Lexploria

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 12784/10 Cira MOCCIA DELLO IOIO and Others against Italy and 8 other applications (see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 13 June 2023 as a Committee composed of:

PÃ©ter Paczolay , President , Gilberto Felici, Raffaele Sabato , judges ,

and Liv Tigerstedt, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to:

the applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended tables,

the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 30 January 2023 requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases and the applicantsâ€™ reply to that declaration,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

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

2. The applicants were represented by Mr Giuseppe Ferraro, a lawyer practising in Naples.

3. The Italian Government (â€œthe Governmentâ€) were represented by their Agent, Mr L. Dâ€™Ascia.

4. The applicantsâ€™ complaint under Article 6 of the Convention concerning the legislative interference pending judicial proceedings was communicated to the Government.

THE LAW

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

6. The Court firstly takes note of the information regarding the death of certain applicants, indicated in Appendix I, and the wish of their heirs to continue the proceedings in their stead, as well as of the absence of an objection to that wish on the Governmentâ€™s part. Therefore, the Court considers that the heirs indicated in Appendix I have standing to continue the proceedings in the late applicantsâ€™ stead.

7. On 30 January 2023 the Government informed the Court that all of the applicants listed in Appendix II had died. The applicantsâ€™ representative did not contest that information and no heirs have come forward.

8. Accordingly, the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications with respect to the applicants listed in Appendix II (Article 37 Â§ 1 (c) of the Convention).

9. As concerns the applicants listed in Appendix I, on 30 January 2023, the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by these applicants. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.

10. The Government acknowledged the legislative interference pending judicial proceedings. They offered to pay these applicants the amounts detailed in Appendix I and invited the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 Â§ 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Courtâ€™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.

11. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.

12. The applicants were sent the terms of the Governmentâ€™s unilateral declaration on 8 February 2023. On 20 February 2023, the Court received a response from the applicantsâ€™ representative refusing the terms of the declaration.

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

â€œ... for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applicationâ€.

14. Thus, it may strike out applications under Article 37 Â§ 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 (see, in particular, Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, Â§Â§ 75 â€‘ 77, ECHR 2003-VI).

15. The Court has established clear and extensive case-law concerning complaints relating to the legislative interference pending judicial proceedings in Italy (see, for example, Arras and Others v. Italy , no. 17972/07, 14 February 2012; Natale and Others v. Italy , no. 19264/07, 15 October 2013; and Casacchia and Others v. Italy , nos. 23658/07 and 2 others, 15 October 2013).

16. In the present case, the Court takes note of the applicantsâ€™ argument that, with regard to certain applicants, the amounts offered are based on a standardised determination of damages. Nevertheless, the Court also notes that only a limited number of applicants have provided individual calculations of the amounts claimed, whereas the remaining ones generically referred to the applicable criteria and claimed that they were unable to submit a precise calculation. The Court recalls that it is for the applicants to prove, as far as possible, not only the existence but also the amount of the damage. Although the Court accepts that a precise calculation of the sums due is not always possible (see, for example, KuriÄ‡ and Others v. Slovenia (just satisfaction) [GC], no. 26828/06, Â§Â§ 87-90, ECHR 2014), in the present case it is not convinced by the applicantsâ€™ arguments. The existence of the criteria mentioned by the common representative, along with the fact that some of the applicants have provided detailed calculations, indicates that at least an estimate of damages was possible in the present case. In these circumstances, the Court considers that the amounts offered by the Government are consistent with those that the Court would have awarded, based on the criteria adopted in similar cases (see, for example, Arras and Others , cited above).

17. Therefore, noting the admissions contained in the Governmentâ€™s declaration, as well as the amount of compensation proposed, the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications relating to the concerned applicants (Article 37 Â§ 1 (c)).

18. 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 with respect to the applicants concerned (Article 37 Â§ 1 in fine ).

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

20. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the applications out of the list of cases.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Holds that the heirs indicated in Appendix I have standing to pursue the proceedings in the stead of the deceased applicants;

Takes note of the death of the applicants listed in Appendix II and of the absence of any heirs wishing to pursue the proceedings before the Court in their stead;

Takes note of the terms of the respondent Governmentâ€™s declaration concerning the remaining applicants (see Appendix I), and of the arrangements for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.

Done in English and notified in writing on 6 July 2023.

