16771/23

FIRST SECTION CASE OF KAMARÁS AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY (Application no. 16771/23)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 30 November 2023   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Kamarás and Others v. Hungary, The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Krzysztof Wojtyczek, President,  Lətif Hüseynov,  Ivana Jelić, judges, and Attila Teplán, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 9 November 2023, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.  The case originated in an application against Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 1 April 2023. 2.  The applicants were represented by Mr V. Kodela, a lawyer practising in Budapest. 3.  The Hungarian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the application. THE FACTS 4.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the application are set out in the appended table. 5.  The applicants complained of the excessive length of civil proceedings. 6.  On 28 August 2023 the applicants’ representative informed the Court that the applicant Ms Józsefné Endrész had withdrawn her complaints. THE LAW ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION 7.  The Court finds at the outset that the applicant Ms Józsefné Endrész may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue the application (Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention). Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto which require the continued examination of the application in her regard. 8.  The remaining applicants complained that the length of the civil proceedings in question had been incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement. They relied on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which reads 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 ...” 9.  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 case of Gazsó v. Hungary, no. 48322/12, 16 July 2015, the Court found a violation of Article 6 of the Convention in relation to the length of judicial proceedings. 11.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of justifying the overall length of the proceedings at the national level. 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.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 13.  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.” 14.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law, the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY, Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention in regard of Ms Józsefné Endrész; Declares the remaining applicants’ complaints concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings admissible; Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings; Holds (a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amount 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 amount 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 30 November 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.  Attila Teplán Krzysztof Wojtyczek  Acting Deputy Registrar President       APPENDIX Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (excessive length of civil proceedings) Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth   Representative’s 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 (in euros)[1] 16771/23 01/04/2023 (194 applicants) Tibor Lajosné KAMARÁS   Sára Juliánna ALEXAY   Ferenc AMBRUS   Ferenc János ANDA   Tiborné ANTAL   Ferenc Nándorné APPELT   Károlyné BÁLINT   Jenőné BALOGH   Károlyné BALOGH   Istvánné BÁNLAKI   Anna Magdolna BARÓCSINÉ CSIK   Tibor BARTA   János BÁTOVSZKY   