FIFTH SECTION

CASE OF ROBOTA AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

(Application no. 7158/04 and 88 other applications)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

17 January 2013

This judgment is final. It may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Robota v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
	Boštjan M. Zupančič, President,
	Ann Power-Forde,
	Helena Jäderblom, judges,
and Stephen Phillips, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 18 December 2012,
Having noted that the underlying question in the applications is already the subject of well-established case-law of the Court and that the parties had the ample opportunity to comment on it and on any other aspects of the case,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1.  The case originated in 89 applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by 90 Ukrainian nationals and companies based in Ukraine, whose details are specified in the annexed tables (“the applicants”).
2.  In the course of the proceedings Ms N. Khaknazarova (application no. 61133/08) died; her husband, Mr O. Khaknazarov, and her daughter, Ms O. Khaknazarova, expressed the wish to pursue the application.
3.  The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr N. Kultchytskyy, of the Ministry of Justice.
4.  The applications, which mainly concern the issues of lengthy non-enforcement of domestic decisions given in the applicants’ favour, were communicated to the Government on various dates. The Government have submitted observations concerning some of the applications. Having been initially adjourned in accordance with the Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov pilot judgment (see Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine, no. 40450/04, ECHR 2009‑... (extracts)), the proceedings in the applications were resumed in February 2012 (for further details see Kharuk and others v. Ukraine [Committee], no.703/05, §§ 4-6, 26 July 2012)
5.  On various dates the Government submitted to the Court unilateral declarations concerning all the present applications, and requested the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases pursuant to Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention on the basis of the declarations. The Court examined the declarations and decided to reject the Government’s requests.
THE FACTS
I.  Non-enforcement issues
6.  On the dates set out in the annexed tables domestic courts and commissions on labour disputes delivered decisions according to which the applicants were entitled to various pecuniary amounts and/or to have certain actions taken in their favour. The decisions became enforceable. However, the applicants were unable to obtain the enforcement of the decisions in due time because of the authorities’ failure to take specific budgetary or regulatory measures, of the introduction of bans on the attachment and sale of property belonging to State-owned or controlled companies, or because of the bailiffs’ omissions.
II.  Other matters
7.  Some of the applicants also made submissions concerning factual and legal matters unrelated to the above non-enforcement issues.
THE LAW
I.  JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
8.  In view of the similarity of the applications in terms of the principal legal issues raised, the Court finds it appropriate to join them.
II.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 6 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION AND OF ARTICLE 1 OF PROTOCOL No. 1
9.  The applicants complained about the lengthy non-enforcement of the decisions given in their favour and about the lack of effective domestic remedies in respect of those complaints. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 which read, in so far as relevant, as follows:
Article 6
“In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ... everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by [a] tribunal ...”
Article 13
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
“Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law ...
Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
A.  Admissibility
10.  The Court notes that the applicants’ above complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. It further notes that they are not inadmissible on any other grounds. They must therefore be declared admissible.
B.  Merits
11.  The Court notes that the decisions in the applicants’ favour remained unenforced for lengthy periods of time, for which the authorities were responsible.
12.  The Court reiterates that it has already found violations of the Convention in similar cases (see Kharuk and others, cited above, §§ 17-19).
13.  Having examined all the material in its possession, the Court finds no fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion in the present cases.
14.  There has accordingly been a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 on account of the prolonged non-enforcement of the decisions in the applicants’ favour and a violation of Article 13 of the Convention in that the applicants did not have an effective domestic remedy to redress the damage created by such non-enforcement.
III.  OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE CONVENTION
15.  Some of the applicants raised other complaints under the Convention which the Court has carefully examined. In the light of all the material in its possession, and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, the Court finds that they do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols.
16.  It follows that those complaints are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
IV.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
17.  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.”
A.  Damage, costs, and expenses
18.  In line with the approach applied in Kharuk and others (cited above, §§ 23-27), the Court considers it reasonable and equitable to award 3,000 euros (EUR) to each applicant in the applications which concern non-enforcement delays exceeding three years (the applications tabulated in Annex 1) and EUR 1,500 to each applicant in the other applications (the applications tabulated in Annex 2). These sums are to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, as well as costs and expenses.
19.  The Court further notes that the respondent State has an outstanding obligation to enforce the decisions which have not been enforced.
B.  Default interest
20.  The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT UNANIMOUSLY
1.  Decides to join the applications;

2.  Declares the applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 about the lengthy non-enforcement of the decisions given in their favour and about the lack of effective domestic remedies in respect of those complaints admissible and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;

