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LAWYER PARTNERS, A.S. v. SLOVAKIA - 54252/07 [2009] ECHR 924 (16 June 2009)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2009/924.html
Cite as:
[2009] ECHR 924
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FOURTH
SECTION
CASE OF LAWYER PARTNERS, A.S. v. SLOVAKIA
(Applications nos. 54252/07, 3274/08, 3377/08, 3505/08, 3526/08,
3741/08, 3786/08, 3807/08, 3824/08, 15055/08, 29548/08, 29551/08,
29552/08, 29555/08, 29557/08)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
16 June 2009
This
judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in
Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be
subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Lawyer Partners, a.s. v. Slovakia,
The
European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section) sitting as a Chamber
composed of:
Nicolas Bratza, President,
Lech
Garlicki,
Giovanni Bonello,
Ljiljana
Mijović,
Ján Šikuta,
Päivi
Hirvelä,
Mihai Poalelungi, judges,
and
Lawrence Early,
Section Registrar,
Having
deliberated in private on 26 May 2009,
Delivers
the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
The
case originated in fifteen applications (nos. 54252/07, 3274/08,
3377/08, 3505/08, 3526/08, 3741/08, 3786/08, 3807/08, 3824/08,
15055/08, 29548/08, 29551/08, 29552/08, 29555/08, 29557/08) against
the Slovak Republic lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a private limited company,
Lawyer Partners a.s. (“the applicant company”). The dates
on which the applications were lodged are set out in Appendix I.
The
applicant company was represented by Mr J. Fridrich, a lawyer
practising in Bratislava. The Slovak Government (“the
Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M.
Pirošíková.
The
applicant company alleged that its right of access to a court had
been violated as a result of the ordinary courts' refusal to register
actions submitted by it in electronic form.
On
3 July 2008, after having decided to give priority to the above
applications (Rule 41 of the Rules of Court), the President of the
Fourth Section decided to give notice of the applications to the
Government. It was also decided to examine the merits of the
applications at the same time as their admissibility (Article 29 §
3).
THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
The
applicant is a private limited company with its registered office in
Bratislava. The applications on its behalf were lodged by Mr D. Paľko
and Mr M. Morong, the chairman and vice-chairman of its
managing board.
A. Background to the case
On
15 July 2005 the applicant company concluded a contract with Slovak
Radio, a public-law institution. Under that contract, taken together
with two additional ones concluded on 20 September 2005 and
27 January 2006, the applicant company acquired the right,
in exchange for compensation paid to Slovak Radio, to recover unpaid
broadcast receiver licences in 355,917 cases, plus additional sums
for default in those payments.
On
20 October 2008 the Bratislava I District Court confirmed the
validity of the above contracts. The decision became final on
5 November 2008.
B. The applicant company's attempts to institute civil proceedings
The
applicant company was obliged to sue those persons who had refused to
pay the debt which it had acquired the right to recover. The
applicant company prepared individual actions with a request for
payment orders to be issued against the debtors. Given the number of
persons concerned, the actions were generated by means of computer
software and recorded on Digital Versatile Discs (DVD). The DVDs were
sent to the district courts concerned, accompanied by an explanatory
letter.
Thus
the applicant company, on 31 March 2006 and 24 July 2006, filed
actions, in electronic form, with several district courts. On
19 October 2006, after officials of the Ministry of Justice
had stated that courts were in a position to register such actions,
the applicant resubmitted the first group of actions to the courts
concerned on DVDs. The courts refused to register the actions,
indicating that they lacked the equipment to receive and process
submissions made and signed electronically. Further relevant details
of the applications under examination are set out in Appendix I.
In
one case the applicant company submitted, on 14 December 2006, with
the agreement of the Svidník
District Court, a printed version of the 379 actions it had filed on
a DVD on 31 March 2006. The documents in support of the claims
remained available on the DVD exclusively. The file numbers indicate
that the District Court registered those actions as having been filed
in 2007.
On
15 December 2008 the applicant company informed the Court that its
claims relating to the actions which the courts had refused to
register had become statute-barred.
C. Constitutional proceedings
In
2006, following the district courts' refusal to register the actions
it had submitted on DVDs, the applicant company lodged a complaint
with the Constitutional Court in respect of each individual refusal.
Referring to Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and its
constitutional equivalent, it alleged a violation of its right of
access to a court.