Piroska BECSKÉNÉ VIZHÁNYÓ   Adrien Mária BEDNÁRIKNÉ SZABÓ   Sámuel Lászlóné BÉKÉSI   Lászlóné BENÁK   Gézáné BENEDEK   Ferenc Árpád BENKŐ   István BEREGHSZÁSZY Katalin BÍRÓ   Edit BÓDI   Károly BOHANEK   József Ferenc BOROS   Jánosné BOZSÓ   Miklós László CSÉPÁNY   Zsolt Zoltán CSERHALMI   Valéria CSIZMAZIA   Zoltánné CSIZY   Attila CSONTOS   Sándor CZEGLÉDI   Andor Ferenc DALMADY Béla DÁVID   Gábor József DIETRICH   Richárd János DOBOS   Zsuzsánna GOMBOS   Éva Etelka EGYEDNÉ PETRÉNYI   Ferenc EVELI   Rezsőné EZER   Lászlóné FÁBIÁN   Iván László FAJNOR   Sándorné FALKAY   Mihályné FAZEKAS   Ferenc FEHÉRPATAKY Tamás FEKETE   Gábor FELSZEGHY   Andrásné FERENCZY   László FODOR   Józsefné FÖLDVÁRI   Zsuzsanna FÜLÖP   Pál GALYAS   Józsefné GAZDAG   Lajos Tamás GEREBEN   Klára Mária GICZI   Ágnes Szilvia GODÓ   Imre GOMBOS Lászlóné GONDOS   Ágnes GRÖBNÉ KOVÁCS   József GULYÁS   Károly GYÁNYI   Zsuzsanna Szandra GYŐREI   Józsefné HAJNAL   Sándor HALASI   Éva HALÁSZ   Györgyné HALÁSZ   József HARTMANN   László HARTMANN   László HAVAI Tiborné HELMICH   Ferencné HERCZEG   Ottóné HERCZEGFALVY   András Sándorné HERMANN   Ágota HOCHWART   Ferenc HŐNIG   János HORVÁTH   János ILLÉS   József IPACS   Ágnes JANKÓ   Andrea JASZICZKY   Béla JORGA Ernőné JUHÁSZ   Ilona Rozália KADLECSIK   Attila István KÁLNAI   Gábor KERÉNYI   János KÉRI   Antal KISS   Anna Emese KISSNÉ FÁTRAI   Gyula Lajos KOCSIS   Marianna KOCSIS TÓTH   Istvánné KOCZKA   Lajos István KONCZ   Ottóné KÖRMENDI Gabriella KORPÁSNÉ BALCZER   Éva Aranka KORVAS   Péterné KOSA   Tibor KŐSZEG   Tamás KOSZKA   Erzsébet KOVÁCS   Zoltán KOVÁCS   György KŐVÁRI   Ferenc KREISZ   Ferencné KREISZ   Márton Tibor LABUDA   Klára LAJTAINÉ SIMON Anna LAKNERFINÉ PÁSZTOR   Béla Andrásné LÁSZLÓ   László LECZKI   János LEITOLD   Anna LÉZU   Lászlóné LUKÁCS   Miklós MADACSAY   Ilona MAGYAR   Györgyi MAGYARY   Gábor MAJOROS   Gábor István MÁRTON   Károlyné MARZSIN Szabolcsné MELEGH   Gábor MERVEL   Mónika MÉSZÁROS   Józsefné METZ   Béláné MIHALÁK   László Zoltán MITNYIK   Csaba Gábor MOLNÁR   György Tiborné MOLNÁR   László MOLNÁR   Éva NAGY   Sándor Miklós NAGY   Tibor Miklósné NAGY Mária Margit NAGYNÉ SZAKMÁNY   Józsefné NÉMETI   Ödönné OBRUSÁNSZKI   Klára Márta ÓNODI   Dénes Mátyás PÁL   Mihályné PÁLINKÁS   László PALLÓS   József Ferencné PÁLYI   Róbert Tiborné PANKOVITS   István Zoltán PAP   Lajos PARASZT   Ilona PARIZSA Zsuzsanna Jolán PÉTER-SZABÓ   János Jakab PETRÁNYI   István POZSGAI   Lajosné PUPPÁN   Magdolna Margit RAJNAI   István REINHARDT   Gyuláné RÉTI   Józsefné RÉTI   Ferencné REZSONYA   Endre Pál RIVÓ   Pál SAUER   László SOÓS László Gézáné SRAMKÓ   József STUBÁN   János SZABÓ   Józsefné SZABÓ   László SZABÓ   István Rezső SZALATKAY   Judit SZALATKAY   Róbert László SZÁNTÓ   Erzsébet SZÉKELYNÉ SEPRÉNYI   Gizella SZENTPÉTERI   Rudolf Oszkár SZERENCSÉS   Béla SZILÁGYI Andrásné SZIRÁKI   László István SZIRÁKI   Anna Katalin SZÖLLŐSINÉ CSIKÓS   Jenő Ferenc SZOMBATH   Tamás István SZÓRÁD   Ferenc Antal TÖLGYESI   Lajosné TOLNAI   Éva TOMCSÁNYI   Lászlóné TORMA   Ágnes TÖRÖK   Istvánné TÖRÖK   Mihályné TÓTH Tivadar TÓTH   Eszter Margit URBÁNNÉ BEKE   Tünde Stefánia VAJDÁNÉ IDRÁNYI   Gyula VANCZÁK   Gábor VARGA   László Géza VARGA   László VARSÁNYI   Istvánné VÉGH   Miklós Jánosné VENESZ   Jenőné VILÁGOS   Ferenc Zoltánné VINKLER   Judit VINKLER Ádámné VÖLGYESI   Zoltán András VÖLGYESI   István VONA   Lászlóné VÖRÖS   Mária ZELEY   Péter ZENTAI   Kodela Viktor Budapest 06/04/2004   pending   More than 19 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 21 day(s) 1 level(s) of jurisdiction   2,000     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.