3.  Holds that there has been a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1;

4.  Holds that there has been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention;

5.  Holds
(a)  that the respondent State is to enforce the domestic decisions in the applicants’ favour which have not been enforced and is to pay, within three months, EUR 3,000 (three thousand euros) to each applicant or his or her estate in the applications tabulated in Appendix 1 and EUR 1,500 (one thousand five hundred euros) to each applicant or his or her estate in the applications tabulated in Appendix 2 in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, and costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants on the above amounts which are to be converted into the national currency 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 amounts 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 17 January 2013, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
	Stephen Phillips	Boštjan M. Zupančič
	Deputy Registrar	President

APPENDIX 1
(non-enforcement delays more than three years)

No.	Application
no. and date of introduction	Applicant’s name
and date of birth (if known)	Enforceable domestic decisions	
1.		7158/04
09/01/2004	Anna Ilyinichna ROBOTA
13/02/1949	12/04/2001,
Bagliyskyy District Court of Dnipropetrovsk

09/12/2004,
Bagliyskyy District Court of Dnipropetrovsk	
2.		31923/04
25/08/2004	Oleg Mykolayovych KUTSENKO
28/11/1959	23/03/2001,
Bagliyskiy District Court of Dniprodzerzhynsk

15/03/2004,
Bagliyskiy District Court of Dniprodzerzhynsk	
3.		38211/04
12/10/2004	LABORATORY FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC PLANNING. PP	18/12/2000, Higher Arbitration Court	
4.		12239/05
21/03/2005	BRIVT, MPP	05/09/2002,
Commercial Court of Sumy Region	
5.		23753/05
16/06/2005	LAZURNYY BEREG, TOV	13/07/2000, Crimea Commercial Court
21/12/2001, Crimea Commercial Court
21/12/2001, Crimea Commercial Court
21/12/2001, Crimea Commercial Court	
6.		33109/05
19/08/2005	Tatyana Anatolyevna LEZHNEVA
1959	17/02/2003, Pavlograd Court	
7.		35928/05
22/09/2005	1) Aleksandr Vasilyevich NAZARENKO
15/11/1963

