Lexploria

Interim Resolution CM/ ResDH (2019) 152 Execution of the judgment s of the European Court of Human Rights Gazsó group (list in Appendix) against Hungary

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 6 June 2019 at the 13 48 th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides that the Committee supervises the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” and “the Court”);

Having regard to the considerable number of judgments of the Court finding violations of Article 6, paragraph 1, and in some of these judgments also violations of Article 13 of the Convention, due to the excessive length of civil and criminal proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in this respect in Hungary;

Recalling that the first case of this kind became final in 2003 and the problem has thus persisted for more than 15 years, and that in view of the scale of the problem the Court delivered a pilot judgment in the case of Gazsó which set 16 October 2016 as deadline for the introduction of “an effective domestic remedy or combination of such remedies”;

Recalling that excessive delays in the administration of justice constitute a serious danger for respect for the rule of law, resulting in a denial of the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Convention;

Reiterating the additional undue burden imposed on the Court due to the high number of similar cases pending and the new similar applications that are being lodged with the Court, and the serious threat to the effectiveness of the Convention system arising from the respondent State’s failure to abide by the obligations deriving from a pilot judgment;

Bearing in mind that the Committee, in its Interim Resolution CM/ ResDH (2018)106 , called upon the authorities to redouble their efforts to ensure that the legislative process envisaged for the introduction of a compensatory remedy for excessively lengthy court proceedings is completed in line with the timetable then presented, i.e. by 31 October 2018;

Recalling that in October 2018 a bill introducing a compensatory remedy for excessively lengthy judicial proceedings was pending before Parliament but that its adoption had to be postponed with a view to aligning it with the requirements of the Convention and the Court’s case-law; that since December 2018 the authorities have been reviewing the bill; and that despite the Committ ee’s urgent call at its 1340 th meeting (March 2019) (DH), to date neither a concrete timetable for the legislative process nor a translation of the revised bill has been received;

Likewise bearing in mind the authorities’ active co-operation with the Secretariat and their constructive approach with a view to aligning the bill with the requirements of the Convention and the Court’s case-law;

Noting with disappointment that despite their previous apparent determination to bring the legislative process to a close, the authorities merely announced the adoption of a bill by 31 December 2019, and underlining with serious concern that, by October 2019, three years will have passed since the expiry of the deadline set by the Court in its pilot judgment;

Emphasising that Hungary is one of the very few, remaining member S tates faced with the issue of excessively lengthy judicial proceedings which ha s not yet introduced an effective remedy in this respect;

Stressing that a strong and firm commitment of the respondent State’s authorities, involving the political key actors at the highest level, is required in order to fulfil their obligations under the Convention, to adopt the necessary legislation and resolve this problem;

Underlining the obligation of every State, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by the final judgments of the European Court in any case to which they are a party, fully, effectively and promptly;

STRONGLY URGED the Hungarian authorities to accelerate and conclude the law-making process in order to introduce a compensatory remedy for excessively lengthy court proceedings which is in full conformity with Convention standards as established by the Court’s case-law;

URGENTLY CALLED on the authorities to provide, by the end of June 2019, a concrete timetable (specifying the different legislative steps envisaged) for bringing the legislative process to a close, to submit a translation of the revised bill without further delay and to continue to keep the Committee informed, on a monthly basis, about all relevant developments in the legislative process so as to allow the Committee to continuously monitor the progress achieved;

DECIDED to resume examination of this item, in the light of the information received from the authorities, at one of its next Human Rights meetings and at the latest, at its 1362 nd meeting (December 2019) (DH).

Appendix: list of cases

Application

Case

Judgment of

Final on

48322/12

GAZSÓ

16/07/2015

16/10/2015

5766/05

SCHWARTZ AND OTHERS

03/11/2009

1/12/2009

33795/08

MAGYAR CEMENT KFT

28/05/2013

25065/09

DÖMÖTÖR

22/10/2013

36630/11

BALOGH

09/02/2016

42329/09

VARGA

22/03/2016

76928/11

MÁTYUS

04/10/2016

2240/12+

SZEBELLÉDI AND OTHERS AND 2 OTHER APPLICATIONS

20/10/2016

60670/11+

KHARON KFT AND FREHA

20/10/2016

80104/12

BALOGH

14/12/2017

66534/11

SOLTÉSZ AND OTHERS

11/01/2018

40114/12

NAGY

08/02/2018

67794/13

GÉCZI AND OTHERS

15/11/2018

3189/14+

JUHÁSZ-BUDAY AND OTHERS

15/11/2018

57849/14+

NAGY AND OTHERS

20/12/2018

22579/13+

NAVIGÁCIÓ SZÖVETKEZET AND OTHERS

15/11/2018

21869/14+

NÉMETH AND OTHERS

20/12/2018

72595/13+

PÁZSI AND OTHERS

15/11/2018

60934/13

SOMORJAI

28/08/2018

28/11/2018

20811/14+

SZÅ°CS AND OTHERS

15/11/2018

1268/15+

U.M. KERESKEDELMI KFT AND OTHERS

15/11/2018

6240/18

BARTOS

17/01/2019

76237/13

BENYÓ AND OTHERS

07/03/2019

59497/14+

BORBÉLY AND OTHERS

17/01/2019

4956/15 +

BOZA AND OTHERS

17/01/2019

33248/13+

CSONTOS AND OTHERS

17/01/2019

72114/13+

CZEBE AND OTHERS

21/02/2019

53490/14

GULÁCSINÉ SOMOGYI AND OTHERS

28/03/2019

57258/14

KAHLERT

17/01/2019

28496/17

KÖRMENDY-MAJNEK

07/03/2019

39645/15+

KOVÁCS-CSINCSÁK AND KOMLÓDI

17/01/2019

48770/15

KOVÁTS

07/03/2019

3412/17

KUDLIK

07/03/2019

64335/13+

KURMAI AND OTHERS KOMLÓDI

17/01/2019

61394/14+

KVACSKAY AND OTHERS

17/01/2019

54589/15

VARGA

07/03/2019

Menu

CASE OF GAZSÓ AGAINST HUNGARY AND 35 OTHER CASES

CASE OF GAZSÓ AGAINST HUNGARY AND 35 OTHER CASES

LEXI