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RÓŻNICKI AND OTHERS v. POLAND

Doc ref: 42192/11, 4053/11, 63202/11, 20030/12, 20319/12, 24100/12, 60164/12, 61636/12, 68215/12, 80449/12, 6... • ECHR ID: 001-180072

Document date: December 12, 2017

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Outbound citations: 4

RÓŻNICKI AND OTHERS v. POLAND

Doc ref: 42192/11, 4053/11, 63202/11, 20030/12, 20319/12, 24100/12, 60164/12, 61636/12, 68215/12, 80449/12, 6... • ECHR ID: 001-180072

Document date: December 12, 2017

Cited paragraphs only

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 42192/11 Adrian RÓŻNICKI against Poland and 28 other applications (see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 12 December 2017 as a Committee composed of:

Aleš Pejchal , President, Krzysztof Wojtyczek , Armen Harutyunyan , judges,

and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table ,

Having regard to the declarations submitted by the respondent Government on 7 December 2015, 6 July and 3 November 2016, and on 13 July 2017 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases and the applicants ’ reply to that declarations,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.

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

3. All the applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the excessive length of proceedings in their cases and under Article 13 of the Convention about the lack of, or insufficient, redress for the excessive length of proceedings granted to them by the national courts.

4. On 7 July 2015 the applications were communicated to the Polish Government pursuant to Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, by virtue of the ninth operative provision of the pilot-judgment given in the case of Rutkowski and Others v. Poland (see Rutkowski and Others v. Poland , nos. 72287/10 and 2 others, §§ 223-228 and the ninth operative provision, 7 July 2015).

5. By letters dated 7 December 2015, 6 July and 3 November 2016, and 13 July 2017 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by the applications. In each case the Government acknowledged a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the excessive length of proceedings and violation of Article 13 on account of the lack of an effective remedy, securing sufficient redress for a violation of Article 6 § 1. They offered payment of sums specified in respect of each applicant in a table appended to their declarations. The Government further undertook to adopt a range of general measures in respect of other persons who were victims of similar violations or might be affected by similar violations in the future. The sums referred to above, which are specified in the appendix to the decision, are to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. They will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the Convention. In the event of failure to pay these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on each of 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 periods plus three percentage points. In addition, the Government made a declaration on general measures to be adopted in implementation of the Rutkowski and Others pilot judgment (see Załuska and Rogalska v. Poland and 398 other applications ( dec. ), nos. 53491/10 and 72286/10, §§ 23-25, 20 June 2017 ). They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.

THE LAW

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

7. On various dates in 2017 all applicants indicated that they were not satisfied with the terms of the unilateral declarations.

8. The Court reiterates that Article 37 of the Convention provides that it may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to one of the conclusions specified, under (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 1 of that Article. Article 37 § 1 (c) enables the Court in particular 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”.

9. It also reiterates that in certain circumstances, it may strike out an application under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicants wish the examination of the case to be continued.

10. To this end, the Court has examined the declarations in the light of the principles emerging from its case-law, in particular the Tahsin Acar judgment ( Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75-77, ECHR 2003-VI; WAZA Sp. z o.o . v. Poland ( dec. ), no. 11602/02, 26 June 2007; and Sulwińska v. Poland ( dec. ), no. 28953/03, 18 September 2007).

11. The conclusions reached by the Court on admissions and undertakings contained in the Government ’ s declarations in the first group of 400 cases submitted in the pilot-judgment procedure apply to the present case (see Załuska and Rogalska ( dec ), cited above, §§ 51-53).

12. Having regard to the nature of 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)).

13. Moreover, in light of the above considerations, and in particular given the clear and extensive case-law on the topic, 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 ).

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

15. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case s 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 under Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention and of the modalities 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 11 January 2018 .

Renata Degener AleÅ¡ Pejchal Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

No.

Application no.

Lodged on

Applicant

Date of birth

Place of residence

Represented by

Introduced by

Amount proposed in Unilateral Declaration

42192/11

01/07/2011

Adrian RÓŻNICKI

13/06/1982

Łódź

Adrian Różnicki

PLN 3,710

4053/11

09/12/2010

Mariusz MIÅš

23/07/1969

Opole

Aleksandra CEMPURA

Mariusz MiÅ›

PLN 32,400

63202/11

30/09/2011

Grażyna NIEMIAŁTOWSKA

14/08/1943

Warsaw

Marek NIEMIAŁTOWSKI

29/03/1945

Dominika NIEMIAŁTOWSKA continues in her father ’ s stead.

