KOVAL AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
Doc ref: 4136/13, 16838/13, 25185/13, 33584/13, 35535/13, 36120/13, 38267/13, 38843/13, 38880/13, 41436/13, 5... • ECHR ID: 001-178404
Document date: October 5, 2017
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FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no 4136/13 Vasyl Grygorovych KOVAL against Ukraine and 44 other applications (see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 5 October 2017 as a committee composed of:
Nona Tsotsoria, President, Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, Lәtif Hüseynov, judges, and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appendices below,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1 . The applicants are Ukrainian nationals, their personal details are set out in the appendices below.
2 . After the institution of the Convention proceedings, t he applicant Mr Viktor Vasylyovych Palchyk (application no. 19310/14) died. His widow Mrs Valentina Grygorivna Palchyk informed the Court that she wished to pursue the application of her late husband.
3 . The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, most recently, Mr I. Lishchyna, from the Ministry of Justice.
4 . The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
5 . On the dates set out in the appendices the national courts found for the applicants and ordered the defendants (the debtors) under these judgments to take certain measures or to pay various amounts to the applicants. The applicants claimed that the judgments became binding but the debtors delayed their enforcement. The relevant particular circumstances of the cases are outlined in the appendices below.
6 . On 20 January 2015 the applications were communicated to the Ukrainian Government within the pilot judgment procedure taken in the case of Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine (no. 40450/04, judgment of 15 October 2009).
7 . The respondent Government argued that the applications did not comply with the admissibility criteria of the Convention and invited the Court to declare them inadmissible.
8 . The applicants disagreed.
COMPLAINTS
9 . The applicants, referring mostly to Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, complained about the delayed enforcement of judgments in their favour. Additionally, several applicants raised other complaints, mainly challenging the alleged unfairness, outcome and duration of the proceedings before the domestic courts. Some of the applicants also raised other complaints relying on Articles 14 and 17 of the Convention.
THE LAW
A. Joinder of the applications
10 . Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
B. Standing of the applicant in application no. 19310/14
11 . The Court considers that the applicant ’ s widow in application no. 19310/14 (see paragraph 2 above) has standing to continue the proceedings in the applicant ’ s stead (see, among other authorities, Mironov v. Ukraine , no.19916/04, § 12, 14 December 2006). However, reference will still be made to the applicant throughout the ensuing text.
C. Complaints related to protracted non-enforcement
Applications set out in Appendix 1
12 . The Court notes that the respective complaints of the applications listed in Appendix 1 were lodged more than six months after the end of the situations in which the State could be held responsible for the non ‑ enforcement of the judgments.
13 . It follows that these complaints must be rejected pursuant to Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for having been lodged too late.
Applications set out in Appendix 2
14 . The Court notes that the cases listed in Appendix 2 are similar to Svystun v. Ukraine ((dec.), no. 58915/16 and 2 other applications, 3 November 2016) in which the judgment debt was less than EUR 200 and the amount did not constitute the primary source of revenue for the applicant.
15 . In view of the foregoing, the Court concludes that the complaints should be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (b) and 4 of the Convention since the applicants have not suffered a significant disadvantage.
Applications set out in Appendix 3
16 . The Court notes that the judgments in the cases listed in Appendix 3 were enforced within a reasonable time (see Soloshenko v. Ukraine (dec.), no. 3952/04, 15 November 2005).
17 . In view of the above, the Court finds that these complaints are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
Applications set out in Appendix 4
18 . In their observations the Government informed the Court (providing copies of the pertinent documents) that the relevant judgments of the first instance courts had not become enforceable and binding since the courts of appeal had quashed them and rendered new judgments partially favourable to the applicants. The applicants did not raise any complaints as regards non-enforcement of the judgments given by the courts of appeal.
19 . The Court notes that under such circumstances the applicants can neither complain of lengthy non-enforcement of judgments, nor can they claim to be a victim of the alleged violations of Conventional rights (see Khvorostyanoy and Others v. Ukraine [Committee], nos. 54552/09 and foll., 25 July 2013).
20 . It follows that these applications are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4.
Applications set out in Appendix 5
21 . In their observations the Government, providing documents in support, informed the Court that the applicants had died before lodging the applications set out in Appendix 5 with the Court.
