FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 17403/06
by Anatoliy Ivanovich SHINKARENKO and 18 other applications
against Ukraine
(see annex for other applications)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on sitting on 14 December 2010 as a Committee composed of:
Rait Maruste, President,
Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,
Zdravka Kalaydjieva, judges,
and Stephen Phillips, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the dates specified in the table annexed below,
Having regard to the decision to apply the pilot-judgment procedure taken in the case of Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine (no. 40450/04, ECHR 2009‑... (extracts)),
Having regard to the unilateral declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 28 May 2010 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases and the applicants' replies to it,
Having regard to the Court’s decision of 30 November 2010 in the cases and the Government’s request to restore the cases to the list in order to effect a number of technical amendments,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicants are Ukrainian nationals whose names and dates of birth are set out in the table annexed below. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mrs V. Lutkovska, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine.
On the dates set out in the table annexed below the domestic courts held for the applicants and ordered the authorities to take certain measures or to pay various amounts to the applicants. These judgments became binding but the authorities delayed their enforcement.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complained about the delayed enforcement of the judgments in their favour and, in certain cases, of assorted faults that allegedly accompanied the judicial or enforcement proceedings. Some of the applicants also raised other complaints.
THE LAW
The Court first considers that in accordance with Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court, the applications should be joined, given their common legal background.
A. Complaints concerning lengthy non-enforcement of the judgments in the applicants' favour
Following the Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine pilot judgment cited above, in a letter dated 28 May 2010, the Government informed the Court of their unilateral declaration, signed on the same date, with a view to resolving the issue raised by the applications. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention. The declaration provided as follows:
“The Government of Ukraine acknowledge the excessive duration of the enforcement of the applicants' judgments.
The Government are ready to pay to the applicants the outstanding debts according to the judgements of the national authorities, as well as to pay the applicants ex gratia the sums in accordance with the annex to this declaration.
The Government therefore invite the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases. They suggest that the present declaration might be accepted by the Court as “any other reason” justifying the striking out of the case of the Court's list of cases, as referred to in Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.
The sums mentioned in the annex are to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. They will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them from 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.
This payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.”
In reply, the applicants expressed their agreement with the terms of the Government's declaration. Some of them noted, however, that they had raised other complaints not covered by the Government's declaration.
On 9 December 2010 the Government sent a letter expressing their intent to amend the above declaration and to include the provision that the ex gratia sums “be converted into the national currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement” in order to be able to effect the payment.
The Court reiterates that Article 37 of the Convention provides that it may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to one of the conclusions specified, under (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 1 of that Article. Article 37 § 1 (b) and (c) enable the Court in particular to strike a case out of its list if:
“the matter has been resolved”
or
“for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.
Article 37 § 1 in fine states:
“However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the protocols thereto so requires.”
The Court further reiterates that in its pilot judgment (Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine, cited above) it required Ukraine to
“grant adequate and sufficient redress, within one year from the date on which the present judgment [became] final, to all applicants [...] whose complaints about the prolonged non-enforcement of domestic decisions [had] been communicated to the respondent Government.”
In the same judgment the Court also held that
“Proceedings in cases which [had] already been communicated to the Government under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, but in which the Court [had] not yet decided on the merits, [would] be adjourned for [one year from the date on which this judgment became final]. ...
The decision to adjourn the above cases [would] be taken without prejudice to the Court's power at any moment to declare inadmissible any such case or to strike it out of its list following a friendly settlement between the parties or the resolution of the matter by other means in accordance with Articles 37 or 39 of the Convention.”
The Court takes note of the settlement between the parties. This, in its view, is in line with the pilot judgment (ibid., § 99 and point 6 of the operative part) and it finds no public policy reasons to justify a continued examination of this part of the applications.
Accordingly, this part of the applications should be struck out of the list.