The
Constitutional Court rejected the complaints in the cases under
consideration as having been lodged outside the statutory time-limit
of two months. The decisions stated that the applicant company had
earlier learned, in the context of its previous attempts to file
actions electronically, that district courts lacked the necessary
equipment for processing such actions and had failed to file a
complaint with the Constitutional Court at that time. The
Constitutional Court considered it irrelevant that the
above-mentioned time-limit had been complied with in respect of the
district courts' refusal to register actions in those cases which
underlay the constitutional complaints under consideration (further
details of the individual proceedings are set out in Appendix I).
D. Action taken by the Ministry of Justice
On
31 March 2006 several courts asked the Ministry of Justice for
instructions as to how they should process the applicant company's
submissions filed in electronic form. The Ministry advised the courts
to wait until the position had been analysed.
In
a letter of 3 April 2006 the Ministry stated that as ordinary courts
did not have an electronic registration facility, the conditions for
receiving submissions in electronic form as laid down in Act 215/2002
Coll. were not met.
At
meetings with presidents of district and regional courts held on
24 November 2006 and 1 to 2 February 2007 the Ministry of
Justice concluded that ordinary courts were duly equipped for
receiving submissions bearing a secured electronic signature.
A
press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 16 October 2008
indicates that the Ministry had published on its website the
electronic addresses of individual courts and information about the
filing of submissions signed electronically.
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE
A. The Code of Civil Procedure and Regulation no. 543/2005
Article
42 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended with effect
from 1 May 2002, reads:
“Submissions to a court can be made in written
form, orally into the record, by means of electronic devices subject
to the submission bearing a secured electronic signature in
accordance with a special law, by telegraph or by fax.”
Regulation
no. 543/2005 governs, inter alia, the organisation of work
within district courts and regional courts, including their
registries. The relevant provisions read:
“Section 129
Submissions received by the registry which contain a
petition for proceedings to be brought shall be registered by means
of technical and software devices approved by the Ministry of Justice
and designed for processing courts' agenda.
Section 132
Receipt of submissions made by electronic means and
bearing a secured electronic signature
Submissions received by means of electronic devices and
having a secured electronic signature shall be dealt with in
accordance with special law.
Such submissions are to be transmitted to the court's central office
for proceeding in accordance with section 129.”
B. The Electronic Signature Act (Act no. 215/2002 Coll.) and
Regulation no. 542/2002
The
Act on Electronic Signature 2002 governs the establishment and use of
electronic signature, the rights of obligations of persons in that
context and protection of documents signed electronically (section
1).
At
the relevant time Regulation no. 542/2002 governed the use of
electronic signature in, inter alia, administrative relations.
It was issued by the National Security Authority and entered into
force on 1 October 2002. Sections 6-12 set out details on
establishment and functioning of an electronic registry within public
authorities which use secured electronic signature, the filing,
processing and handling of electronic documents as well as their
format and transfer between the dispatcher and the addressee.
C. The Constitutional Court Act 1993 (Act no. 38/1993 Coll., as
amended)
Section
53(3) provides that a complaint to the Constitutional Court can be
lodged within a period of two months from the date on which the
decision in question has become final and binding or on which a
measure has been notified or on which notice of other interference
has been given. As regards measures and other interferences, this
period commences when the plaintiff could have become aware of them.
D. The Constitutional Court's practice
In
the majority of the cases examined in the course of 2007 the
Constitutional Court took the same approach as indicated in
paragraph 13 above, namely that the period of two months under
section 53(3) of the Constitutional Court Act 1993 had started
running not later than in April 2006, when the applicant company had
learned for the first time that ordinary courts were not in a
position to register submissions in electronic form.
In
a different decision, delivered on 4 January 2007, the Constitutional
Court declared admissible a complaint in respect of the refusal, by
the Čadca District Court, to
register actions lodged electronically on 24 July 2006
(proceedings no. III. ÚS 7/07). In its
judgment on the merits of 20 December 2007 the Constitutional Court
found a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. It held
that the relevant law entitled parties to file submissions to courts
in electronic form. Public authorities were obliged to establish
facilities for receiving and processing such submissions. In the
above case the Constitutional Court ordered the Čadca District
Court to proceed with the actions lodged on DVDs by the applicant
company on 24 July 2006. Prior to that, the applicant company had
informed the Constitutional Court of the Čadca District Court's
earlier refusal to accept a different set of actions which had been
filed on DVDs on 31 March 2006.