Grażyna Niemiałtowska

Marek Niemiałtowski

Dominika Niemiałtowska

PLN 7,720 for all applicants

20030/12

26/03/2012

Arkadiusz JASTRZĘBSKI

20/06/1975

Lublin

Arkadiusz Jastrzębski

PLN 21,840

20319/12

16/03/2012

Przemysław Rafał BORECKI

17/12/1977

Warsaw

Przemysław Rafał Borecki

PLN 11,100

24100/12

06/04/2012

Stefan MAJEWSKI

30/04/1944

Warsaw

Stefan Majewski

PLN 40,800

60164/12

03/09/2012

Dariusz KRZYSIAK

19/10/1974

Bujaków

Klaudiusz KRZYSIAK

27/04/1972

Bujaków

Stanisław KRZYSIAK

20/03/1948

Bujaków

Dariusz Krzysiak

Klaudiusz Krzysiak

Stanisław Krzysiak

PLN 20,985 for all applicants

61636/12

10/09/2012

Tomasz STOJAŃSKI

22/09/1982

Koszalin

Tomasz Stojański

PLN 6,240

68215/12

01/10/2012

Adam Piotr CHOBA

13/03/1978

Przytuły Stare

Adam Piotr Choba

PLN 2,420

80449/12

28/11/2012

Henryka Teresa CICHA-GNYP

17/12/1958

Łódź

Maciej Gnyp

11/02/1993

Łódź

Henryka Teresa Cicha - Gnyp

Maciej Gnyp

PLN 24,800 for all applicants

63053/13

17/04/2012

Krzysztof JASIŃSKI

15/10/1958

Mysłowice

Maciej SCHIPERSKI

Krzysztof Jasiński

PLN 39,670

71200/13

30/10/2013

Ryszard ZIELIŃSKI

31/12/1955

Warsaw

Ryszard Zieliński

PLN 6,100

72284/13

05/11/2013

Marcin CELEJEWSKI

29/05/1984

Będzin

Marcin Celejewski

PLN 9,010

73161/13

26/07/2013

Artur KUJAWA

18/08/1971

Warsaw

Artur Kujawa

PLN 30,220

79971/13

08/05/2014

Adrian CERAN

16/07/1991

Gębarzewo

Adrian Ceran

PLN 4,680

2247/14

23/12/2013

Mariusz KUCHARCZYK

20/04/1965

Zebrzydowice

Mariola KUCIŃSKA-TEKLIŃSKA

Mariusz Kucharczyk

PLN 16,720

2298/14

23/12/2013

Mariusz FOLTYN

24/03/1973

Kończyce Wielkie

Mariola KUCIŃSKA-TEKLIŃSKA

Mariusz Foltyn

PLN 16,720

10059/14

18/12/2013

Włodzimierz MŁYNARSKI

22/12/1950

SÅ‚ubice

WÅ‚odzimierz MÅ‚ynarski

PLN 18,720

10413/14

17/01/2014

Dariusz KUDEŃ

28/12/1960

Suben

Dariusz Kudeń

PLN 12,355 for the first set of proceedings;

PLN 7,990 for the second set of proceedings.

29417/14

27/10/2014

Adam KANKOWSKI

13/11/1974

Gdańsk

Adam Kankowski

PLN 36,430 for the first set of proceedings;

PLN 39,340 for the second set of proceedings

38059/14

06/05/2014

Artur KAZIKOWSKI

17/03/1979

Kamińsk

Artur Kazikowski

PLN 7,360

38768/14

07/05/2014

Jan Paweł KĘPKA

04/10/1982

Warsaw

Jan Paweł Kępka

PLN 4,400

56629/14

21/07/2014

Andrzej ZALEWSKI

28/10/1978

Krzywaniec

Andrzej Zalewski

PLN 2,020

60210/14

28/08/2014

Jerzy KOSZEWSKI

19/06/1949

Olsztyn

Tomasz KOSZEWSKI

Jerzy Koszewski

PLN 35,440

60267/14

30/09/2014

Zbigniew GAWĘCKI

25/02/1964

Warsaw

Zbigniew Gawęcki

PLN 20,570

65359/14

19/09/2014

Ernest SKURAT

06/08/1977

Gdańsk

Ernest Skurat

PLN 3,980

71858/14

06/11/2014

Józef Bronisław JĘDRUCH

10/01/1972

Częstochowa

Michał PAPROCKI

Józef Bronisław Jędruch

PLN 20,580

10139/15

19/02/2015

Paweł STRELEC

22/10/1982

Hrubieszów

Paweł Strelec

PLN 8,040

15287/15

23/03/2015

Janusz OLEWIŃSKI

13/09/1953

Siedlce

Janusz Olewiński

PLN 4,200

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