European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

PILOT-JUDGMENT PROCEDURE

Application no. 21402/04
by Waleria DĄBROWSKA and Franciszek DĄBROWSKI
against Poland

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 23 September 2008 as a Chamber composed of:

Nicolas Bratza, President,
Lech Garlicki,
Giovanni Bonello,
Ljiljana Mijović,
David Thór Björgvinsson,
Ján Šikuta,
Päivi Hirvelä, judges,
and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 24 November 2003,

Having regard to the decision to apply the pilot-judgment procedure and to adjourn its consideration of applications deriving from the same systemic problem identified in the case of Broniowski v. Poland (no. 31443/96),

Having regard to the decisions to strike the applications Wolkenberg and Others v. Poland (no. 50003/99) and Witkowska-Toboła v. Poland (no. 11208/02) out of the Court’s list of cases,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Ms Waleria Dąbrowska (“the first applicant”) born in 1953, and Mr Franciszek Dąbrowski (“the second applicant”) born in 1950, are a married couple. They are both Polish nationals living in Bolesławiec.

A.  Historical background to Bug River cases before the Court

(See E.G. v. Poland, no. 50425/99, §§ 2-5).

B.  Particular circumstances of case no. 21402/04

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.

On 26 November 1990 the first applicant’s mother asked the Bolesławiec District Office (Urząd Rejonowy) to enable her to acquire State property in compensation for the property abandoned in the territories beyond the Bug River.

On 12 June 1991 the authorities informed her that the realisation of her claim depended on the adoption of future measures by Parliament in respect of Bug River claims.

On 13 January 1993 and on 31 May 1994 the Bolesławiec District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) gave decisions declaring that the first applicant had acquired her late parents’ estate.

Between 1996 and 1998 the applicants made numerous unsuccessful requests to various authorities to enable them to acquire State property in compensation for the property abandoned in the territories beyond the Bug River.

On 20 March 2003 the Mayor of the Bolesławiec District (Starosta) issued a decision confirming that the first applicant had the right to compensation for the property abandoned by her family, valued at 99,270,00 Polish zlotys (PLN) as of March 2003.

The applicants’ subsequent attempts to acquire State property were unsuccessful. The only possibility of enforcing the claim was to participate in competitive bids for the sale of State property. However, the State authorities throughout Poland officially acknowledged the acute shortage of State-owned land designated for the realisation of the Bug River claims.

This fact and the fact that at the material time it was the authorities’ common practice to desist from organising auctions for Bug River claimants or to openly deny them the opportunity to enforce their entitlement through the statutory bidding procedure was established by the Court in the Broniowski judgment (see Broniowski, cited above, §§ 48-61, 69-87 and 168-176).

On 15 December 2005 the Dolnośląski Governor (Wojewoda) informed the applicants that, according to the relevant provisions of the Law on the realisation of the right to compensation for property left beyond the present borders of the Polish State (Ustawa o realizacji prawa do rekompensaty z tytułu pozostawienia nieruchomości poza obecnymi granicami państwa polskiego) (“the July 2005 Act”), they had the right to compensation amounting to 20% of the current value of the original property, i.e. PLN 19,854.

C.  Relevant domestic law and practice in respect of Bug River claims

(See E.G. v. Poland, no. 50425/99, §§ 16-17).

COMPLAINT

(See E.G. v. Poland, no. 50425/99, § 18).

THE LAW

(See E.G. v. Poland, no. 50425/99, §§ 19-29).

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Lawrence Early Nicolas Bratza
Registrar President