2) Vasiliy Dmitriyevich LAZAREV
24/12/1953	1) 21/03/2000, Hartzyzsk Court
2) 09/03/2000, Hartzyzk Court	
8.		44158/05
21/11/2005	Valeriy Aleksandrovich POKHODOSHCHUK
29/07/1956	15/03/2005, Sevastopol Harrison Court
13/06/2005,Sevastopol Harrison Court
21/06/2007, Gagarinskyy District Court of Sevastopol	
9.		2590/06
30/12/2005	Oleksandr Vasylyovych DUBONOS
19/08/1960	10/11/2003, Chervonograd Court	
10.		7492/06
01/02/2006	Aleksandr Mikhaylovich PROKOPENKO
25/05/1958	22/06/1999, Yenakieve Court
01/03/2001, Yenakieve Court	
11.		8658/06
22/02/2006	Aleksandr Grigoryevich GRABOVOY
12/02/1966	27/05/2005,
Prymorskyy District Court of Odessa	
12.		19232/06
06/04/2006	Tetyana Volodymyrivna KRASNOSHAPKA
29/10/1963	12/08/2003, Lokhvytsya Court, as amended by the Poltava Regional Court of Appeal on 27/07/2005	
13.		23103/06
30/05/2006	Volodymyr Petrovych BOYANYTSKYY
25/11/1952	19/11/2003, Chervonograd Court	
14.		30682/06
06/07/2006	Roman Vasylyovych VORONKA
10/02/1958	19/11/2003, Chervonograd Court	
15.		32801/06
26/07/2006	Vladimir Ivanovich TELEGIN
03/01/1940	05/04/2004,
Donetsk Regional Commercial Court	
16.		34380/06
01/08/2006	Viktoriya Dmytrivna SEMENOVA
12/02/1934	13/12/2004, Dzerzhynsk Court	
17.		35075/06
12/08/2006	Valentyn Pylypovych MIROSHNICHENKO
12/08/1954	26/06/2004, Dobropillya Court	
18.		36979/06
30/08/2006	SNEZHNYANSKIY ZAVOD KHIMICHNOGO MASHYNOBUDUVANNYA, VAT	24/10/2000, Zaporyzhzhya Regional Arbitration Court
07/06/2001, Donetsk Regional Arbitration Court
24/03/2005, Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal	
19.		42929/06
07/09/2006	PROMETEY-2000, PP	14/04/2003,
Kyiv City Commercial Court of Appeal	
20.		44612/06
24/10/2006	Yuriy Yuryevich STEPANOV
06/07/1972	16/01/2006, Sudak Court	
21.		45692/06
24/10/2006	Svetlana Yuryevna VYSKREBETS
05/10/1966	16/01/2006, Sudak Court	
22.		1082/07
11/12/2006	Svitlana Ilarionivna KOSTOGRYZ
03/02/1954	29/10/2002, Krukivskyy District Court of Kremenchuk, as amended on 18/03/2004 by the Poltava Regional Court of Appeal	
23.		2514/07
01/12/2006	Lyubov Ivanovna STEPANOVA
29/09/1944	16/01/2006,
Sudak Court, as amended on 20/09/2006	
24.		4943/07
18/09/2006	Yuriy Stanislavovich MIZIN
18/05/1963	28/05/2005, Novogrodivka Court	
25.		7753/07
02/02/2007	Aleksandr Fyodorovich KUZMICH
11/03/1989	08/06/2005, Stanychno-Luganskyy Court	
26.		8135/07
02/02/2007	Mykola Frankovych MATUSEVYCH
27/05/1960	05/05/2005, Zhytomyr Harrison Court	
27.		10657/07
21/02/2007	Valentin Ivanovich SURATOV
10/06/1936	30/08/2006, Tokmak Court	
28.		12106/07
28/02/2007	Anatoliy Nikolayevich PRYADKO
17/06/1953	06/12/2000,
Saksaganskyy District Court of Kryvyy Rig
12/12/2002,
Saksaganskyy District Court of Kryvyy Rig	
29.		20094/07
11/04/2007	Viktor Sergeyevich BORDUN
15/02/1941	19/02/2001, Nova Kakhovka Court	
30.		21518/07
20/04/2007	Volodymyr Ivanovych GRYSHCHENKO
17/12/1941	08/04/2003, Gorlivka Court	
31.		22067/07
30/04/2007	Raisa Petrovna CHERNYSH
15/10/1958	17/11/1998, Nakhimovskiy District Court of Sevastopol, 02/08/1999, Nakhimovskiy District Court of Sevastopol 24/03/2005, Sevastopol Court of Appeal	
32.		22909/07
04/05/2007	Igor Yevgenovych RUSANOV
20/10/1962	21/11/2002, Gorlivka Court	
33.		23977/07
16/05/2007	Vladimir Pavlovich DENISENKO
20/09/1949	07/02/2006, Nikopol Court	
34.		27445/07
18/06/2007	Vyacheslav Viktorovich ZHVAKIN
24/10/1949	21/12/1998, Yevpatoriya Court
29/11/2006, Yevpatoriya Court	
35.		28831/07
29/05/2007	REAL NK, PP	12/04/2005, Kherson Regional Commercial Court	
36.		29858/07
05/07/2007	Fyodor Fyodorovich GRECHKO
12/05/1951	12/06/2005, Primorskyy District Court of Odessa
10/07/2007, Primorskyy District Court of Odessa
19/10/2007, Primorskyy District Court of Odessa
23/07/2008, Primorskyy District Court of Odessa	
37.		30884/07
09/07/2007	Svetlana Konstantinovna LYSYUK
15/03/1956	19/12/2005,
Donetsk Regional Commercial Court	
