European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FOURTH SECTION

 

 

 

 

CASE OF DUDNIKOV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

(Application no. 24686/07 and 8 others -

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

6 April 2017

 

 

 

 

 

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

 




In the case of Dudnikov and Others v. Ukraine,

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

          Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
          Egidijus Kūris,
          Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,
and Karen Reid, Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 16 March 2017,

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. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the 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 principally 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.  After examining all the material submitted to it, the Court considers that the complaints raised by the applicant in application no. 1326/08 concerning the proceedings between 3 February 1997 and 10 September 1997 must be dismissed as incompatible ratione temporis, the Convention having entered into force in respect of Ukraine on 11 September 1997.

8.  Also, the complaints raised by the applicant in application no. 45407/10 concerning the proceedings between 23 March and 23 November 2011 must be dismissed as they do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

9.  As regards the other complaints raised under Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention, 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).

10.  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.

11.  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.

12.  The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.

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

III.  REMAINING COMPLAINTS

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

15.  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 either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

IV.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

16.  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.”

17.  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.

18.  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 raised by the applicant in application no. 1326/08 concerning the proceedings between 3 February 1997 and 10 September 1997, and the complaints raised by the applicant in application no. 45407/10 concerning the proceedings between 23 March and 23 November 2011, inadmissible;

 

3.  Declares the other 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;

 

4.  Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings;

 

5.  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.

 

6.  Dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 6 April 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

          Karen Reid                                                         Vincent A. De Gaetano
            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	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.	24686/07 06/06/2007	Anatoliy Andreyevich Dudnikov 22/12/1938	06/12/1999	03/01/2007	7 years and 29 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,200
2.	45673/07 10/10/2007	Yaroslav Valentynovych Dobrokhanskyy 26/09/1971	11/08/2003	12/06/2011	7 years, 10 months and 2 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	800
3.	1326/08 13/12/2007	Valentina Vlasovna Bogatova 03/01/1948	11/09/1997	08/05/2007	9 years, 7 months and 28 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	2,400
4.	24811/08 12/05/2008	Mykola Vasylyovych Gumennyy 20/07/1948	28/11/2001     27/04/2009	16/12/2008     10/09/2010	7 years and 19 days 3 levels of jurisdiction   1 year, 4 months and 15 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	1,200
5.	30130/08 10/06/2008	Household Tatyana Mikhaylovna Tishchenko 28/06/1952 Nikolay Vladimirovich Tishchenko 14/04/1973 Vladimir Vladimirovich Tishchenko 11/11/1975	14/02/2001	17/12/2008	7 years, 10 months and 4 days 2 levels of jurisdiction	1,500
6.	46207/08 12/09/2008	Lyubov Oleksandrivna Kladko 07/04/1962	09/10/2000	13/03/2008	7 years, 5 months and 5 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	900
7.	5867/09 19/01/2009 (26 applicants)	Ganna Gerasymivna Yurchenko 11/06/1943 Yevgeniya Kyrylivna Grygoryan 11/05/1952 Larysa Kuzmivna Uporova 27/05/1959 Tosya Trokhymivna Ryasna 06/08/1938 Vira Grygorivna Grytsenko 09/02/1953 Anzhela Anatoliyivna Ivanichenko 04/01/1971 Lyudmyla Oleksandrivna Koropova 10/07/1944 Tetyana Vasylivna Bobukh 09/11/1954 Tetyana Kyrylivna Plakhotnyuk 10/08/1959 Svitlana Ivanivna Slipchenko 25/07/1966 Rayisa Mykolayivna Shemshur 10/09/1941 Lyubov Sergiyivna Martynova 24/10/1944 Nataliya Ivanivna Marunych 21/03/1957 Tamara Yevgenivna Ageyenko 03/10/1959 Iryna Valeriyivna Bryzhata 31/01/1972 Ganna Ivanivna Donets 15/10/1946 Tamara Ivanivna Kozinets 05/02/1944 Galyna Grygorivna Kotenko 16/09/1960 Nataliya Grygorivna Kravchenko 08/08/1958 Lyudmyla Danylivna Levytska 02/07/1958 Lyudmyla Volodymyrivna Medvedyeva 08/03/1958 Svitlana Saveliyivna Pastukhova 11/01/1949 Vira Volodymyrivna Petrenko 28/02/1963 Lyubov Mykolayivna Rogachova 23/04/1961 Valentyna Vasylivna Rudychenko 23/07/1948 Valentyna Pavlivna Sirenko 17/02/1949	14/04/2003     21/01/2008	25/09/2007     05/12/2011	4 years, 5 months and 12 days 3 levels of jurisdiction   3 years, 10 months and 15 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	900
8.	29330/09 20/05/2009	Lyubov Semenovna Pyshna 11/08/1960	01/04/1999	21/01/2009	9 years, 9 months and 21 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	2,400
9.	45407/10 15/07/2010	Galyna Ivanivna Myronova 17/10/1955	17/10/2003	09/11/2009	6 years and 24 days 3 levels of jurisdiction	350

 




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