Liv Tigerstedt PÃ©ter Paczolay Deputy Registrar President

Appendix I

Application no. Case name

Introduction date

Applicantâ€™s name

Year of birth

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary

damage per applicant/household

(in euros)

Amount awarded

for costs and expenses per applicant/household

(in euros)

12784/10 Moccia Dello Ioio and Others v. Italy 18/12/2009

Household

Cira MOCCIA DELLO IOIO 1925 Filomena MOCCIA 1958 Federico MOCCIA 1961

Annamaria IMPROTA 1951

Silvana FUSARO 1934 Annabella MINETTI 1944 Griselda GUIDOTTI 1933 Angelo LEONI 1948

Household Fiorentina BIANCO Born in 1920 Deceased in 2016 Giovanni LESSONE 1948 (also as heir) Loredana LESSONE 1950 (also as heir)

Giuseppa LESSONE 1953 (also as heir)

Anna LESSONE 1955 (also as heir) Bruno LESSONE 1958 (also as heir)

10,900

4,000

7,400

4,300

4,700

5,700

200

12786/10 Spaziano and Others v. Italy 20/01/2010

Household

Elisabetta SPAZIANO 1925 Maurizio ROMANO 1949

Maria Grazia ROMANO 1962

7,900

200

12789/10 Magosso and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Household

Palmira ROSSI 1924

Adino Cristiano MAGOSSO 1947

Massimo MAGOSSO 1950 Household

Laura QUARANTA 1926

Paolo PALLADINO 1961 Anna CUOCO 1942

5,000

5,500

10,900

200

12790/10 Mattu and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Antonello MATTU Born in 1921

Deceased in 2015

Heirs

Maria Giovanna PIETRI

1924Anna MATTU

1961Angela MATTU

1962 Maurizio BOLZONELLO 1943 Clara CARLON 1948 Household Maria Bruna TRIVELLATO 1932 Maria Antonietta LANCIA 1962 Alessandro LANCIA 1963 Guido SARTORI 1923

10,600

5,300

4,200

4,400

5,000

200

12791/10 Carta and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Leonardo Romano CARTA 1943 Alessio GUGLIELMI 1936 Vinicio CABRAS 1941

Household Vincenzina GAIAS 1924 Gabriella Elena Giovanna MORGHEN 1947 Giuseppe MORGHEN 1956

Goffredo MAMELI Born in 1920

Deceased in 2012

Heirs

Luciana MAMELI

1950Maria Luisa MAMELI

1956

4,000

5,900

5,500

4,500

7,900

200

12793/10 Mainiero v. Italy 11/01/2010

Liberato MAINIERO 1949

9,600

200

12794/10 Nugnes and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Household

Costanza PALMIOTTI 1937

Sergio NUGNES 1967 Salvatore NUGNES 1971

4,000

200

12795/10 Calavena and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Antonio Raffaele CALAVENA 1943

Camillo CATALANO 1945 Ferdinando FIORE 1938 Carlo Aldo DI CATERINA 1949 Francesco BRUNI 1936 Household

Angiola PESIRI 1946

Matilde DELLâ€™ERARIO 1972

Nicola IRACE Born in 1941

Deceased in 2018

Heirs

Liberata NANNI

1951Francesco IRACE

1983Fabrizio IRACE

1985Giovanni FORNI 1943 Elisa Maria ELIA 1953 Household

Lucia CASO 1944 Maria BARBATO 1969 Paola BARBATO 1974 Rosa FERRANTE 1948 Luca GALDO 1940

Vincenzo IEMMELLO 1936

4000

4,000

4.000

4,000

200

200Appendix II

Application no. Case name

Introduction date

Applicantâ€™s name Year of birth

Deceased in

12784/10 Moccia Dello Ioio and Others v. Italy 18/12/2009

Francesco LEONETTI 1929

Maria GRIMALDI 1937

Rosa GIARDULLI 1934

2022

2010

2014

12786/10 Spaziano and Others v. Italy 20/01/2010

Luigi PES 1936

2021

12790/10 Mattu and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Mario IEZZI 1921

Valerio RAGUSA 1938 Maria Luisa SORRENTINO 1946

2021

2014

12791/10 Carta and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Maria Enrichetta FALCONI 1927

2022

12795/10 Calavena and Others v. Italy 11/01/2010

Arturo Dâ€™URSO 1936

2022

15290/10 Conte v. Italy 10/03/2010

Anna CONTE 1930

2021

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MOCCIA DELLO IOIO AND OTHERS v. ITALY

MOCCIA DELLO IOIO AND OTHERS v. ITALY

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