Juha Lavapuro,
Hugh Mercer, judges,
and Attila Teplán, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications against Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) 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 PROCEDUREThe list of applicants and their representatives is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of criminal proceedings were communicated to the Hungarian Government (“the Government”). In some of the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention.
The Court received friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Hungary in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications, 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 LAWHaving 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 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;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 13 May 2026.
Attila Teplán Stéphane Pisani
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of criminal proceedings)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Other complaints under well-established case-law
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]
25240/25
06/08/2025
József Lajos RAFAEL
1956
Borsos Tamás
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
10/03/2026
14/11/2025
2,600
25472/25
07/08/2025
Sándor ÁCS
1984
Kiss Dániel Bálint
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
09/03/2026
26/11/2025
2,600
25717/25
11/08/2025
Zsolt OLÁH
1970
Kiss Dániel Bálint
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
04/03/2026
05/01/2026
3,300
25900/25
12/08/2025
Ferenc WÁGNER
1979
Varga Nóra Erzsébet
Budapest
10/03/2026
02/12/2025
3,300
26062/25
11/08/2025
Imre Csaba DÉRI
1973
Szabó Gábor
Göd
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
09/03/2026
16/01/2026
2,600
26063/25
11/08/2025
Márk KÁLLAI
1994
Szabó Gábor
Göd
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
09/03/2026
16/01/2026
3,300
27826/25
03/09/2025
Krisztián MÁTYUS
1974
Szabó Gábor
Göd
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
23/02/2026
19/02/2026
2,600
28446/25
29/08/2025
Zsolt BARÁCZIUS
1977
Andorfer Miklós
Budajenő
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
18/02/2026
29/11/2025
4,800
28463/25
09/09/2025
György PINTYI
1980
Szabó Gábor
Göd
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
03/03/2026
16/01/2026
3,900
28479/25
03/09/2025
Rezső BULISSA
1970
Kiss Dániel Bálint
Budapest
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings -
10/03/2026
10/12/2025
2,400
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.