22 . The Court notes that an application cannot be brought in the name of a deceased person, since a deceased person is unable, even through a representative, to lodge an application with the Court (see Yaşa v. Turkey , no. 22495/93, Commission ’ s report of 8 April 1997, § 88, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998 VI, and Sterjov and Others v. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , no. 40160/04, § 14, 16 October 2014).
23 . The Court observes that in the present cases the applicants died several months before their applications were lodged. It follows that the cases have not been brought by persons who can be regarded as applicants for the purposes of Article 34 of the Convention. Therefore, these applications are incompatible ratione personae with the Convention within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 and must be re jected pursuant to Article 35 § 4.
24 . Next-of-kin of Mr Shemetov and Mr Bondar expressed their wish to pursue applications nos. 16671/14 and 19212/14, respectively, instead of their deceased relatives. The Court notes that the next-of-kin of Mr Shemetov and Mr Bondar may not pursue the applications in their own name as they were not a party to the domestic proceedings and they failed to substantiate their claims that there was an outstanding debt under the respective judgments to which they could be entitled as heirs of the deceased.
Applications set out in Appendix 6
25 . In applications nos. 65220/13 and 4923/14 the applicants complained about non-enforcement of two judgments each. As regards the judgments listed under no. 1 in both applications, the amounts of debt awarded under the judgments were less than EUR 200 and the amounts did not constitute the primary source of revenue for the applicants (see Svystun v. Ukraine (dec.), cited above). The judgments listed under no. 2 in both applications were enforced within a reasonable time (see Soloshenko v. Ukraine (dec.), cited above).
26 . In view of the foregoing, the Court concludes that the complaints should be rejected as inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
D. Other complaints raised by the applicants
27 . In the applications set out in Appendix 1 (except for applications nos. 35535/13, 59413/13, 77198/13, 11525/14, 12909/14, 16432/14, 16668/14 and 60958/14), in the applications set out in Appendix 3 (except for applications nos. 58462/13 and 73068/13) and in application no. 4923/14 (Appendix 6) the applicants complained about the failure of the domestic authorities to continue payments of social benefits after 22 July 2011 in the amount fixed by the judgments given in their favour.
28 . The Court has examined similar complaints in the case of Velikoda v. Ukraine ((dec.) no. 43331/12, § 21, 3 June 2014) where it concluded that “the Government ’ s obligation to ensure enforcement of the judgments ended when the amended legislation was applied to the applicant ’ s social payments”. It finds no reason for reaching a different conclusion in the present cases.
29 . These complaints must therefore be declared inadmissible, as being manifestly ill-founded, pursuant to Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
30 . Several applicants also raised other complaints. In particular, referring to Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, they challenged the outcome, alleged unfairness and duration of the proceedings before the domestic courts. They also raised other complaints under Articles 14 and 17 of the Convention.
31 . However, in the light of all the material in its possession, and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, the Court finds that these complaints do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols and should be declared inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1, 3 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 26 October 2017 .
Liv Tigerstedt Nona Tsotsoria Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDICES
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of the Protocol No. 1
(non-enforcement or delayed enforcement of domestic decisions and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
Appendix 1
No.