Since
2008 all chambers of the Constitutional Court have systematically
approached cases of this type in the manner described in the
preceding paragraph. Thus, in twenty-four other cases concerning
similar complaints lodged in 2006 the Constitutional Court counted
the period of two months from the moment when the applicant company
had been informed about the refusal to register each specific
submission filed electronically. This approach has been applied even
in cases which concerned a second refusal to register an identical
submission.
In
those cases the Constitutional Court found a violation of the
applicant company's right of access to a court under Article 6 §
1, holding that the relevant law obliged courts to accept actions
submitted by electronic means and that there existed no justification
for their refusal to do so. It ordered the ordinary courts concerned
to accept those actions as having been filed on the date when the
district courts had received them initially and to process the
latter's submissions signed electronically.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
The
Court notes that the fifteen applications under examination concern
the same issue. It is therefore appropriate to join them, in
application of Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE
CONVENTION
The
applicant company complained that its right of access to a court had
been violated in that the district courts concerned had refused to
register its actions submitted in electronic form. It relied on
Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which in its relevant part
reads as follows:
“In the determination of his civil rights and
obligations ... or everyone is entitled to a ... hearing ... by [a]
... tribunal...”
A. Admissibility
1. The arguments of the parties
(a) The Government
The
Government first objected that it was not clear from the documents
submitted whether the applicant company had complied with the
six-month time-limit laid down in Article 35 § 1 of the
Convention.
Secondly,
the Government argued that the applicant company had not exhausted
domestic remedies as required by Article 35 § 1 of the
Convention as it had failed to lodge its complaints under Article 127
of the Constitution in accordance with the formal requirements, as
interpreted and applied by the Constitutional Court at the relevant
time.
In
particular, the applicant company had not complied with the
time-limit of two months laid down in section 53(3) of the
Constitutional Court Act 1993. That period had started running in
April 2006, when the applicant company had received replies from
several district courts that they were unable to process the
submissions it had filed in electronic form on 31 March 2006.
The Government relied on the Constitutional Court's argument that the
applicant company's subsequent attempts to file actions
electronically were irrelevant as it had already learned about the
situation complained of in April 2006.
The
above approach corresponded to the Constitutional Court's established
practice at the relevant time. Admittedly, decision no. III.
ÚS 7/07 of January 2007 ran counter to that practice.
However, that decision was a mere exception and it could not affect
the position as it had been delivered after the applications in the
present case had been lodged. For similar reasons, the change in the
practice of the Constitutional Court, from 2008 onwards (see
paragraph 25 above), was irrelevant for the determination of the
point in issue.
As
to the applicant company's allegation that its civil claims had
lapsed, the Government submitted that it was open to it to claim
damages under Act no. 514/2003 Coll. on liability for damage
resulting from the exercise of public authority.
(b) The applicant company
The
applicant company maintained that it had lodged its applications with
the Court within six months as required by Article 35 § 1 of the
Convention. That period had started running on the date of delivery
to its representative of the Constitutional Court's decisions in the
proceedings complained of.
The
Constitutional Court's decisions to dismiss the complaints in the
proceedings complained of as having been submitted out of time were
erroneous. In particular, both the Constitution and the Convention
guaranteed the right to have one's civil rights or obligations
determined by a court. The applicant company's complaints to the
Constitutional Court concerned specific actions against a number of
persons which the ordinary courts concerned had refused to register
and process. Those complaints had been submitted within the statutory
time-limit of two months following the notification by ordinary
courts that they would not accept those actions. The fact that in
twenty-four other cases with similar factual and legal background the
Constitutional Court had admitted the applicant's complaints as
complying with formal requirements confirmed that position.
There
existed no justification for a different approach by the
Constitutional Court to the applicant company's complaints, all of
which had been submitted in 2006. Such a contradictory approach was
incompatible with the principle of legal certainty as interpreted by
the Constitutional Court itself. The applicant company pointed out
that one of the constitutional judges who had rejected its complaints
in the proceedings in issue was registered among the debtors who had
failed to pay the broadcast licence.
Finally,
the applicant company was unable to claim compensation under Act no.