B. Remainder of the complaints
Having carefully examined the remainder of the applicants' complaints in the light of all the material in its possession, and in so far as the matter complained of is within its competence, the Court finds that it does not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols.
It follows that this part of the applications is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to restore the cases to its list of cases;
Decides to join the applications;
Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government's declaration in respect of the lengthy non-enforcement of the judgments in the applicants' favour, the applicants' acceptance thereof and the amendment to the aforesaid declaration;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in so far as they relate to the above complaint in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (b) and (c) of the Convention;
Declares the remainder of the applications inadmissible.
Stephen PhillipsRait Maruste
Deputy RegistrarPresident
ANNEX
#
Appl.
number
Name(s) of the applicant(s), born in
Date of introduction
Domestic decisions about the lengthy non-enforcement of which the applicants complain (date of the decision, name of the court)
Compensation offered (euro)
17403/06
SHINKARENKO ANATOLIY IVANOVICH (1959)
13 April 2006
1 February 2002, Simferopol Garrison Military District Court
1,260
23132/06
MURYCHEV YURIY VADIMOVICH (1963)
24 May 2006
5 March 2003, Simferopol Garrison Military District Court
1,290
40512/06
STAKHUR BOGDAN VASYLYOVYCH (1959)
29 September 2006
18 October 2005, Chervonograd Town Court
645
42012/06
KOSTENKO VOLODYMYR PETROVYCH (1971)
6 October 2006
8 July 2002, Nizhyn Town Court
1,395
2310/07
MATSKEVYCH VIRA PETRIVNA (1961)
23 December 2006
13 June 2002, Lviv Garrison Military District Court
1,005
7718/07
NIKITIN MYKOLA VALENTYNOVYCH (1957)
30 January 2007
17 August 2005, Kharkiv Garrison Military District Court
840
10559/07
ZOSHIY YURIY YOSYPOVYCH (1973)
16 February 2007
16 July 2004, Lviv Garrison Military District Court
1,005
56479/07
KUPCHIK VALENTIN PETROVICH (1961)
4 December 2007
2 December 2005, Leninsky District Court of Lugansk
600
18230/08
VYTRYKUSH IVAN PETROVYCH (year of birth not specified)
2 April 2008
13 April 2007, Chervonograd Town Court
390
19570/08
KUZMENKO KATERYNA GRYGORIVNA (1922)
23 February 2008
26 April 2006, Tokmak District Court
720
20492/08
PAVLOV YURIY BORYSOVYCH (1964)
16 April 2008
10 May 2002, Chuguyiv District Court
1,425
45575/09
GRUSHA ANDRIY MYKOLAYOVYCH (1964)
5 August 2009
10 April 2008, Oleksandriya District Court (as amended on 4 December 2008)
255
46280/09
YATSKIV ANTON VASYLYOVYCH (1963)
12 August 2009
29 January 2008, Oleksandriya District Court (as amended on 19 August 2008)
10 July 2008, Oleksandriya District Court
315
46541/09
ILYIN VASYL IVANOVYCH (1959)
11 August 2009
19 May 2008, Oleksandriya District Court (as amended on 14 April 2009)
195
46734/09
POKOTYLO ANTONINA ANDRIYIVNA (1962)
14 August 2009
28 May 2008, Oleksandriya District Court (as amended on 17 March 2009)
210
51656/09
REKUN VOLODYMYR PAVLOVYCH (1943)
17 September 2009
28 May 2008, Oleksandriya District Court
270
54134/09
POSUNKO VITALIY MYKOLAYOVYCH (1967)
29 September 2009
15 May 2008, Oleksandriya District Court (as amended on 7 October 2008)
285
54469/09
KALUGIN OLEKSANDR PETROVYCH (1960)
5 October 2009
10 April 2008, Oleksandriya District Court
360
56242/09
GAYDAY MARIYA MYKHAYLIVNA (1932)
12 October 2009
29 January 2008, Oleksandriya District Court (as amended on 25 September 2008)
300
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