DOMOKOS AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY
FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 27943/15
Gábor DOMOKOS against Hungary
and 2 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 21 March 2019 as a Committee composed of:
Georges Ravarani, President,
Marko Bošnjak,
Péter Paczolay, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,
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”). In application no. 36885/17, the applicant also raised a complaint under Article 13 of the Convention.
THE LAW
A. Joinder of the applications
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
B. Complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (excessive length of civil proceedings)
In the present applications, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that the overall length of the proceedings, which lasted approximately between four years and four years and a half for two levels of jurisdiction, did not exceed a reasonable time within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. It notes that there were no particular periods of inactivity imputable to the authorities, which acted with reasonable diligence, and that the disputes in question were of some complexity but did not concern matters of essential importance for the applicants (see, Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000-VII). It follows that these complaints are manifestly ill‑founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
C. Remaining complaint
In application no. 36885/17, the applicant also complained under Article 13 about the lack of an effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the excessive length of the civil proceedings. In the absence of an arguable claim of a violation of the applicant’s rights under Article 6 § 1, the related complaint under Article 13 raises no separate issue. It follows that it is also manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected pursuant to Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 11 April 2019.
Liv TigerstedtGeorges Ravarani
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
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
Date of birth
Representative’s name and location
Start of proceedings
End of proceedings
Total length
Levels of jurisdiction
Other complaints under well-established case-law
27943/15
04/06/2015
Gábor Domokos
17/08/1953
10/02/2011
19/01/2015
3 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 10 day(s) 2 level(s) of jurisdiction
59597/15
23/11/2015
Edina Berki
04/12/1989
Molnár László Sándor
Budapest
17/10/2012
28/04/2017
4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 12 day(s) 2 level(s) of jurisdiction
36885/17
12/05/2017
Sándor Budai
30/12/1962
Strasser Tibor
Budapest
01/04/2012
22/09/2016
4 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 22 day(s) 2 level(s) of jurisdiction
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
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