SECOND SECTION

PARTIAL DECISION

AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF

Application no. 51235/99 by Jozefína WINKLEROVÁ and 2 Others against the Slovak Republic

The European Court of Human Rights ( Second Section ), sitting on 9 March 2000 as a Chamber composed of

Mr C.L. Rozakis, President ,

Mr M. Fischbach,

Mr B. Conforti

Mr G. Bonello,

Mrs V. Strážnická,

Mr P. Lorenzen,

Mr A.B. Baka, judges ,

and Mrs S. Dollé , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application introduced with the European Commission of Human Rights on 24 August 1998 and registered on 22 September 1999,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants are Slovak national s . Their particulars are set out in the list attached hereto. The applicants are represented before the Court by Mr V. Hajduk , a lawyer practising in Michalovce .

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

On 27 July 1994 the applicants claimed ownership of real property before the Žilina District Court ( Okresný súd ).

On 8 Ma y 1995 the applicants completed the action at the request of the District Court.

On 11 July 1995 a hearing was held before the Žilina District Court. The defendant failed to appear and the case was adjourned.

On 9 February 1996 the applicants requested the District Court to proceed with the case.

On 20 March 1996 the applicants requested the president of the District Court to assign the case to another judge. As it was not clear whether the applicants requested the exclusion of the judge, their representative was heard by a judge of the Michalovce District Court on 18 November 1996. On 28 May 1997 the Žilina Regional Court decided that the District Court’s judge dealing with the case was not excluded. The case file was returned to the District Court on 25 July 1997.

On 5 June 1998 the applicants complained about the length of the proceedings to the Ministry of Justice. The complaint was transmitted to the president of the Žilina District Court.

On 7 August 1998 the president of the Žilina District Court replied to the applicants that their initial submissions had been incomplete and that they had been responsible for the delay between 20 March 1996 and 25 July 1997, in that they had complained about the judge. The president of the District Court further pointed out that the judge had been repeatedly ill in 1997 and in 1998 and that all judges had a heavy workload. The president concluded that there had been no undue delay in the proceedings.

On 28 May 1999 the applicants asked the Žilina District Court to issue an interim measure preventing the defendants from using and alienating the property in question. They pointed out that there had been only one hearing in the case on 11 July 1995.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain that their right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal was not respected. They allege a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

THE LAW

1. To the extent that the applicants complain under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the proceedings in their case have not been fair and that the District Court judge involved  lacks independence and impartiality, the Court notes that the proceedings complained of are still pending. Accordingly, the applicants’ complaints are premature.

It follows that this part of the application is manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention.

2. The applicants further complain that the proceedings concerning their case have lasted unreasonably long. They allege a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

The Court considers that it cannot, on the basis of the case file, determine the admissibility of this complaint and that it is therefore necessary, in accordance with Rule 54 § 3 (b) [Note1] of the Rules of Court, to give notice of this part of the application to the respondent Government.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

DECIDES TO ADJOURN the examination of the applicants ’ complaint about the length of the proceedings;

DECLARES INADMISSIBLE the remainder of the application.

S. Dollé Christos Rozakis Registrar President

LIST OF THE APPLICANTS

1. Jozef ína WINKLEROVÁ, residing in Žilina.

2.              Mária HUSÁKOVÁ, residing in Bratislava.

3. Anna GYARMÁTHYOVÁ, residing in Krupina.

[Note1] Change as necessary.