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Cite as: [2010] ECHR 2122

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FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 14570/07 by Nikolay Ivanovich KOLOSAY
and 31 other applications against Ukraine
(see annex for other applications)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 14 December 2010 as a Committee composed of:

Rait Maruste, President,
Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,
Zdravka Kalaydjieva, judges,
and Stephen Phillips, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the dates specified in the table annexed below,

Having regard to the decision to apply the pilot-judgment procedure taken in the case of Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine (no. 40450/04, ECHR 2009 ... (extracts)),

Having regard to the unilateral declaration submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases, the applicants’ replies to it and the Government’s letter of 9 December 2010 amending the aforesaid declaration,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants are Ukrainian nationals whose names and dates of birth are set out in the table annexed below. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr Yuriy Zaytsev, of the Ministry of Justice.

On the dates set out in the table annexed below the domestic courts held for the applicants and ordered the authorities to pay various amounts to the applicants. These judgments became binding but the authorities delayed their enforcement.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complained about the delayed enforcement of the judgments in their favour.

THE LAW

The Court first considers that in accordance with Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court, the applications should be joined, given their common legal background.

Following the Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine pilot judgment cited above, in a letter dated 13 September 2010, the Government informed the Court of their unilateral declaration, signed on the same date, with a view to resolving the issue raised by the applications. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention. The declaration provided as follows:

“The Government of Ukraine acknowledge the excessive duration of the enforcement of the applicants’ judgments.

The Government are ready to pay to the applicants the outstanding debts according to the judgements of the national authorities, as well as to pay the applicants ex gratia the sums in accordance with annex no. 1 to this declaration.

The Government therefore invite the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases. They suggest that the present declaration might be accepted by the Court as “any other reason” justifying the striking out of the case of the Court’s list of cases, as referred to in Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

The sums ex gratia are to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. They 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 these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them 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.

This payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.”

In reply, the applicants expressed their agreement with the terms of the Government’s declaration. The majority of the applicants cast doubts as to whether the Government would comply with the terms of the unilateral declaration.

On 9 December 2010 the Government sent a letter expressing their intent to amend the above declaration and to include the provision that the ex gratia sums “be converted into the national currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement” in order to be able to effect the payment.

The Court reiterates that Article 37 of the Convention provides that it may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to one of the conclusions specified, under (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 1 of that Article. Article 37 § 1 in fine states:

“However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the protocols thereto so requires.”

The Court further reiterates that in its pilot judgment (Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine, cited above) it required Ukraine to

“grant adequate and sufficient redress, within one year from the date on which the present judgment [became] final, to all applicants [...] whose complaints about the prolonged non-enforcement of domestic decisions [had] been communicated to the respondent Government.”

In the same judgment the Court also held that

“Proceedings in cases which [had] already been communicated to the Government under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, but in which the Court [had] not yet decided on the merits, [would] be adjourned for [one year from the date on which this judgment became final]. ...

The decision to adjourn the above cases [would] be taken without prejudice to the Court’s power at any moment to declare inadmissible any such case or to strike it out of its list following a friendly settlement between the parties or the resolution of the matter by other means in accordance with Articles 37 or 39 of the Convention.”

In the light of the applicants’ agreement with the Government’s declaration, the Court considers that both Article 37 § 1 (b) and Article 37 § 1 (c) are relevant in the present case. The Court takes note that the parties have agreed terms for settling the cases. This, in its view, is in line with the pilot judgment (ibid., § 99 and point 6 of the operative part) and it finds no public policy reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications.

Accordingly, the applications should be struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to join the applications;

Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declaration in respect of the lengthy non-enforcement of the judgments in the applicants’ favour, the applicants’ comments thereon and the amendment to the aforesaid declaration;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (b) and (c) of the Convention.

