Lexploria

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 56966/09 Stelian ÅžTEFÄ‚NESCU against Romania and 18 other applications (see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 5 July 2018 as a Committee composed of:

Vincent A. De Gaetano, President, Georges Ravarani, Marko Bošnjak, 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 observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant s ,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

1. The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.

2. The applicants ’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of the Protocol No. 1 concerning the non-enforcement or delayed enforcement of domestic judgments were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”) . In application no. 56966/09 the applicant also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

A. Joinder of the applications

3. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.

B. Complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of the Protocol No. 1 ( non-enforcement or delayed enforcement of domestic judgments)

1. Preliminary issues

4 . As concerns application no. 75623/13 the Government raised a preliminary objection, arguing that the application should be dismissed as incompatible ratione personae. In this connection the Government submitted that the judgment in the applicant ’ s favor was enforced within a period of 3 years and 7 months. The domestic courts awarded the applicant compensation for the delayed enforcement of the said judgment.

5. The applicant did not bring any arguments capable of disproving these facts.

6. Comparing the compensation granted at domestic level in the present case with the amounts awarded by the Court for comparable delayed enforcement of domestic judgments in similar cases (see Trofim v. Romania (just satisfaction), no. 1193/08 , § 15, 3 March 2015) , the Court considers that the amount awarded to the applicant cannot be regarded as unreasonable.

7 . In the light of the above, the Court finds that the national authorities have acknowledged and then afforded redress for the alleged breach of the Convention. It follows that the applicant can no longer claim to be the victim of a violation of the Convention within the meaning of Article 34 (see Shikunov v. Russia (dec.), no. 23211/04, § 18, 23 January 2018), that the Government ’ s objection must be upheld and that this application is to be rejected pursuant to Articles 34 and 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4.

8 . In respect of applications nos. 61627/14 and 34904/15, the Government submitted that the complaints of some of the applicants, namely Mr Cristian Ștefănescu Zamfir (application no. 61627/14), Mr Niculae Apostol and Mr Grigore Banu (application no. 34904/15) should be dismissed as incompatible ratione personae . In this connection the Government pointed out that these applicants were not parties in the domestic proceedings and could not, therefore, claim to be victims of the alleged violations of the Convention.

9. The applicants did not address this preliminary objection.

10 . In light of all the evidence before it, and in particular noting that Mr Cristian Ștefănescu Zamfir, Mr Niculae Apostol and Mr Grigore Banu were not parties in the domestic proceedings, the Court considers that the Government ’ s objection as regards these applicants ’ lack of legal standing must be upheld. It follows that applications nos. 61627/14 and 34904/15 are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention in respect of the three aforementioned applicants, within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention (see Yavorovenko and Others v. Ukraine , no. 25663/02, §§ 19-21, 17 July 2014).

11. T he Court finds that it does not need to rule on the rest of the preliminary objections raised by the Government, because the complaints in the remaining applications are inadmissible in any event, as presented below.

2. Remaining applications

12. Having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that, for the reasons stated below, the respondent Government cannot be held liable for the non-enforcement or the delayed enforcement of the judgments given in the applicants ’ favour in the remaining applications.

13. In respect of applications nos. 61627/14, 34904/15, 16114/16, 29599/16 and 29629/16 the Court notes that on 6 December 2013 the debtor company was declared bankrupt and the Brăila County Court duly acknowledged the “objective impossibility” to enforce the outstanding judgment. Therefore, the applicants had become aware that there was no realistic hope of a favourable outcome or progress of the enforcement proceedings at the domestic level on 6 December 2013, more than six months before they lodged their applications with the Court (see Sokolov and Others v. Serbia (dec.), no. 30859/10, § 29, 14 January 2014). It follows that these applications were submitted too late and they must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

14 . In respect of applications nos. 56966/09 and 2113/14 the Court notes the existence of an objective impossibility of enforcing the judgments in the applicants ’ favour (see Ciobanu and Others v. Romania (dec.), nos. 898/06 and 3 others, § 27, 6 September 2011).

15. In applications nos. 64930/14, 77000/14, 9404/15 and 14110/15, t he Court notes that the judgments in question were enforced within periods ranging from 1 month to 3 years and 7 months. However, taking into account the complexity of the enforcement proceedings, the conduct of the applicants as well as the conduct of the authorities, the Court notes that these periods are not so excessive as to raise an arguable claim under the Convention (see, for example, Ş erb ă nescu v. Romania (dec.), no. 43638/10, §§ 9-10, 1 December 2016).