Application
no. and date of introduction
Applicant ’ s name,
date of birth (if known),
place of residence,
nationality
Relevant domestic decision
4136/13
14/12/2012
Vasyl Grygorovych KOVAL
28/03/1960
Zaporizh zh ya
Ukrainian
Zavodskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 17/05/2011
16838/13
01/02/2013
Sergiy Mykolayovych IVASHCHENKO
18/12/1961
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 19/05/2011
25185/13
29/03/2013
Oleg Semenovych DIYUN
Bucha
Ukrainian
Irpin Local Court of Kyiv Region, 15/10/2010
35535/13
22/05/2013
Zhanna Volodymyrivna KURTSEVA
12/07/1980
Zhytomyr
Ukrainian
Bogunskyy Local Court of Zhytomyr, 23/10/2008
38267/13
31/05/2013
Stanislav Vasylyovych KOSHCHEY
01/01/1960
Zmiyiv
Ukrainian
Zmiyiv Local Court of Kharkiv Region, 30/10/2009
38843/13
04/06/2013
Volodymyr Mykolayovych GUSYEV
02/06/1967
Kamyanets-Podilskyy
Ukrainian
Kamyanets-Podilskyy Local Court of Khmelnytskyy Region, 10/11/2010
38880/13
05/06/2013
Anton Stanislavovych YANOVSKYY
08/10/1960
Kamyanets-Podilskyy
Ukrainian
Kamyanets-Podilskyy Local Court of Khmelnytskyy Region, 10/11/2010
41436/13
14/06/2013
Gennadiy Oleksandrovych SKISOV
06/04/1940
Svitlovodsk
Ukrainian
Svitlovodsk Local Court of Kirovograd Region, 09/03/2010
59413/13
04/09/2013
Vasyl Yosypovych BUKHAY
02/01/1958
Kharkiv
Ukrainian
Moskovskyy Local Court of Kharkiv, 20/07/2009
67601/13
15/10/2013
Ivan Grygorovych DOVGAL
07/06/1950
Gadyach
Ukrainian
Gadyach Local Court of Poltava Region, 04/10/2011
70429/13
25/10/2013
Mykola Volodymyrovych DEMIDOV
28/04/1952
Zakharivka
Ukrainian
Vovchansk Local Court of Kharkiv Region, 01/06/2011
71916/13
08/11/2013
Oleksandr Mykolayovych SHKUROPATSKYY
25/07/1956
Khmelnytskyy
Ukrainian
Khmelnytsk Local Court of Khmelnytsk Region, 20/09/2011
72406/13
11/11/2013
Valeriy Mykytovych GOLUB
19/08/1946
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Ordzhonikidzevskyy Local Court of Kharkiv, 23/12/2010, as amended by Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 06/04/2011
77198/13
13/09/2013
Grygoriy Karlovych DYADECHKO
01/06/1953
Lubny
Ukrainian
Poltava Regional Court of Appeal, 28/09/2011
7810/14
23/12/2013
Viktor Ivanovich PONOMAREV
18/12/1952
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 11/07/2011
11525/14
22/01/2014
Yuriy Valentynovych SHEVCHENKO
01/03/1952
Oleksandriya
Ukrainian
Oleksandriya Local Court of Kirovograd Region, 15/06/2010
12909/14
03/02/2014
Oleksandr Mykolayovych KARDACH
09/09/1962
Tulchyn
Ukrainian
Vinnytsy a Administrative Court of Appeal, 18 /03/2011, as amended by Vinnytsy a Administrative Court of Appeal, 05/10/2011
14320/14
30/12/2013
Olga Mykolayivna SHESTOUKHOVA
29/07/1956
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Leninskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 27/05/2011
16432/14
14/02/2014
Lyudmyla Yevtykhivna IVAKH
07/11/1940
Bogodukhiv
Ukrainian
Kharkiv Regional Administrative Court, 31/03/2009
16668/14
26/12/2013
Galyna Oleksiyivna KISTAYEVA
17/02/1938
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Zhovtnevyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 04/03/2011
16672/14
26/12/2013
Gennadiy Petrovych KOSTYLYEV
18/08/1962
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Zavodskyy District Court of Zaporizhzhya, 17/05/2011
17822/14
26/12/2013
Sergiy Ivanovych LAGODA
03/07/1957
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Zhovtnevyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 18/05/2011, as amended by Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 13/04/2012
17825/14
26/12/2013
Larysa Volodymyrivna PANCHENKO
27/11/1959
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Zhovtnevyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 24/06/2011
19310/14
26/12/2013
Viktor Vasylyovych PALCHYK
27/11/1949
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Leninskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 07/07/2011
36682/14
09/07/2014
Petro Vasylyovych GLADYSHCHUK
12/07/1950
Kirovograd
Ukrainian
Kirovskyy Local Court of Kirovograd, 14/07/2010
48344/14
26/06/2014
Iryna Ivanivna KUNYCHYK
07/02/1976
Lystvyn
Ukrainian
Ovruch Local Court of Zhytomyr Region, 22/07/2009
60958/14
20/08/2014
Valentyna Ivanivna LEVKIVSKA
22/06/1978
Levkovychi
Ukrainian
Ovruch Local Court of Zhytomyr Region, 12/07/2010
78516/14
05/12/2014
Oleksiy Yukhymovych KALUTSSKYY
28/04/1948
Shelyugy
Ukrainian
Yakymivka Local Court of Zaporizhzhya Region, 27/04/2011
Appendix 2
No.