514/2003 Coll. as indicated by the Government. In particular, such a
claim could be successful only if the Constitutional Court's
decisions in issue had been quashed as being unlawful. However, the
decisions relevant to the present case could not be reviewed or
quashed.
2. The Court's assessment
On
the basis of the documents before it, the Court is satisfied that the
present applications were lodged within the period of six months from
the service on the applicant company's representative of the
corresponding decisions of the Constitutional Court (see Appendix I).
The relevant requirement laid down in Article 35 § 1 of the
Convention has therefore been met.
As
regards the objection relating to non-exhaustion of domestic
remedies, the Court reiterates that in order to exhaust domestic
remedies as required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention,
applicants should use the remedies available in compliance with the
formal requirements and time-limits laid down in domestic law, as
interpreted and applied by domestic courts (see Akdivar and Others
v. Turkey, 16 September 1996, § 60, Reports of Judgments
and Decisions 1996-IV). The rules on time-limits are
undoubtedly designed to ensure the proper administration of justice
and legal certainty. Those concerned must expect those rules to be
applied. However, as the Court has held in a different context, the
rules in question, or the application of them, should not prevent
litigants from making use of an available remedy. Since the issue
concerns the principle of legal certainty, it raises not only a
problem of the interpretation of a legal provision in the usual way,
but also that of an unreasonable construction of a procedural
requirement which may prevent a claim from being examined on the
merits (see, mutatis mutandis, Melnyk v. Ukraine,
no. 23436/03, § 23, 28 March 2006, with further
references).
In
the present case the applicant company lodged some 40
complaints with the Constitutional Court, all in 2006, concerning the
same issue, namely the ordinary courts' refusal to register actions
filed by electronic means. When considering the applicant's
compliance with the two-month time-limit laid down in section 53(3)
of the Constitutional Court Act 1993, the Constitutional Court
applied that provision in two different manners (see paragraphs 23-25
above).
Before
the Constitutional Court the applicant company was not entitled to,
and did not, complain of an infringement of its rights in
abstracto on the ground that
domestic courts lacked the equipment for processing electronic
submissions. It actually complained that the refusal by individual
district courts to register and process its specific actions was in
breach of its right of access to a court. The Court therefore finds
relevant the applicant's argument that it could reasonably be
expected that the time-limit laid down in section 53(3) of the
Constitutional Court Act 1993 would be counted from the date of
notification of the district courts' refusal to register its specific
submissions.
The
Constitutional Court itself took such an approach in the majority of
cases brought by the applicant company. The Court has been provided
with no explanation as to the difference in the application of the
relevant statutory requirement in cases with a similar factual and
legal background which were all brought within a relatively short
time span.
It
is also relevant that the applicant company, on 19 October
2006, resubmitted to several courts its actions which had been
originally lodged on 31 March 2006. It did so on the ground that
officials of the Ministry of Justice had stated in the meantime that
the courts were in a position to register such actions. However, the
ordinary courts again refused to register the actions, indicating
that they lacked the equipment to receive and process submissions
made and signed electronically. The applicant company then lodged a
complaint with the Constitutional Court within the statutory
time-limit of two months.
In
these circumstances, the Court cannot accept the Government's
objection that the applicant company had lodged its constitutional
complaints belatedly and had thus failed to exhaust domestic
remedies.
As
regards the Government's objection that it was open to the applicant
company to claim damages under Act no. 514/2003 Coll. on
liability for damage resulting from the exercise of public authority,
the Court reiterates that where there is a choice of remedies, the
exhaustion requirement must be applied to reflect the practical
realities of the applicant's position, so as to ensure the effective
protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention.
Moreover, an applicant who has used a remedy which is apparently
effective and sufficient cannot be required also to have tried others
that were also available but probably no more likely to be successful
(see Adamski v. Poland (dec.), no. 6973/04,
27 January 2009, with further references).
The
Court considers that the applicant company's choice to seek redress
before the Constitutional Court was reasonable. The Constitutional
Court, as the supreme authority charged with the protection of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in Slovakia, had jurisdiction to
examine the alleged breach of the right forming the subject of the
applicant company's complaints before the Court and to provide
redress to the company if appropriate (see also paragraph 26 above).
