CASE OF GAZSÓ AGAINST HUNGARY AND 35 OTHER CASES

Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2019)152
Execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
Gazsó group (list in Appendix) against Hungary
 
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 6 June 2019 at the 1348th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)
 
 The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides that the Committee supervises the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” and “the Court”);
 
Having regard to the considerable number of judgments of the Court finding violations of Article 6, paragraph 1, and in some of these judgments also violations of Article 13 of the Convention, due to the excessive length of civil and criminal proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in this respect in Hungary;
 
Recalling that the first case of this kind became final in 2003 and the problem has thus persisted for more than 15 years, and that in view of the scale of the problem the Court delivered a pilot judgment in the case of Gazsó which set 16 October 2016 as deadline for the introduction of “an effective domestic remedy or combination of such remedies”;
 
Recalling that excessive delays in the administration of justice constitute a serious danger for respect for the rule of law, resulting in a denial of the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Convention;
 
Reiterating the additional undue burden imposed on the Court due to the high number of similar cases pending and the new similar applications that are being lodged with the Court, and the serious threat to the effectiveness of the Convention system arising from the respondent State’s failure to abide by the obligations deriving from a pilot judgment;
 
Bearing in mind that the Committee, in its Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2018)106, called upon the  authorities to redouble their efforts to ensure that the legislative process envisaged for the introduction of a compensatory remedy for excessively lengthy court proceedings is completed in line with the timetable then presented, i.e. by 31 October 2018;
 
Recalling that in October 2018 a bill introducing a compensatory remedy for excessively lengthy judicial proceedings was pending before Parliament but that its adoption had to be postponed with a view to aligning it with the requirements of the Convention and the Court’s case-law; that since December 2018 the authorities have been reviewing the bill; and that despite the Committee’s urgent call at its 1340th meeting (March 2019) (DH), to date neither a concrete timetable for the legislative process nor a translation of the revised bill has been received;
 
Likewise bearing in mind the authorities’ active co-operation with the Secretariat and their constructive approach with a view to aligning the bill with the requirements of the Convention and the Court’s case-law;
 
Noting with disappointment that despite their previous apparent determination to bring the legislative process to a close, the authorities merely announced the adoption of a bill by 31 December 2019, and underlining with serious concern that, by October 2019, three years will have passed since the expiry of the deadline set by the Court in its pilot judgment;
 
Emphasising that Hungary is one of the very few, remaining member States faced with the issue of excessively lengthy judicial proceedings which has not yet introduced an effective remedy in this respect;
Stressing that a strong and firm commitment of the respondent State’s authorities, involving the political key actors at the highest level, is required in order to fulfil their obligations under the Convention, to adopt the necessary legislation and resolve this problem;
 
Underlining the obligation of every State, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by the final judgments of the European Court in any case to which they are a party, fully, effectively and promptly;
 
STRONGLY URGED the Hungarian authorities to accelerate and conclude the law-making process in order to introduce a compensatory remedy for excessively lengthy court proceedings which is in full conformity with Convention standards as established by the Court’s case-law;
 
URGENTLY CALLED on the authorities to provide, by the end of June 2019, a concrete timetable (specifying the different legislative steps envisaged) for bringing the legislative process to a close, to submit a translation of the revised bill without further delay and to continue to keep the Committee informed, on a monthly basis, about all relevant developments in the legislative process so as to allow the Committee to continuously monitor the progress achieved;
 
DECIDED to resume examination of this item, in the light of the information received from the authorities, at one of its next Human Rights meetings and at the latest, at its 1362nd meeting (December 2019) (DH).
 
Appendix: list of cases
 
Application
Case
Judgment of
Final on
48322/12
GAZSÓ
16/07/2015
16/10/2015
5766/05
SCHWARTZ AND OTHERS
03/11/2009
1/12/2009
33795/08
MAGYAR CEMENT KFT
28/05/2013
28/05/2013
25065/09
DÖMÖTÖR
22/10/2013
22/10/2013
36630/11
BALOGH
09/02/2016
09/02/2016
42329/09
VARGA
22/03/2016
22/03/2016
76928/11
MÁTYUS
04/10/2016
04/10/2016
2240/12+
SZEBELLÉDI AND OTHERS AND 2 OTHER APPLICATIONS
20/10/2016
20/10/2016
60670/11+
KHARON KFT AND FREHA
20/10/2016
20/10/2016
80104/12
BALOGH
14/12/2017
14/12/2017
66534/11
SOLTÉSZ AND OTHERS
11/01/2018
11/01/2018
40114/12
NAGY
08/02/2018
08/02/2018
67794/13
GÉCZI AND OTHERS
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
3189/14+
JUHÁSZ-BUDAY AND OTHERS
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
57849/14+
NAGY AND OTHERS
20/12/2018
20/12/2018
22579/13+
NAVIGÁCIÓ SZÖVETKEZET AND OTHERS
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
21869/14+
NÉMETH AND OTHERS
20/12/2018
20/12/2018
72595/13+
PÁZSI AND OTHERS
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
60934/13
SOMORJAI
28/08/2018
28/11/2018
20811/14+
SZŰCS AND OTHERS
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
1268/15+
U.M. KERESKEDELMI KFT AND OTHERS
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
6240/18
BARTOS
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
76237/13
BENYÓ AND OTHERS
07/03/2019
07/03/2019
59497/14+
BORBÉLY AND OTHERS
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
4956/15 +
BOZA AND OTHERS
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
33248/13+
CSONTOS AND OTHERS
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
72114/13+
CZEBE AND OTHERS
21/02/2019
21/02/2019
53490/14
GULÁCSINÉ SOMOGYI AND OTHERS
28/03/2019
28/03/2019
57258/14
KAHLERT
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
28496/17
KÖRMENDY-MAJNEK
07/03/2019
07/03/2019
39645/15+
KOVÁCS-CSINCSÁK AND KOMLÓDI
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
48770/15
KOVÁTS
07/03/2019
07/03/2019
3412/17
KUDLIK
07/03/2019
07/03/2019
64335/13+
KURMAI AND OTHERS KOMLÓDI
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
61394/14+
KVACSKAY AND OTHERS
17/01/2019
17/01/2019
54589/15
VARGA
07/03/2019
07/03/2019
 

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