16. In application no. 68755/14, having regard to the particular context of the case, namely the amount to be paid and the domestic authorities ’ assessment as to the impact of an immediate payment of the total amount, the Court considers that the measures taken by the national authorities to pay the amount due in several instalments struck a fair balance between the applicant ’ s rights to see the judgment enforced within a reasonable time and the public interest at stake (see Dumitru and Others v. Romania (dec.), no. 57265/08, §§ 45-52, 4 September 2012).

17. In applications nos. 54153/14, 54323/14, 60172/14 and 62295/14, in light of the particular circumstances of these cases, namely the high number of creditors and that the applicants are privileged creditors registered on the creditors ’ list in liquidation proceedings which are pending, with the possibility still remaining to recover their debt, the Court finds that the enforcement delays are justified and that they are not so excessive as to raise an arguable claim under the Convention (see Mur ă rașu v. Romania (dec.), no. 45733/10, § 33, 10 November 2015).

18 . As regards applications nos. 3498/15 and 17627/15 the Court notes that the applicants did not undertake the required procedural steps in order to enforce the judgments, failing to demolish the private persons ’ constructions at their expense (application no. 3498/15) and to file a timely request to register on the creditors ’ list (application no. 17627/15) (see Li v. Russia, no. 38388/07, §§ 14-21, 24 April 2014).

19. In view of the above, the Court finds that the complaints as described in paragraphs 14 - 18 above are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.

C. Remaining complaints

20. In application no. 56966/09 the applicant also raised other complaints under various articles of the Convention.

21. The Court has examined the complaints and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention.

22. It follows that these complaints must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention .

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Declares the application s inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 26 July 2018 .

Liv Tigerstedt Vincent A. De Gaetano Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of the Protocol No. 1 (non-enforcement or delayed enforcement of domestic judgments)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant name

Date of birth/Date of registration

Relevant domestic judgments

Start date of non-enforcement period

End date of non-enforcement period

Length of enforcement proceedings

56966/09

15/10/2009

Stelian Ştefănescu

01/02/1956

Vâlcea District Court, 20/03/1998

02/12/1998

pending

More than 19 years and 8 months and 17 days

75623/13

22/11/2013

Gabriel Popescu

18/03/1976

Bucharest County Court, 21/04/2011

15/12/2011

28/07/2015

3 years and 7 months and 14 days

2113/14

18/12/2013

S.C. VSV Invest Grup S.R.L.

represented by Sorin Virgil Vamos

Cluj Napoca First Instance Court, 25/10/2011

06/09/2012

pending

More t han 5 years and 8 months and 18 days

54153/14

24/07/2014

Paul Ioniță

19/07/1963

D â mbovi ț a County Court, 05/11/2009

02/02/2010

pending

More t han 8 years and 3 months and 21 days

54323/14

24/07/2014

Lavinia Marilena Ioniță

09/01/1965

Dambovița County Court, 05/11/2009

02/02/2010

pending

More than 8 years and 3 months and 22 days

60172/14

27/08/2014

S.C. Uzina de Reparații Târgu Jiu S.A.

21/11/1992

Gorj County Court, 11/11/2009

27/05/2010

pending

4 years and 6 months

61627/14

04/09/2014

(86 applicants)

Alexandru Ivan

01/01/1957

Ionel Huiu

19/12/1953

Nicușor-Mihăiță Rusu

10/05/1974

Marian Despa

30/10/1968

Nicoleta Badin (Raicu)