Its judgments on the merits of 25 other cases brought by the
applicant company concerning the same issue are in line with this
conclusion (see paragraphs 24-25 above). Accordingly, the applicant
company was not required to have recourse to the other remedy
referred to by the Government.
For
the above reasons, the Government's objections to the admissibility
of the applications must be rejected.
The
Court further considers, in the light of the parties' submissions,
that the complaint raises serious issues of fact and law under the
Convention, the determination of which requires an examination of the
merits. The Court concludes therefore that this complaint is not
manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of
the Convention. No other ground for declaring it inadmissible has
been established. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
The
applicant argued that the Code of Civil Procedure entitled parties to
proceedings to freely choose any of the means mentioned in Article 42
§ 1 for making a submission to a court. Given the extremely high
number of individual proceedings which it intended to institute,
namely more than 70,000, filing the actions in electronic form was
the only practical possibility of doing so. Each action was
accompanied by a number of annexes and supporting documents. If
printed, the documents recorded on the DVDs would fill 43,800,000
pages.
With
reference to several findings of the Constitutional Court concluding
that the applicant company's right of access to a court had been
violated the Government admitted that the applicant company's
complaint in the cases under consideration raised serious questions
of facts and law and was not manifestly ill-founded. It was relevant,
however, that the domestic law permitted the filing of actions by
other means than electronically. For example, the applicant company
had submitted its actions on paper to the Svidník
District Court on 14 December 2006.
The Court reiterates that the Convention is intended
to guarantee rights that are not theoretical or illusory, but
practical and effective. This is particularly relevant with regard to
Article 6 § 1, in view of the prominent place held in a
democratic society by the right to a fair trial. It must also be
borne in mind that hindrance can contravene the Convention just like
a legal impediment (see Andrejeva v. Latvia [GC],
no. 55707/00, § 98, ECHR 2009-..., with
further references).
The
right of access to a court is an inherent aspect of the safeguards
enshrined in Article 6. It secures to everyone the right to have a
claim relating to his civil rights and obligations brought before a
court. Where the individual's access is
limited either by operation of law or in fact, the Court will examine
whether the limitation imposed impaired the essence of the right and,
in particular, whether it pursued a legitimate aim and there was a
reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed
and the aim sought to be achieved (for recapitulation of the relevant
case-law see, for example, Ashingdane v. the United
Kingdom, 28 May 1985, § 57, Series A no. 93 and
Markovic and Others v. Italy [GC], no. 1398/03, §§ 98 99,
ECHR 2006 XIV).
In
the present case the applicant company lodged or intended to lodge a
large number of actions. They concerned several tens of thousands of
persons. If printed, the actions together with documents supporting
them would fill more than 40 million pages. In these circumstances,
the applicant company's choice as to the means of filing the
documents cannot be considered an abuse of process or otherwise
inappropriate.
The
ordinary courts, in 2006, refused to register the applicant's actions
recorded on DVDs. However, the Code of Civil Procedure had plainly
provided for electronic filing. The applicant company cannot be
reproached for having availed itself of that facility. Indeed, that
mode of lodging its actions was entirely in keeping with the volume
of cases which it wished to pursue through the courts. Although the
domestic courts pleaded their lack of technical equipment to process
the applicant's actions, the Court would recall that the possibility
of electronic filing had been incorporated in domestic law since 2002
(see paragraphs 18-21 above).
It is true that domestic law has
provided for other means of filing documents with courts. The Court
finds, however, that in the above circumstances the refusal
complained of imposed a disproportionate limitation on the
applicant's right to present its cases to a court in an effective
manner. In more than 20 other cases the
Constitutional Court reached the same conclusion and the Government
have not contested this. Furthermore, no relevant reason has been
cited by the Government or established by the Court which could serve
as justification for such hindrance.
The
foregoing considerations are sufficient to enable the Court to
conclude that in the present cases the applicant company's right of
access to a court has not been respected.
There
has accordingly been a violation of Article 6 § 1 of
the Convention.
II. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a
violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the
internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only
partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford
just satisfaction to the injured party.”
A. Damage
The
applicant company claimed 506,928,253.43 euros (EUR) in respect of
pecuniary damage. It also claimed EUR 4,681,069.49 in respect of
non-pecuniary damage, that is, approximately EUR 332 in respect of
each individual action submitted to the domestic courts (for further
details see Appendix II).
