European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 56087/07
by Robert RYBA
against Poland

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 25 November 2008 as a Chamber composed of:

Nicolas Bratza, President,
Lech Garlicki,
Giovanni Bonello,
Ljiljana Mijović,
David Thór Björgvinsson,
Ledi Bianku,
Mihai Poalelungi, judges,

and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 7 December 2007,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case.

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Robert Ryba, is a Polish national who was born in 1975 and lives in Klodzko. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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

A.  Criminal proceedings against the applicant

On 9 May 2001 the prosecution lodged a bill of indictment with the Kłodzko District Court. The applicant was charged with several counts of burglary and receiving. There were 5 defendants in the case, all charged with numerous counts of burglary and receiving.

The court held hearings on 24 August and 27 October 2004, 28 January, 13 April, 1 June, 13 July and 15 November 2005.

On 15 November 2005 the Kłodzko District Court found the applicant guilty as charged and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. The applicant appealed.

On 17 November 2006 the Świdnica Regional Court quashed the District Court judgment and remitted the case for reconsideration.

Hearings scheduled for 11 April and 8 May 2007 were adjourned as one of the accused, R.B., failed to appear before the court.

On 11 July 2007 the court adjourned a hearing at the request of the applicant’s lawyer and due to the fact that R.B. had failed to appear.

On 9 October 2007 the court held a hearing.

The proceedings are pending before the District Court.

B.  Proceedings concerning the applicant’s complaint about the excessive length of the criminal proceedings.

On an unspecified date the applicant lodged with the Opole Regional Court a complaint under section 5 of the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (Ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki) (“the 2004 Act”).

On 28 September 2007 the Świdnica Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s complaint. It limited its examination of the length of proceedings issue to the period after the entry into force of the 2004 Act and stressed that the Act could not be applied to the protracted length of court proceedings occurring before that date. Having analysed the conduct of the District Court during the period after the entry into force of the 2004 Act, the Regional Court found that the proceedings had been conducted with due diligence and within a reasonable time.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 6 of the Convention about the length of the criminal proceedings against him.

THE LAW

On 15 October 2008 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“ I, Jakub Wołąsiewicz, agent of the Government, declare that the Government of Poland offer to pay 10,000 Polish zlotys to Mr Robert Ryba with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on it, from 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. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case. ”

On 15 September 2008 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant:

“ I, Robert Ryba, the applicant, note that the Government of Poland are prepared to pay me the sum of 10,000 Polish zlotys with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Poland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. I declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case. ”

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decided to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Lawrence Early Nicolas Bratza
Registrar President