03/08/1961

Ovidiu Deicu

30/01/1961

Florin Gologan

20/09/1967

Anatolie Sîrbu

02/07/1967

Mitica Oiță

20/03/1959

Fănica Dragomir

21/05/1965

Marioara Luță

08/08/1959

Gheorghe Nedelcu

21/09/1960

Mihai-Carolică Parisz

17/02/1962

Viorica Duțu

04/02/1969

Petrus-Iulian Duțu

25/09/1968

Panait Mustață

22/10/1958

Costică Nedelcu

06/03/1953

Matei Teacă

02/06/1962

Ionel Irimia

19/10/1961

Ioana Petre

10/05/1958

Radu Enache

07/03/1967

Gina Dobre

17/07/1968

Alina-Elena Puiu

30/05/1969

Dora Deicu

12/10/1969

Aurel Popa

05/09/1963

Giulio Sălbatecu

01/08/1959

Gheorghe Jinga

16/09/1954

Mariana Maraloiu

23/10/1967

Eduard-Laurențiu Lambru

30/08/1973

Ionel Neagu

31/01/1978

Virgil Robitu

02/09/1954

Marian Jălăveanu

23/07/1967

Maria Hriscu

19/09/1960

Stăvărache Gheorghe

11/11/1954

Neculai Popârțac

02/12/1955

Nicu Iordăchescu

05/08/1958

Elena Stanciu

29/04/1960

Grozea Rotaru

15/06/1959

Stelică Ion

17/05/1965

Crăciunel Modreanu

05/03/1970

Ion Giuvelnic

08/08/1969

Valentina Ciornea

29/11/1968

Nicu-Leonard Raita

16/07/1964

Mihaiță-Adrian Crețu

30/01/1971

Mirela Lalu

27/05/1960

Tudorița Apostol

24/11/1969

Neculai Gavrilă

01/01/1959

Aurelia-Adelina Sărăcilă

12/12/1967

Vasile Todoran

03/09/1955

Iordan Gheorghiță

11/03/1967

Dănuț-Ionel Ciornea

02/12/1968

Ionel Mircioiu

09/04/1958

Vasile Huiu

04/09/1964

Veta Grosu

09/05/1955

Geta-Nicoleta Bălan

19/08/1972

Ionel Popescu

25/10/1967

Stănel Turtoi

26/06/1968

Angelica Datcu

26/05/1970

Claudiu Georgescu

07/01/1959

Doina Martinescu

06/08/1962

Aristide Marica

21/04/1966

Elena Popescu

30/06/1961

Simion Nan

11/06/1962

Costea Drăgan

11/05/1949

Elena Teacă

21/05/1967

Cristian-Ștefăniță Zamfir

31/01/1979

Anita Barabașa

22/02/1969

Silviu-Giovani Ana

17/08/1965

Răducu Cheleș

10/01/1972

Dumitru Ghermeni

11/04/1967

Marian Giuvelic

03/06/1973

Marioara Jinga

12/03/1955

Tache Constantin

02/02/1952

Petre Chipăilă

20/03/1953

Stamate Enache

11/07/1949

Cornelia Milea

04/04/1950

Ion Buda

17/09/1953

Georgeta Buda

31/03/1956

Viorel Panaite

12/05/1964

Violeta Cazan

14/09/1970

Radu Cîrîc

01/02/1956

Emil Stoianof

08/08/1965

Dumitru Pănuță

25/04/1952

Daniela Toma

05/05/1965

Vasile Comșa

11/02/1968

Gheorghe Sîrbu

16/05/1959

represented by

Gheorghiță Pîrlog

Brăila County Court, 06/06/2011

10/11/2011

pending

More t han 6 years and 6 months and 14 days

62295/14

26/08/2014

S.C. Sinaia S.A.