The
Government argued that there was no causal link between the alleged
breach of the Convention and the pecuniary damage claimed. They
considered the claim in respect of non-pecuniary damage to be
excessive.
The
Court notes that in the present case an award of just satisfaction
can only be based on the fact that the applicant company did not have
the benefit of its right of access to a court as guaranteed by
Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. Whilst the Court cannot
speculate as to the outcome of the proceedings had the position been
otherwise, it does not find it unreasonable to regard the applicant
company as having suffered a loss of real opportunities (see also
Yanakiev v. Bulgaria, no. 40476/98, § 88,
10 August 2006, with further references). Ruling on an
equitable basis, the Court awards the applicant company EUR 10,000,
plus any tax that may be chargeable, for all heads of damage taken
together.
The
Court further reiterates that a judgment in which it finds a
violation of the Convention or its Protocols imposes on the
respondent State a legal obligation not just to pay those concerned
the sums awarded by way of just satisfaction, but also to choose,
subject to supervision by the Committee of Ministers, the general
and/or, if appropriate, individual measures to be adopted in its
domestic legal order to put an end to the violation found by the
Court and make all feasible reparation for its consequences in such a
way as to restore as far as possible the situation existing before
the breach (see Lungoci v. Romania, no. 62710/00,
§ 55, 26 January 2006, with further references).
In
the case of a violation of Article 6 of the Convention, the applicant
should as far as possible be put in the position he or she would have
been in had the requirements of this provision not been disregarded.
The most appropriate form of redress in cases like the present ones,
where an applicant has not had access to a tribunal because of an
unjustified refusal to register its actions, would be to register the
original submissions as if they had been filed on the date when the
applicant company had submitted them to the courts concerned for the
first time and to deal with them in keeping with all the requirements
of a fair trial (see, mutatis mutandis, Yanakiev
v. Bulgaria cited above, §§ 89 and 90). The
Court has noted in this connection that the same approach was taken
by the Constitutional Court in the cases in which it found a
violation of the applicant company's right of access to a court and
that the Slovak courts now have at their disposal the necessary
equipment for processing submissions filed by means of electronic
devices.
B. Costs and expenses
The
applicant company also claimed EUR 924,685.94 for the costs and
expenses incurred before the domestic courts and EUR 96,047.20 for
those incurred before the Court (for further details see Appendix
II).
The
Government contested the claim in respect of the domestic
proceedings. In their view the sum claimed in respect of the
Convention proceedings was overstated.
According
to the Court's case-law, an applicant is entitled to the
reimbursement of costs and expenses only in so far as it has been
shown that these have been actually and necessarily incurred and were
reasonable as to quantum. In the present case, regard being had to
the information in its possession and the above criteria, the Court
considers it reasonable to award the sum of EUR 8,000 covering costs
under all heads.
C. Default interest
The
Court considers it appropriate that the default interest should be
based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to
which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT UNANIMOUSLY
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications admissible;
Holds that there has been a violation of Article
6 § 1 of the Convention;
Holds
(a) that
the respondent State is to pay the applicant company, within three
months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in
accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention,
the following amounts:
(i) EUR
10,000 (ten thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in
respect of pecuniary and non pecuniary damage, and
(ii) EUR
8,000 (eight thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to
the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses;
(b) that
from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement
simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal
to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the
default period plus three percentage points;
Dismisses the remainder of the applicant
company's claim for just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 16 June 2009, pursuant to
Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Lawrence Early Nicolas Bratza
Registrar President
Appendix I
Application
No.
|
Date
lodged
|
District
Court
|
Date
of the action
|
District
Court's reply
|
Constitutional
Court's decision
|
No.
|
Date
of adoption
|
Date
of service
|
54252/07
|
05/12/2007
|
Veľký
Krtíš
|
19/10/2006
|
31/10/2006
|
III. ÚS 142/07
|
17/05/2007
|
11/06/2007
|
|
|
Rimavská
Sobota
|
19/10/2006
|
28/11/2006
|
III.
ÚS 143/07
|
17/05/2007
|
11/06/2007
|
3274/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Dolný
Kubín
|
19/10/2006
|
10/11/2006
|
III.
ÚS 130/07
|
15/05/2007
|
30/07/2007
|
3377/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Humenné
|
19/10/2006
|
24/10/2006
|
II.
