European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

PILOT-JUDGMENT PROCEDURE

Application no. 38054/04
by Michał PALIJ
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 12 October 2004,

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 Michał Palij, is a Polish national who was born in 1941 and lives in Kraków.

A.  Historical background to Bug River cases before the Court

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

2.   Particular circumstances of case no. 38054/04

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

On an unspecified date the applicant asked the Tarnów District Office (Urząd Rejonowy) to enable him to acquire State property in compensation for the property abandoned in the territories beyond the Bug River.

On 7 October 1991 the authorities informed him that his claim had been entered in the relevant register but its realisation depended on the adoption of future measures by Parliament in respect of Bug River claims.

On 13 July 1993 the Head of the Szczecinek District Office (Kierownik Urzędu Rejonowego) issued a decision enabling the applicant to take part in a competitive bid for the sale of State property and stating that the value of the original property amounted to 395,198,000 old Polish zlotys (PLZ).

On 5 May 2001 the applicant obtained a valuation report which estimated the value of the Bug River property at 212,606.67 Polish zlotys (PLN) as of May 2001.

On 16 April 2003 the Kraków District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) gave a decision declaring that the applicant had acquired the entire estate left by his mother.

On 4 August 2003 the Kraków Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) refused to give a declaratory judgment confirming his entitlement since the applicant did not produce the required documentary evidence.

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 an unspecified date the applicant initiated proceedings 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”) in order to obtain compensation for the Bug River property. On 26 February 2007 the Małopolski Governor asked the applicant to produce certain documents. The proceedings are pending.

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