Stephen Phillips Rait Maruste
Deputy Registrar President

ANNEX

No.	Appl. Number	Name(s) of the applicant(s), born in	Date of introduction	Domestic decisions about the lengthy non-enforcement of which the applicants complain (name of the court or of another authority, date of the decision)	Compensation offered (euro)
1	14570/07	KOLOSAY NIKOLAY IVANOVICH 1940	15/03/2007	1) 29.10.2004, Nova Kakhovka Court 2) 15.08.2003, Nova Kakhovka Court,	1,050
2	23636/08	KOMISARYK MARIYA IVANIVNA 1929	14/05/2008	06.02.2007, Zhmerinka Court	630
3	7380/09	PRYSHCHEPA LYUBOV VOLODYMYRIVNA 1948	28/01/2009	03.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
4	7428/09	POLISHCHUK IVAN PROPOKOVYCH 1942	28/01/2009	04.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
5	7433/09	FRANCHUK IVAN IVANOVYCH 1946	28/01/2009	26.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
6	7435/09	BORYSYUK ANATOLIY ROMANOVYCH 1937	29/01/2009	12.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
7	7468/09	MAZURASH OLEKSANDR MYKOLAYOVYCH 1960	29/01/2009	18.02.2008, Tetiyiv Court	450
8	8836/09	ABLAMSKA KATERYNA YURIYIVNA 1950	04/02/2009	29.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
9	9814/09	SHAMRAY VOLODYMYR VASYLYOVYCH 1934	02/02/2009	28.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
10	9817/09	BANDURYST LEONID PETROVYCH 1963	02/02/2009	10.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
11	9823/09	NEKUSH OLEKSANDR PAVLOVYCH 1955	02/02/2009	12.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
12	10277/09	VIZNYAK LYUDMYLA VOLODYMYRIVNA 1957	09/02/2009	19.02.2008, Tetiyiv Court	450
13	10281/09	MAZURENKO VALENTYNA DMYTRIVNA 1953	10/02/2009	10.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
14	12611/09	OVCHINNIKOV YURIY MYKOLAYOVYCH 1957	24/02/2009	29.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
15	12653/09	POPRUGA YURIY MYKOLAYOVYCH 1964	20/02/2009	06.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
16	13002/09	KOBYLETSKA VALENTYNA STANISLAVIVNA 1935	25/02/2009	21.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
17	14285/09	STEPANYUK ANATOLIY GRYGOROVYCH 1959	03/03/2009	30.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
18	16615/09	SHOSTOPAL VOLODYMYR STEPANOVYCH 1939	17/03/2009	06.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
19	17941/09	SUKHATSKA NADIYA MYKOLAYIVNA 1950	17/03/2009	26.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
20	21292/09	KHIRSA ARKADIY GRYGOROVYCH 1966	30/03/2009	16.12.2002, Korosten Court	1,395
21	33618/09	MUDRENOK YEVGENIY DMYTROVYCH 1956	12/06/2009	04.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
22	33660/09	MELNYK VASYL FEDOROVYCH 1939	08/06/2009	16.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
23	36872/09	KAMINSKYY VOLODYMYR MYKOLAYOVYCH 1949	25/06/2009	11.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
24	38451/09	POVSTYANKO VOLODYMYR MYKOLAYOVYCH 1953	30/06/2009	1.) 13.09.2007, Oleksandriya Court, as amended by the Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal on 07.10.2008 2.) 15.05.2008, Oleksandriya Court, amended by the Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal on 20.01.2009 3.) 19.05.2008, Oleksandriya Court as amended by the Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal on 06.11.2008	345
25	44406/09	TESLENKO VALERIY TYMOFIYOVYCH 1948	03/08/2009	1.) 01.04.2008, Oleksandriya Court as amended by the Dnipropetrovsk Administrative Court of Appeal on 04.12.2008 2.) 28.05.2008, Oleksandriyskyy Town District Court of Kirovograd Region	390
26	46267/09	ARKHYPOV SERGIY MYKOLAYOVYCH 1961	18/08/2009	19.05.2008, Tetiyiv Court	405
27	48995/09	SKHAB VOLODYMYR VASYLYOVYCH 1942	26/08/2009	28.05.2008, Tetiyiv Court	405
28	48999/09	KOSTENKO NINA IVANIVNA 1940	27/08/2009	21.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
29	51351/09	CHOPYK OLEKSANDR MYKHAYLOVYCH 1956	10/09/2009	10.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
30	52705/09	SHANDURSKYY PETRO ANTONOVYCH 1943	22/09/2009	06.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480
31	54561/09	ALEKSYEYEVA MARIYA OLEKSIYIVNA 1945	01/10/2009	28.11.2007, Tetiyiv Court	495
32	55344/09	KRYUKOV VALERIY MYKOLAYOVYCH 1963	08/10/2009	10.12.2007, Tetiyiv Court	480