Palágyi and Others v. Hungary

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 34384/24 Imre PALÁGYI and Others against Hungary and 2 other applications

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 19 February 2026 as a Committee composed of:

Stéphane Pisani , President , Juha Lavapuro, Hugh Mercer , judges ,

and Attila Teplán, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications against Hungary 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,

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 and their representatives 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 Hungarian 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 applicants were sent the terms of the Government’s unilateral declarations several weeks before the date of this decision. The Court has not received a response from the applicants accepting the terms of the declarations.

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 application”.

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, in particular, the Tahsin Acar v. Turkey judgment (preliminary objections) [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, Gazsó v. Hungary, no. 48322/12, 16 July 2015 and Csatári and Others v. Hungary [Committee], no. 18514/24, 20 May 2025).

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 12 March 2026.

Attila Teplán Stéphane Pisani Acting Deputy 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’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

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

(in euros) [1]

34384/24

26/08/2024

(12 applicants)

Imre PALÁGYI

1940

József FEHÉR

1951

József GUTTYÁN

1951

János KISS

1952

András KORMOS

1942

Pál KOVÁCS

1970

János LOVÁSZ

1950

Lukács MAJLÁTH

1962

Sándor NÉMETI

1956

Illésné NYESŐ

1934

Mihály Károlyné SZILÁGYI

1961

Emil TÓTH

1977

Pintér Fruzsina

Győr

02/12/2025

15/01/2026

200

37247/24

21/11/2024

(23 applicants)

Ferenc PÁL

1956

Jánosné BAGI

1944

Istvánné BÖRÖNTE

1964

Lukács BOROS

1959

László FEJES

1972

Csilla GAJDOSNÉ KANÁLOS

1973

Anita KÁTAINÉ MARKÓ

1979

Antal KUCZORA

1950

Györgyné KÜRI

1932

Erzsébet LAJKÓNÉ TÓTH

1971

Anita LÁSZLÓ-MÓRA

1976

Csaba LUKÁCSI

1974

Márta MÉSZÁROSNÉ VAS

1965

Attila MÓRA

1969

Józsefné SIPOS

1954

János SZABÓ

1985

Zoltán SZATMÁRI

1970

Sándor SZÖLLŐSI

1942

Csaba TÁRNAI

1968

Imre TÓTH

1954

József TÓTH

1955

Andrea VAKHAL

1982

Erika VAKHAL

1971

Pintér Fruzsina

Győr

01/12/2025

15/01/2026

200

37356/24

03/12/2024

(29 applicants)

Fruzsina ZALAVÁRI

1983

Gábor Antal FARKAS

1957

Erzsébet HERCZEGNÉ VLAHOVICS

1960

László HOLECZ

1958

Tibor HORVÁTH

1956

Anasztázia IVÁNKOVICS

1975

Gábor József KARDOS

1954

Anita KISS

1969

Bernadett KISS

1974

József KOLTAI

1954

Csaba KRISTÓ

1978

Balázs LÁSZLÓ

1978

László NAGY

1967

Gábor PETHES

1983

Ildikó Erzsébet PETHESNÉ KOHUT

1957

Ilona SEBŐKNÉ NÉMETH

1945

István SZABÓ

1971

Tímea SZEITLNÉ SZENCZ

1974

Imre SZIPOLA

1950

István Jánosné SZÖRCSÖK

1947

Istvánné TAPODI

1954

Edit Ilona TÓTH

1954

Katalin TÓTH-NÉMETH

1964

Béla TÜSKE

1944

Erzsébet VALENTIN

1956

Krisztián VALTER

1976

Rózsa VARGA

1961

Tiborné VARGA

1957

Zoltán VARGA

1959

Incze Gergely

Budapest

02/12/2025

15/01/2026

200

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