European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

 

FIFTH SECTION

 

 

 

CASE OF DYACHENKO AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

(Application no. 26417/08 and 8 others -

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

6 July 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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




In the case of Dyachenko and Others v. Ukraine,

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

          Nona Tsotsoria, President,
          Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer,
          Lәtif Hüseynov, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 15 June 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. In application no. 9783/09, the applicant 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 applicants in application no. 26417/08 concerning the proceedings between 27 March 1997 and 10 September 1997 are incompatible ratione temporis and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention, as the Convention entered into force with respect to Ukraine on 11 September 1997.

8. 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).

9.  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.

10.  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.

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

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

III.  OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW

13.  In application no. 9783/09, the applicant submitted another complaint which also raised issues under the Convention, in accordance with the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). This complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor is it inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, it must be declared admissible. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that it also discloses a violation of the Convention in the light of its findings in Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine (no. 40450/04, 15 October 2009).

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 raised by the applicants in application no. 26417/08 concerning the proceedings between 27 March 1997 and 10 September 1997, inadmissible;

 

3.  Declares the complaints concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings, the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law and the other complaint in application no. 9783/09 under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible;

 

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

 

5.  Holds that there has been a violation as regards the other complaint in application no. 9783/09 raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);

 

6.  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.

 

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

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

        Liv Tigerstedt                                                                Nona Tsotsoria
Acting Deputy 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	Other complaints under well-established case-law	Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant / household (in euros)[1]
1.	26417/08 28/05/2008 (4 applicants)	Household Sergey Aleksandrovich Dyachenko 13/08/1955   Aleksandra Ivanovna Dyachenko 05/07/1957   Aleksey Sergeyevich Dyachenko 03/07/1983   Vladimir Sergeyevich Dyachenko 07/03/1986		11/09/1997	28/12/2007	10 years, 3 months and 18 days 3 levels of jurisdiction		3,100
2.	36795/08 21/07/2008	Larisa Vasilyevna Zinovatnaya 30/08/1958		26/12/2001	19/12/2007	5 years, 11 months and 24 days 3 levels of jurisdiction		500
3.	9783/09 05/02/2009	Mykola Viktorovych Bychok 07/02/1948		04/01/2001	25/10/2006	5 years, 9 months and 22 days 2 levels of jurisdiction	Prot. 1 Art. 1 - interference with peaceful enjoyment of possessions: The judgment of the Antratsytivskyy Local Court of Lugansk Region of 30 December 2005 enforced on 29 October 2008	2,600
4.	826/11 01/12/2010 (3 applicants)	Household Yevdokiya Grygorivna Vasyliv 12/07/1928   Orest Ostapovych Tsyurak 09/02/1974   Ganna Stepanivna Vasyliv 20/10/1951		18/09/2002	21/02/2013	10 years, 5 months and 4 days 3 levels of jurisdiction		2,400
5.	50131/11 22/07/2011	Vitaliy Pavlovych Onyshchak 19/04/1952		21/02/2007	16/10/2014	7 years, 7 months and 26 days 2 levels of jurisdiction		2,100
6.	37112/13 03/06/2013	Roman Mykhaylovych Galimon 07/03/1976		10/06/2008	28/02/2013	4 years, 8 months and 19 days 2 levels of jurisdiction		1,200
7.	43345/13 26/06/2013	Yevgeniy Stepanovych Slysh 08/11/1938	Sergiy Volodymyrovych Vyatkin Merefa	18/10/2006	21/12/2012	6 years, 2 months and 4 days 3 levels of jurisdiction		400
8.	53634/13 08/08/2013	Inna Konstantinovna Vdovenko 19/08/1976	Vladimir Ivanovich Fedorets Zaporizhzhya	05/09/2007	18/04/2013	5 years, 7 months and 14 days 3 levels of jurisdiction		500
9.	44853/14 26/04/2014	Viktor Petrovych Kovalchuk 21/02/1952		11/09/1997     18/10/2000	10/06/1998     12/11/2013	9 months 3 levels of jurisdiction   13 years and 26 days 3 levels of jurisdiction		6,200

 




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