Hogoiu and Others v. Romania

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 50042/07 Ion HOGOIU and Others against Romania and 5 other applications (see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 28 January 2016 as a Committee composed of:

Vincent A. De Gaetano, President, Egidijus Kūris, Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,

and Karen Reid, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,

Having regard to the declarations submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.

The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).

THE LAW

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

After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make unilateral declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.

The Government acknowledged the excessive length of civil proceedings. They offered to pay the applicants the amounts detailed in the appended table and invited the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, from the 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.

The payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.

The Court has not received a response from the applicants which accepts the terms of the unilateral declaration.

The Court observes that Article 37 § 1 (c) enables it to strike a case out of its list if:

“for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications”.

Thus, it may strike out applications under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicants wish the examination of the cases to be continued (see the principles emerging from the Court’s case-law, and in particular the Tahsin Acar v. Turkey judgment ([GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75 ‑ 77, ECHR 2003-VI)).

The Court has established clear and extensive case-law concerning complaints relating to the excessive length of civil proceedings (see, for example, Vlad and Others v. Romania, nos. 40756/06, 41508/07 and 50806/07, 26 November 2013).

Noting the admissions contained in the Government’s declarations as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications (Article 37 § 1 (c)).

In the light of the above considerations, the Court is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the applications (Article 37 § 1 in fine ).

Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declarations, the applications may be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention ( Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases 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 declarations and of the arrangements for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;

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

Done in English and notified in writing on 18 February 2016.

Karen Reid Vincent A. De Gaetano Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention

(excessive length of civil proceedings)

No.

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant name

Date of birth

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Date of receipt of applicant’s comments, if any

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses

per applicant / household

(in euros) [i]

50042/07

29/10/2007

Household

(3 applicants)

Ion HOGOIU

18/06/1950

Liviu-Petre HOGOIU

23/09/1982

Oana-Mariana HOGOIU

27/11/1984

Household

(3 applicants)

Țipilica DIACONU

19/08/1963

Edmond-Ionuț DIACONU

15/11/1984

Andrei-Răzvan DIACONU

30/03/1986

02/07/2014

12/10/2015

1,620

21496/11

25/03/2011

Household

(3 applicants)

Marian CRĂCIUN

02/09/1975

Adriana CRĂCIUN

04/08/1974

Săndina CRĂCIUN

21/07/1953

Cristina VLAD

26/08/1979

Maria ANDREI

18/11/1936

20/08/2015

12/11/2015

1,890

64967/13

04/10/2013

Ronaldo BARTOLUCCI

15/03/1957

26/08/2015

06/11/2015

450

73489/13

15/11/2013

Household

Cornel COJOCARU

16/08/1957

Emanuela COJOCARU

16/07/1972

29/07/2015

11/09/2015

2,160

4370/14

19/12/2013

Household

(2 applicants)

Șerban-Mihai-Constantin FLORIȚA

10/01/1947

Corina Eugenia FLORIȚA

15/11/1947

Household

(2 applicants)

Ioana MISĂILĂ

23/06/1936

Daniela-Iulia-Ioana BURNEI

03/04/1968

Household

(2 applicants)

Ingrid-Wilfede ZIEGLER

10/03/1985

Constanța-Stela ZIEGLER

05/03/1950

Grigore IONISIE

06/01/1951

Ioan ISPAS

05/01/1947

Adriana AVRAM

18/07/1955

Marius-Ilie MĂTIEȘ

05/05/1947

Tiberius Josef VILICS

21/10/1954

Constantin MORAR

01/02/1934

Mărioara HAVRINCEA

08/09/1950

Ada BACIU

21/12/1956

03/08/2015

11/09/2015

990

11086/14

29/01/2014

Dumitru CANĂ

19/02/1952

17/08/2015

06/11/2015

1,080

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