Application
no. and date of introduction
Applicant ’ s name
date of birth (if known)
place of residence
nationality
Relevant domestic decision
33584/13
07/05/2013
Olga Igorivna DYKOPAVLENKO
04/02/1981
Burshtyn
Ukrainian
Lviv Administrative Court of Appeal, 05/05/2010
2090/14
04/12/2013
Olga Feodosiyivna KHLUPYANETS
10/01/1938
Kyrdany
Ukrainian
Ovruch Local Court of Zhytomyr Region, 05/03/2010, as amended by Ovruch Local Court of Zhytomyr Region, 04/04/2013
Appendix 3
No.
Application
no. and date of introduction
Applicant ’ s name
date of birth (if known)
place of residence
nationality
Relevant domestic decision details
58462/13
04/09/2013
Vasyl Oleksandrovych SLYUSAR
Znamyanka
Ukrainian
Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal, 11/12/2012
71896/13
08/11/2013
Larysa Anatoliyivna GUYDA
24/02/1965
Ternopil
Ukrainian
Ternopil Local Court of Ternopil Region, 07/10/2011
69478/13
17/10/2013
Dmytro Viktorovych SHEVTSOV
27/10/1967
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Komunarskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 30/12/2010, as amended by Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 19/04/2012
73068/13
08/11/2013
Viktor Mykhaylovych STELMAKH
24/01/1958
Zhovti Vody
Ukrainian
Zhovti Vody Local Court of
Dnipropetrovsk Region, 23/08/2011, as amended by Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 13/02/2013
19198/14
27/12/2013
Borys Kuzmych LEZHYBOKOV
27/04/1948
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Zhovtnevyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 14/06/2011
19215/14
27/12/2013
Sergiy Mykolayovych PAVSHENKO
08/04/1956
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Komunarskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 14/11/2011
78610/14
05/12/2014
Mykhaylo Vasylyovych DYOMIN
24/02/1949
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal, 06/04/2013
APPendix 4
No.
Application
no. and date of introduction
Applicant ’ s name
date of birth (if known)
place of residence
nationality
Relevant domestic decision
19307/14
26/12/2013
Oleksandr Ivanovych MURATOV
29/01/1954
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
Leninskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 28/04/2011
36120/13
23/05/2013
Yuliya Ivanivna TYMCHUK
13/11/1937
Chorni Oslavy
Ukrainian
Nadvirna Local Court of Ivano-Frankivsk Region, 21/07/2009
Appendix 5
No.
Application
no. and date of introduction
Applicant ’ s name
date of birth (if known)
place of residence
nationality
Date of death of the applicant
Relevant domestic decision
15975/14
30/12/2013
Mariya Grygorivna ARTAMONOVA
24/08/1932
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
18/03/2013
Shevchenkivskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 20/05/2011
16173/14
30/12/2013
Lyubov Dmytrivna ARTYUKHOVA
09/02/1936
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
17/07/2013
Shevchenkivskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 18/05/2011
16671/14
26/12/2013
Volodymyr Yegorovych SHEMETOV
05/08/1935
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
31/03/2013
Zhovtnevyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 17/05/2011
19212/14
27/12/2013
Ivan Illich BONDAR
20/03/1944
Zaporizhzhya
Ukrainian
19/05/2012
Komunarskyy Local Court of Zaporizhzhya, 17/05/2011
Appendix 6
No.
Application
no. and date of introduction
Applicant ’ s name
date of birth (if known)
place of residence
nationality
Relevant domestic decision
65220/13
02/10/2013
Rayisa Oleksandrivna KOBZEVA
27/09/1939
Kharkiv
Ukrainian
1) Dzerzhynskyy Local Court of Kharkiv, 22/02/2011, as amended by Kharkiv Administrative Court of Appeal, 14/05/2012
2) Dzerzhynskyy Local Court of Kharkiv, 02/08/2010
4923/14
14/12/2013
Lidiya Petrivna GORBAN
11/04/1951
Balakliya
Ukrainian
1) Balakliya Local Court of Kharkiv Region, 06/10/2011
2) Balakliya Local Court of Kharkiv Region, 04/04/2011