FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 78986/12 Halina JAROCKA and Wies Å‚ awa ZAK against Poland

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 23 March 2021 as a Committee composed of:

Erik Wennerström , President, Krzysztof Wojtyczek, Ioannis Ktistakis, judges,

A nd Liv Tigerstedt , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 26 November 2012,

Having regard to the decision to restore the application to its list of case s as regards the applicant, Ms Halina Jarocka ,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,

Having deliberated, decides as follows :

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

1 . The applicants, Ms Halina Jarocka (“the first applicant”) and Ms Wies ł awa Żak , were born in 1935 and 1946 respectively. The first applicant died in 2020. They were both represented before the Court by Mr M. Gębicki , a lawyer practising in Chełm .

2 . The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Sobczak of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

3 . The applicants’ complaints under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention were communicated to the Government.

4 . After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, by letter dated 20 November 2019 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by the application. They acknowledged a violation of the applicants’ rights guaranteed by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention resulting from the unreasonable length of the proceedings in their case and the violation of Article 13 of the Convention with respect to the lack of an effective domestic remedy for their complaint under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. The Government further acknowledged that the length of the administrative proceedings in the present case also gave rise to an interference with the applicants’ right to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions.

5 . They undertook to pay to each of the applicants 2,600 euros (two thousand six hundred euros) to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which would be converted into Polish zlotys at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and would be free of any taxes that might be applicable. These sums would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay these sum within the said three ‑ month period, the Government undertook 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. They further requested the Court to strike out the application.

6 . The applicants agreed to the terms of the Government’s declaration.

7 . On 26 May 2020, the Court (First Section) sitting as a Committee, decided to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention after a friendly settlement was reached.

8 . On 7 September 2020 the Government made a request to restore the application to the Court’s list of cases as regards the first applicant, Ms Halina Jarocka . In the process of executing the Court’s decision they became aware of the fact that, Ms Jarocka had died on 27 February 2020.

9 . On 16 December 2020 the Court allowed the Government’s request to restore the application to its list of cases as regards the first applicant.

10 . By a letter dated 5 February 2021 the first applicant’s representative informed the Court that Mr Andrzej Jarocki , the applicant’s son and her sole heir, wished to pursue the application before the Court. He also informed the Court that Mr Jarocki had agreed to the terms of the Government’s unilateral declaration of 20 November 2019.

THE LAW

11 . The Court takes note of the death of Ms Halina Jarocka and of the wish of her heir, Mr Andrzej Jarocki , to pursue the proceedings in her stead. It considers that he has a legitimate interest in pursuing the application (see, among others, Ječius v. Lithuania , no. 34578/97, § 41, ECHR 2000-IX).

12 . The Court finds that, following the express agreement of the applicant’s heir to the terms of the declaration made by the Government, the case should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.

13 . 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 application.

14 . In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 22 April 2021 .

Liv Tigerstedt Erik Wennerström Deputy Registrar President