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TAKÁCS AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY

Doc ref: 68087/12;75152/12;29641/13;39217/13;70721/14 • ECHR ID: 001-187293

Document date: September 27, 2018

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TAKÁCS AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY

Doc ref: 68087/12;75152/12;29641/13;39217/13;70721/14 • ECHR ID: 001-187293

Document date: September 27, 2018

Cited paragraphs only

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 68087/12 István TAKÁCS against Hungary and 4 other applications (see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 27 September 2018 as a Committee composed of:

Georges Ravarani , President, Marko Bošnjak , Péter Paczolay , judges, and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application s 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,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicant s and their representatives is set out in the appended table.

The applicant s ’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Hungarian Government (“the Government”) .

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 .

After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make unilateral declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.

The Government acknowledged the excessive length of civil proceedings. They offered to pay the applicants the amount s 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 amount s would be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and 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 case s .

The applicant s were sent the terms of the Government ’ s unilateral declarations several weeks before the date of this decision. The Court has not received a response from the applicant s accepting the terms of the declarations.

The Court observes that Article 37 § 1 (c) enables it to strike a case out of its list if:

“... for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.

Thus, it may strike out applications under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicant s wish the examination of the cases to be continued (see, in particular, Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75 ‑ 77, ECHR 2003-VI).

The Court has established clear and extensive case-law concerning complaints relating to the excessive length of civil proceedings (see, for example, Gazsó v. Hungary, no. 48322/12, 16 July 2015).

Noting the admissions contained in the Government ’ s declarations as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications (Article 37 § 1 (c)).

In the light of the above considerations, the Court is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the applications (Article 37 § 1 in fine ).

Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declarations, the applications may be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention ( Josipović v. Serbia ( dec. ), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).

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;

Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government ’ s declarations and of the arrangements for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 18 October 2018 .

Liv Tigerstedt Georges Ravarani Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

No.

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant ’ s name

Date of birth

Representative ’ s name and location

Date of receipt of Government ’ s declaration

Date of receipt of applicant ’ s comments, if any

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses

per applicant/household

(in euros) [1]

68087/12

15/10/2012

István Takács

07/05/1952

29/11/2016

19/12/2016

3,500

75152/12

13/11/2012

(39 applicants)

Anita Alexa

07/03/1969

Hedvig Asbóth

21/06/1964

Gabriella Budafai

25/02/1950

János Erdei

27/04/1965

Zsuzsanna Humicskó

12/03/1969

Zoltán Lakner

21/10/1952

Katalin Laknerné Szőgyényi

18/05/1953

János Laza

11/02/1954

Mária Ildikó Laza

01/09/1957

Éva Miskó

19/09/1943

Andrea Moós

18/09/1975

Ágnes Nagy

01/03/1959

Zsuzsanna Nándori

29/08/1968

Janos Olah

07/05/1943

Bela Csaba Puskas

09/10/1972

Péter Károly Risztics

13/04/1944

László Rohrmann

13/08/1953

Éva Sashalmi

19/04/1959

Imre Siklósi

04/06/1950

Magdolna Szilinyi

24/07/1965

Gábor Takacs

20/02/1969

Household

Péter Bán

20/09/1967

Anikó Bánné Szabó

05/09/1967

Household

Zoltán Hegyi

23/02/1963

Aranka Hegyiné Schmidtmayer

26/05/1960

Household

László Katona

31/05/1955

Lászlóné Katona

02/08/1957

Household

István Kotvász

01/12/1959

Noémi Kotvász

07/01/1957

Household

Dániel Kurcz

08/01/1933

Dánielné Kurcz

24/03/1934

Household

Pál Lendvay

12/09/1954

Zsuzsanna Lendvayné Dr Gudmon

01/09/1959

Household

Otto Rahner

17/03/1960

Mária Rahnerne Taródi

11/10/1961

Household

Béla Szatmári

17/04/1964

Tünde Szatmári

27/03/1967

Household

Béla Szolnoki

12/10/1960

Béláné Szolnoki

30/06/1964

Gál Zoltán

Székesfehérvár

12/06/2018

17/07/2018

9,000

29641/13

04/03/2013

Péter Bartos

18/07/1960

19/01/2017

08/03/2018

800

39217/13

08/06/2013

István János Varga

06/08/1958

Urbánné Csató Julianna

Budapest

16/06/2017

24/07/2017

800

70721/14

15/10/2014

Ferenc Csiszár

03/12/1947

Menyhárt Gabriella Éva

Körösszegapáti

12/06/2018

25/07/2018

2,600

[1] . Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.

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