FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 73350/16
Patrycjusz WALCZYK against Poland
and 8 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 11 March 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Péter Paczolay,
Gilberto Felici, 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, and the applicants’ replies to these declarations,
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 of the Convention about the excessive length of proceedings in their cases and under Article 13 of the Convention about the lack of, or insufficient, redress for the excessive length of proceedings granted to them by the national court were communicated to the Polish Government (“the Government”).
The Government submitted declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They acknowledged a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention on account of the excessive length of proceedings and a violation of Article 13 of the Convention on account of the lack of an effective remedy in domestic law. 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 informed the Court that they agreed to the terms of the declarations.
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 finds that, following the applicants’ express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government, the cases should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.
It therefore 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 the 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 1 April 2021.
Viktoriya MaradudinaAlena Poláčková
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil and criminal proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of applicant’s acceptance
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in Polish Zloty PLN)[1]
73350/16
21/11/2016
Patrycjusz WALCZYK
1988
17/06/2020
23/07/2020
15,600
66034/17
18/08/2017
Jarosław KACPRZAK
1981
17/06/2020
03/08/2020
19,840
69511/17
11/09/2017
Daniel ZIAREK
1976
17/06/2020
22/07/2020
24,460
74314/17
06/10/2017
Rafał IZDEBSKI
1986
17/06/2020
28/07/2020
12,480
12864/18
02/03/2018
Paweł MIKULSKI
1977
17/06/2020
23/07/2020
19,840
14741/18
20/03/2018
Łukasz FRONT
1979
25/06/2020
06/10/2020
9,360
14880/18
19/03/2018
Marta KWIECIŃSKA
1972
25/06/2020
08/10/2020
9,360
16983/18
06/04/2018
Benon Hubert BORYS
1930
25/06/2020
04/12/2020
35,560
20027/18
12/04/2018
Piotr WASILEWSKI
1988
25/06/2020
06/10/2020
11,860
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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