ÚS 139/07
|
06/06/2007
|
27/08/2007
|
3505/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Levice
|
19/10/2006
|
24/10/2006
|
II.
ÚS 138/07
|
06/06/2007
|
27/08/2007
|
3526/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Trenčín
|
19/10/2006
|
23/10/2006
|
III.
ÚS 129/07
|
15/05/2007
|
30/07/2007
|
3741/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Nové
Zámky
|
19/10/2006
|
30/10/2006
|
III.
ÚS 131/07
|
15/05/2007
|
30/07/2007
|
3786/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Nové
Zámky
|
24/07/2006
|
30/10/2006
|
III.
ÚS 253/07
|
27/09/2007
|
29/10/2007
|
3807/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Bardejov
|
19/10/2006
|
13/11/2006
|
II.
ÚS 132/07
|
06/06/2007
|
27/07/2007
|
3824/08
|
17/01/2008
|
Lučenec
|
19/10/2006
|
23/10/2006
|
II.
ÚS 133/07
|
06/06/2007
|
27/07/2007
|
15055/08
|
25/02/2008
|
KeZmarok
|
24/07/2006
|
08/09/2006
|
III.
ÚS 252/07
|
27/09/2007
|
31/10/2007
|
29548/08
|
10/06/2008
|
Rimavská
Sobota
|
24/07/2006
|
01/08/2006
|
III.
ÚS 320/07
|
03/12/2007
|
20/02/2008
|
29551/08
|
10/06/2008
|
Trnava
|
19/10/2006
|
20/10/2006
|
I.
ÚS 39/08
|
07/02/2008
|
28/03/2008
|
29552/08
|
10/06/2008
|
Humenné
|
24/07/2006
|
12/10/2006
|
III.
ÚS 323/07
|
03/12/2007
|
18/02/2008
|
29555/08
|
10/06/2008
|
PovaZ.
Bystrica
|
19/10/2006
|
27/10/2006
|
III.
ÚS 322/07
|
03/12/2007
|
20/02/2008
|
29557/08
|
10/06/2008
|
Svidník
|
24/07/2006
|
22/09/2006
|
III.
ÚS 321/07
|
03/12/2007
|
21/02/2008
|
Appendix II
Claims
for just satisfaction (Article 41 of the Convention)
Application
No.
|
Pecuniary
damage (EUR)
|
Non-pecuniary
damage (EUR)
|
Costs
and expenses (EUR)
|
Domestic proceedings
|
Convention proceedings
|
54252/07
(DC V.
Krtíš)
|
19,255,405.30
|
155,015.60
|
30,778.06
|
6,002.95
|
54252/07
(DC Rim. Sobota)
|
78,030,943.04
|
659,895.11
|
129,936.39
|
6,002.95
|
3274/08
|
20,936,573.72
|
220,739.56
|
43,686.24
|
6,002.95
|
3377/08
|
32,613,332.67
|
289,782.91
|
57,246.36
|
6,002.95
|
3505/08
|
43,794,235.54
|
355,838.81
|
70,219.73
|
6,002.95
|
3526/08
|
54,701,275.97
|
513,177.99
|
101,121.15
|
6,002.95
|
3741/08
|
49,770,796.99
|
398,658.97
|
78,629.61
|
6,002.95
|
3786/08
|
18,811,070.84
|
236,672.64
|
46,815.50
|
6,002.95
|
3807/08
|
17,989,964.91
|
160,057.73
|
31,764.36
|
6,002.95
|
3824/08
|
60,172,870.94
|
474,009.16
|
93,428.39
|
6,002.95
|
15055/08
|
6,465,958.97
|
79,001.53
|
15,848.89
|
6,002.95
|
29548/08
|
23,034,356.70
|
300,073.03
|
59,267.33
|
6,002.95
|
29551/08
|
45,424,787.56
|
447,454.03
|
88,212.96
|
6,002.95
|
29552/08
|
12,461,352.65
|
129,788.22
|
25,823.40
|
6,002.95
|
29555/08
|
19,632,796.26
|
206,798.11
|
40,948.14
|
6,002.95
|
29557/08
|
3,832,531.37
|
54,106.09
|
10,959.43
|
6,002.95
|
Total
|
506,928,253.43
|
4,681,069.49
|
924,685.94
|
96,047.20
|