represented by Marian Lucu, a lawyer practising in Bucharest

Bucharest District Court, 20/03/2009

06/07/2010

pending

More than 7 years and 10 months and 18 days

64930/14

05/12/2014

Ioan Frățiloiu

19/02/1954

D â mbovița County Court, 21/03/2013

04/09/2013

04/04/2017

3 years and 7 months and 1 day

68755/14

10/10/2014

Vasile Dumbravă

13/08/1965

Bucharest District Court, 26/04/2012

22/11/2012

pending

More than 5 years and 6 months an d 7 days

77000/14

05/12/2014

Ana Suciu

28/12/1932,

represented by Dan-Laurențiu Molnar, a lawyer practising in Bistrița

Bistrița First Instance Court, 05/03/2014

10/06/2014

12/06/2015

1 year and 3 days

3498/15

07/01/2015

Niculae Dumitru

02/07/1941

represented by Gheorghe Marinescu, a lawyer practising in Bucharest

Cornetu District Court, 20/02/2008

16/06/2008

pending

More t han 9 years and 11 months and 8 days

9404/15

13/02/2015

Anișoara Vasilescu

02/11/1957

represented by Cătălin Nicolae Pangratie, a lawyer practising in Bucharest

Teleorman County Court, 19/09/2011

14/03/2012

18/08/2014

2 years and 5 months and 5 days

14110/15

13/03/2015

Gheorghe Rotariu

12/12/1966

Timișoara Court of Appeal, 08/03/2011

06/06/2012

22/04/2015

2 years and 10 months and 17 days

17627/15

25/05/2015

Viorel Prefac

16/04/1959

Ploiești Court of Appeal, 14/12/2010

29/03/2012

pending

More than 6 years and 1 month and 25 days

34904/15

01/07/2015

(156 applicants)

