European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FIFTH SECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASE OF PAVLOV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

 

(Application no. 8237/06 and 13 other applications -

see appended table)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

5 November 2015

 

 

 

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.




In the case of Pavlov and Others v. Ukraine,

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

          Angelika Nußberger, President,
          Ganna Yudkivska,
          Vincent A. De Gaetano, judges,
and Karen Reid, Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 15 October 2015,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2.  The applications were communicated to the Ukrainian Government (“the Government”).

THE FACTS

3.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

4.  The applicants complained of the excessive length of civil proceedings and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. In some of the applications, the applicants also raised complaints under other provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

I.  JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

II.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 AND ARTICLE 13 OF THE CONVENTION

6.  The applicants complained that the length of the civil proceedings in question had been incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention, which read as follows:

Article 6 § 1

“In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ... everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by [a] ... tribunal ...”

Article 13

“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”

7.  The Court reiterates that the reasonableness of the length of proceedings must be assessed in the light of the circumstances of the case and with reference to the following criteria: the complexity of the case, the conduct of the applicants and the relevant authorities and what was at stake for the applicants in the dispute (see Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000-VII).

8.  In the leading cases of Svetlana Naumenko v. Ukraine, no. 41984/98, 9 November 2004, and Efimenko v. Ukraine, no. 55870/00, 18 July 2006, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

9.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the length of the proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement.

10.  The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy by which to submit their length-of-proceedings complaints.

11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 and of Article 13 of the Convention.

III.  REMAINING COMPLAINTS

12.  Some applicants raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

13.  The Court has examined the applications listed in the appended table and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of the applications is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.

IV.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

14.  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.”

15.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Svetlana Naumenko v. Ukraine, no. 41984/98, §§ 109 and 112, 9 November 2004), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

16.  The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate 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,

1.  Decides to join the applications;

 

2.  Declares the complaints concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law admissible, and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;

 

3.  Holds that there has been a violation of Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention;

 

4.  Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(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.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 5 November 2015, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

     Karen Reid                                                                   Angelika Nußberger
       Registrar                                                                              President

 




APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)

No.	Application no. Date of introduction	Applicant name Date of birth /	Representative name and location	Start of proceedings	End of proceedings	Total length Levels of jurisdiction	Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant / household (in euros)[1]
1.	8237/06 18/02/2006	Vasiliy Valisyevich PAVLOV 27/10/1942		01/04/2004	26/01/2010	5 years and 10 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	500
2.	18036/08 03/04/2008	Anatoliy Oleksandrovych ZELENENKYY 04/08/1957		11/09/1997	04/09/2006	9 years 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,300
3.	57511/09 20/10/2009	Viktor Grigoryevich DUPAK 24/05/1955		01/07/1999	30/06/2009	10 years 3 levels of jurisdiction	2,400
4.	22809/12 09/04/2012	Grygoriy Viktorovych KRAMAR 28/01/1969		01/05/1999	28/10/2011	12 years and 6 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	3,600
5.	54439/12 07/08/2012	Lidiya Zosimovna SIMENICHENKO 28/04/1945		01/06/1999	15/02/2012	12 years and 8 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	5,500
6.	62350/12 21/09/2012	Raisa Timofeyevna RUSSAKOVA 17/12/1939		24/05/1999         12/11/2008	20/12/2003         07/02/2012	4 years and 7 months 3 levels of jurisdiction   3 years and 3 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,200
7.	75716/12 21/11/2012	Vladimir Grigoryevich POUKH 10/09/1946		06/03/2006	01/06/2012	6 years and 3 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	600
8.	78970/12 28/11/2012	Grigoriy Nikolayevich SHEVCHENKO 15/01/1949		28/04/2005	05/07/2012	7 years and 2 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,200
9.	80842/12 01/12/2012	Sergiy Anatoliyovych DANILOV 03/03/1956		03/04/2006	25/02/2013	6 years and 11 months 2 levels of jurisdiction	1,300
10.	8362/13 24/01/2013	Larysa Pavlivna CHORNA 18/11/1956 Aleksandr Anatolyevich SHYYAN 02/03/1977	Yakymenko Sergiy Georgiyovych Kryvyy Rig	01/01/2007	04/02/2013	6 years and 1 month 3 levels of jurisdiction	500
11.	23815/13 12/11/2012	Volodymyr Volodymyrovych PAVLIV 13/08/1952		25/10/2005	22/05/2012	6 years and 7 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	600
12.	31335/13 19/04/2013	Borys Oleksiyovych NIKOLENKO 05/04/1938		13/04/2004	29/10/2012	8 years and 7 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,800
13.	36794/13 20/05/2013	Tatyana Valentinovna NALIVAYKO 07/05/1961		07/02/2005	28/11/2012	7 years and 10 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	800
14.	69357/13 24/10/2013	Nataliya Leontiyivna TARAN 18/06/1962		06/01/2004	27/03/2013	9 years and 3 months 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,300

 




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[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.