FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 49294/99 by Józef SŁODKIEWICZ against Poland

The European Court of Human Rights ( First Section) , sitting on 19 February 2004 as a Chamber composed of

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mr E. Levits , Mrs S. Botoucharova , Mr A. Kovler , Mr V. Zagrebelsky , Mr L. Garlicki , Mrs E. Steiner , judges , and Mr S. Nielsen , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application introduced on 14 January 1999,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Józef Słodkiewicz, is a Polish national, who was born in 1947 and lives in Żnin. The respondent Government are represented by Mr J. Wołąsewicz, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

In 1990 the applicant obtained a disability pension and an additional benefit for having worked in difficult conditions, paid by the Social Insurance authorities.

On 17 October 1991, the Revaluation of Retirement and Disability Pensions Act was enacted. It entered into force on 15 November 1991. As a result, the applicant’s pension was considerably reduced. Apparently, the applicant was also deprived of the additional benefit.

On 11 February 1992 the Constitutional Tribunal declared certain provision of the Retirement Pensions Act of 1991 incompatible with the Constitution.

Subsequently, the applicant made various efforts in order to obtain compensation for the reduction of his pension entitlements. He wrote letters to various authorities, arguing that in view of the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal he was entitled to compensation, but to no avail.

On 7 September 1997 the Social Insurance authorities informed the applicant that in order to compensate negative results of the 1991 Act, he was entitled to obtain a compensation certificate, pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Compensation of 6 March 1997. Subsequently, the applicant requested the Ministry of State Treasury to inform him about the actual date of issuance of the compensation certificates. He was informed in reply that the date had not been fixed yet, since there were still certain steps to be taken in order to establish the exact number of persons authorised to obtain such certificates.

In a letter sent in 1998 the applicant asked the Bureau of the President of the Council of Ministries when the compensation certificates would be issued.  The applicant also objected to the manner of compensating the reduction of his pension entitlements, submitting that he should have been granted cash instead of the certificate, as the latter did not amount to an adequate compensation of the loss he had sustained. He complained that his compensation claim was still not satisfied.

On 5 October 1998 the applicant was informed in reply that the issuance of certificates would probably take place in the second half of 1999 and that only the parliament was competent to enact laws governing the compensation for the reduction of pensions effected under the 1991 Act.

In 1999 the Law on Compensation was changed in that the compensation certificates were abolished. The persons whose social insurance entitlements had been negatively affected by the 1991 Act were granted a right to obtain compensation in cash.

On an unspecified date in 1999 the applicant was informed that pursuant to the provisions of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of 9 December 1999, the date of payment of compensation was fixed in relation to the date of birth of persons entitled to compensation, and that, accordingly, the applicant would be paid compensation on 25 August 2002.

B. Relevant domestic law

The Law on Compensation of 6 March 1997 governs entitlements and conditions of payment of compensation to persons who, under the 1991 Act, lost certain social insurance benefits, including special benefits for working in difficult conditions.

Pursuant to Article 2, the compensation entitlement shall be paid in cash.

Under Article 3, among the persons authorised to obtain compensation are persons who had acquired a status of a pensioner before 15 November 1991, the date of entry into force of the 1991 Retirement Pensions Act and who were authorised to additional benefits for having worked in difficult conditions. Under the 1991 Act they were divested of certain of their social insurance benefits.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains that his claim to compensation for the reduction of his social insurance benefits effected under the 1991 Retirement Pensions Act has not been satisfied for years now. He acknowledges that compensation should be paid to him in 2002, but submits that the situation in which this claim remained unrealisable for almost ten years is in breach of Article 1 Protocol no. 1 to the Convention. He submits that the State should have done effective steps to ensure a more speedy satisfaction of the compensation claim, resulting from the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal of 1992 that the reduction of pensions under the 1991 Act was incompatible with the Constitution.

THE LAW

The Court notes that the applicant failed to submit within the time-limit his reply to the observations submitted by the respondent Government on 3 June 2002. The applicant also failed to respond to the further communications from the Registry, in particular two registered letters dated 4 February 2003 and 2 October 2003.

Having regard to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, the Court considers that the applicant does not intent to pursue the application. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine , the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the examination of the application to be continued.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Søren Nielsen Christos Rozakis Registrar President