European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

PILOT-JUDGMENT PROCEDURE

Application no. 612/03
by Romuald PODOBYĆKO
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 16 December 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, Mr Romuald Podobyćko, is a Polish national who was born in 1944 and lives in Jelenia Góra.

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. 612/03

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

On 16 October 1998 the Lwówek Śląski District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) gave a decision declaring that the applicant, his mother and brothers had acquired his late father's estate and that they were entitled to receive one quarter each.

On 18 December 1998 the Lubań 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 8 August 2000 the Lwówek Śląski District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) gave a decision declaring that the applicant and his brothers had acquired their late mother's estate and that they were entitled to receive one third each.

On 28 and 29 August 2000 the applicant's brothers renounced their right to compensation for the property abandoned in the territories beyond the Bug River in the applicant's favour.

On 30 August 2000 the applicant obtained a certificate issued by the Mayor of Lubań (Starosta) confirming that the applicant had the right to compensation for the property abandoned, valued at 503,937.00 Polish zlotys (PLN).

On 10 December 2002 the Mayor of Lubań (Starosta) issued a decision confirming that the applicant had the right to compensation for the property abandoned by his family, valued at PLN 551,735.00 as of 20 November 2002.

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 19 August 2004 the Mayor of Lubań (Starosta) issued a document confirming that the applicant had not received any compensation for the property abandoned in the territories beyond the Bug River.

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