European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

PILOT-JUDGMENT PROCEDURE

Application no. 28907/02
by Danuta KURZAK
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 25 July 2002,

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 applicant, Ms Danuta Kurzak, is a Polish national who was born in 1939 and lives in Piekary Śląskie.

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. 28907/02

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

On 3 November 1988 the Tarnowskie Góry District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) gave a declaratory judgment stating that the applicant's father had owned real property in the territories beyond the Bug River.

On 18 November 1988 the Tarnowskie Góry District Court gave a decision declaring that the applicant and her siblings had acquired their late father's estate and that they were entitled to receive one third each.

On 23 May 2002 the Mayor of Piekary Śląskie (Prezydent Miasta) issued a decision confirming that the applicant had the right to compensation for the property abandoned by her family, valued at 219,900.00 Polish zlotys (PLN). It emerges from that decision that the applicant was entitled to receive one third of the sum, i.e. PLN 73,300.00.

On 28 March 2001 and 10 February 2002 the applicant lodged a claim for compensation for the Bug River property against the State Treasury. The statement of claim was returned for non-compliance with procedural requirements. On an unspecified date the applicant lodged a complaint with Supreme Administrative Court, alleging inactivity on the part of the Mayor of Piekary Śląskie. On 18 November 2002 the court rejected the complaint as inadmissible in law.

The applicant's 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 22 February 2006 the Silesia Governor (Wojewoda) issued a decision confirming that under 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”) the applicant was entitled to compensation amounting to 20% of the current value of the original property. On 26 June 2007 the applicant received her part of the compensation due (PLN 14,660.00).

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