Ionel Anghel

26/07/1967

Niculae Apostol

11/06/1962

Ionel Aramă

22/12/1969

Ionel Asiminei

08/03/1971

Costică Baciu

01/01/1960

Grigore Banu

28/03/1969

Emil Barac

01/01/1970

Laura-Daniela Bădașcu

24/11/1970

Victor Berbeci

03/03/1971

Chiva Berdant

24/04/1971

Nicu Berdant

06/04/1967

Tudorel Berdant

27/05/1969

Cristian-Ioan Berger

23/12/1954

Ion Bibicu

03/09/1952

Haralambie Birău

16/09/1953

Dumitru Bobi

04/07/1958

Mariana Bodea

08/02/1956

Danieluța Bucovală

11/02/1970

Ionel Burlacu

14/10/1966

Viorel Butnariu

25/06/1957

Nelu Călin

23/01/1955

Resmie Călin

14/01/1966

Fane Căcrilugăru

17/07/1965

Gheorghe Chirac

29/08/1957

Georgel Cîrstescu

27/07/1967

Ilie Ciuciu

19/03/1967

Georgeta Ciucu

11/01/1956

Stelian Ciucu

06/06/1950

Ilie Cojocea

27/03/1967

Adriana Constantin

16/12/1959

Constantin Copăceanu

17/12/1970

Cristache Crăciun

24/09/1969

Manole Cricia

22/10/1960

Marin Cristea

28/07/1950

Ștefan Cristea

30/01/1951

Gigi Croitoru

19/02/1968

Ionel Cursaru

19/12/1967

Nicoleta-Daniela Cursaru

18/04/1968

Stelic ă Damian

14/05/1970

Cătălin-Marian Dimcea

12/11/1967

Jenica Dimcea

21/12/1967

Sofica Dinisov

30/08/1964

Marian Dobrotă

07/07/1972

Vasile Dobrotă

18/12/1949

Aurel Drăgan

01/09/1956

Cornel Drăghici

06/08/1967

Mihail-Nelu Drăghici

25/06/1968

Ștefan Dumitrașcu

05/11/1957

Milică Dumitru

18/08/1962

Sandu Dumitru

21/08/1966

Grigore Enache

30/11/1965

Marin Enache

21/02/1956

Niță Enache

14/08/1953

Vasilica Ene

21/09/1957

Lenuța Găgeanu

26/10/1967

Săndel Găgeanu

08/02/1963

Georgel Geru

12/06/1969

Ghiorghiță Ghelase

17/02/1961

Sandu Ghenea

26/03/1961

Ionel Gheorghe

10/06/1961

Marian Gheorghe

25/09/1966

Valentin Gheorghiu

10/03/1957

Gheorghe-Lucian Gherghișan

07/12/1957

Ion Ghinea

13/01/1957

Ionel Gurău

05/08/1962

Marian Gurlea

16/06/1975

Stan Gurlea

03/11/1949

Vasile Hanganu

28/03/1951

Ionel-Leonard Hangeli

24/05/1962

Costel Hăhăianu

08/03/1961

Timofei Iacob

23/06/1955

Constantin Iconaru

03/12/1949

Victor Ioniță

29/01/1963

Liviu Ilie

08/08/1970

Tache Ilie

20/02/1968

Liviu Ioan

26/08/1967

Gabriel Jîrlăianu

06/11/1967

Cristian Lalu

17/08/1961

Louer-Lori Lăzăroiu

06/02/1972

Elena Leșu

10/03/1964

Gheorghe Marcu

06/05/1961

Alexandru Marin

11/07/1967

Daniela Marin

27/10/1968

Georgeta Matei

09/08/1956

Vasile Matei

09/01/1953

Marioara MeiroÈ™

10/10/1964

Valentin MeiroÈ™

07/05/1963

Florin Mihai

07/12/1968

Zaharia Mihai

13/04/1958

Anghel Mirică

15/06/1967

Gica Miron

10/06/1960

Remo Miron

04/10/1967

Vasile Miron

21/02/1952

Ion Mitache

26/07/1949

Florin-Marian Mitu

30/08/1975

Marian Mitu

12/05/1968

Dumitru Mocanu

03/08/1949

Marian Mocanu

06/11/1952

Valentina-Alina Mocanu

14/11/1970

Georgeta Mogoșiu

01/01/1954

Leonard Năstase

01/08/1967

Irimia Neacșu

05/01/1967

Ionel Neagu

26/10/1965

Petrică Neculai

16/01/1961

Nae Nica

03/03/1959

Emil Nicolae

24/11/1967

Marcel Nistor

25/03/1964

Mihaela Nistor

28/01/1968

Adrian Oprea

15/01/1971

Romel Oprea

02/07/1963

Octav-Marian Paveliu

18/09/1970

Dumitru Petre

27/01/1971

Marin Petrescu

27/06/1955

Ionel Pintilie

22/09/1958

Mărgărit Pistol

01/08/1950

Eugeniu-Valeriu Pitulice

02/05/1970

Marioara Popa

20/12/1952

Gheorghe Popîrțac

23/08/1950

Gheorghe Poterași

18/01/1959

Petrică Prică

03/03/1970

Ion Puia

30/10/1951

Viorel Radu

24/11/1974

Eugen-Luigi Rădulescu

13/04/1963

Olguța-Florentina Robu

20/01/1969

Ștefan Roman

12/10/1971

Rodica Roșculeț

13/11/1959

Titi Rusea

29/08/1967

Mihalache Sîrbu

26/02/1958

Sică Sîrbu

16/08/1973

Mihai Soare

01/01/1961

Ștefan Spânu

18/04/1953

Costel Surdu

10/06/1961

Ion Șerban

01/03/1962

Carmen Ștefan

16/12/1964

Ionel Ștefan

13/11/1961

Ion Tacea

20/03/1966

Maria Tacea

24/11/1960

Dumitru Didel Tarachiu

08/07/1967

Rodica Tarachiu

07/01/1969

Nicolae Tănase

20/08/1967

Iordan Tătaru

29/10/1956

Adrian Traian

17/02/1956

Niculae Tropcea

13/09/1949

Sorin-Adrian Trufașu

06/12/1970

Jan Tudor

20/12/1952

Mariana Tudor

18/05/1959

Carmen-Adina Tudorache

02/03/1964

Tudora Tudose

12/11/1957

Nicu Tureac

01/03/1966

Constanța Turtoi

07/01/1958

Eugen Turtoi

06/04/1959

Dorina Vasilescu

28/10/1961

Mihaela-Lilica Vlad

01/10/1976

Marioara Voicilă

07/06/1958

Corneliu Vrabie

20/03/1973

Steluța Zainea

10/02/1966

represented by Haralambie Birău, a lawyer practising in Bucharest

Galați Court of Appeal, 10/11/2011

10/11/2011

pending

More t han 6 years and 6 months and 14 days

16114/16

08/02/2016

(4 applicants)

Vasilica Dobrotă

18/10/1949

Ion Oțelea

10/04/1950

Mihaela ZaieÈ›

08/11/1965

Leon-Dorian Trandafir

27/06/1965

represented by Leon-Dorian Trandafir

Brăila County Court, 06/06/2011

10/11/2011

pending

More t han 6 years and 6 months and 14 days

29599/16

16/05/2016

Ioana Condrea

07/06/1954

Octavian Condrea

15/02/1975

Brăila County Court, 06/06/2011

10/11/2011

pending

More t han 6 years and 6 months and 14 days

29629/16

16/05/2016

M ă rioara Chiţoiu

19/06/1958

Eugen Chițoiu

24/06/1987

Brăila County Court, 06/06/2011

10/11/2011

pending

More than 6 years and 6 months and 14 days

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ŞTEFĂNESCU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

ŞTEFĂNESCU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

LEXI