38.		33577/07
16/07/2007	Vasiliy Gavrilovich DOGOT
11/02/1960	25/12/2002,
Chervonogvardiysk District Court of Makyiyvka	
39.		37285/07
16/08/2007	Valentina Mikhaylovna PASHINSKAYA
24/04/1941	23/10/2000, Novogrodivka Court	
40.		39220/07
27/08/2007	Sergey Sergeyevich SIVASHOV
01/03/1950	09/08/2002, Krasnyy Luch Court
27/10/2004, Krasnyy Luch Court
18/11/2004, Krasnyy Luch Court	
41.		39225/07
01/08/2007	Mikhail Aleksandrovich KAPUSTIN
31/07/1978	26/01/2006, Sudak Court	
42.		39564/07
29/08/2007	Aleksandr Pavlovich OZERYANSKIY
07/06/1949	18/04/2002, Krasnyy Luch Court
22/11/2004, Krasnyy Luch Court	
43.		41632/07
16/06/2007	Yuriy Ivanovich GAVRISHOV
unspecified	07/12/2001,Yevpatoriya Court
29/06/2004, Yevpatoriya Town Court	
44.		41709/07
14/09/2007	Oleksandr Mykolayovych PYSARENKO
23/04/1958	05/10/2006, Lubny Court	
45.		48374/07
06/11/2007	Alla Vasilyevna KUCHINSKAYA
25/05/1949	20/09/1999, Ovruch Court	
46.		53239/07
23/11/2007	Sergey Nikolayevich MIKHNOVSKIY
21/09/1954	07/07/1997,
Saksaganskiy District Court of Kryvyy Rih
08/07/1998,
Saksaganskiy District Court of Kryvyy Rih
27/03/2001,
Saksaganskiy District Court of Kryvyy Rih
03/02/2003,
Saksaganskiy District Court of Kryvyy Rih	
47.		54478/07
19/11/2007	Volodymyr Dmytrovych BASHEY
02/04/1969	06/11/2001, Vugledar Court	
48.		795/08
10/12/2007	Mykhaylo Mykolayovych SHTAYER
15/05/1958	21/03/2003,
Kharkiv Regional Commercial Court	
49.		1325/08
26/12/2007	Sergiy Mykhaylovych PAVLYUK
30/09/1962	21/05/2002, labour disputes commission
21/06/2002, Nova Kakhovka Court
19/02/2003, Nova Kakhovka Court	
50.		4851/08
16/01/2008	Valeriy Ananyevich GOLOVIN
unspecified	14/05/2007, Feodosiya Court	
51.		14749/08
28/02/2008	Atanaziy Atanaziyovych STELMAKH
17/02/1956	02/03/2004, Chervonograd Court	
52.		17775/08
03/04/2008	Volodymyr Petrovych PAZYNICH
21/12/1955	25/05/2007, Oleksandria Court	
53.		18439/08
03/04/2008	Volodymyr Oleksandrovych BARSKYY
20/04/1956	06/07/2006, Golovanivsk Court	
54.		28976/08
07/06/2008	Ludmila Grigoryevna ALMIZOVA
09/02/1950	30/03/2007, Krasnyy Luch Court	
55.		28988/08
07/06/2008	Irina Sergeyevna MANDRIK
23/12/1963	21/05/2007, Krasnyy Luch Court	
56.		30306/08
11/06/2008	Lyudmila Grigoryevna MOTRICH
26/06/1953	11/12/2002,
Dniprovskyy District Court of Kherson	
57.		30414/08
15/06/2008	Andriy Anatoliyovych IVANYSHCHUK
09/04/1977	23/09/2005,
Suvorovskyy District Court of Kherson	
58.		33743/08
13/06/2008	Aleksandr Dmitriyevich SHALUN
20/06/1972	12/04/2005,
Prymorskyy District Court of Odessa	
59.		34893/08
04/07/2008	Iryna Fedorivna KRASNIKOVA
13/10/1963	06/11/2001,
Kirovskyy District Court of Kirovograd	
60.		35546/08
15/07/2008	Vasiliy Viktorovich VINOGRADOV
05/04/1948	18/05/2005, Krasnyy Luch Court	
61.		35552/08
15/07/2008	Valentina Ilinichna LICHUK
01/06/1937	16/06/2005, Krasnyy Luch Court
06/02/2006, Krasnyy Luch Court	
62.		36775/08
23/07/2008	Vladimir Mironovich NIKOLAYCHUK
22/07/1938	21/12/2006,
Sosnivskyy District Court of Cherkasy	
63.		37105/08
17/06/2008	Yuriy Ashuriyevich RADZHABOV
06/10/1963	01/06/2005, Krasnyy Luch Court	
64.		39374/08
24/07/2008	Valentina Ivanovna RUSAK
01/01/1962	19/04/2006, Myrgorod Court	
65.		39562/08
06/08/2008	Vladimir Dmitriyevich BELOLAPOTKOV
27/04/1950	07/08/2006, Oleksandriya Court
16/11/2006, Oleksandriya Court	
66.		39703/08
11/06/2008	Georgiy Georgiyovych KARLOV
02/01/1947	18/12/2006,
Leninskyy District Court of Mykolayiv	
67.		41601/08
22/08/2008	Yevgeniy Nikolayevich MOTYREV
27/10/1949	06/04/2007, Krasnyy Luch Court	
68.		46828/08
20/09/2008	Vitaliy Antanasovych PAULAUSKAS
31/01/1970	12/12/2006, Selydiv Court	
69.		49992/08
08/10/2008	Viktor Iosifovich GRIBOVSKIY
05/01/1951	18/08/2003, Nova Kakhovka Court
15/04/2005, Nova Kakhovka Court
14/04/2006, Nova Kakhovka Court
03/07/2008, Nova Kakhovka Court	
70.		51718/08
13/10/2008	Rashyd Teymur-Ogly MAMEDOV
16/02/1966	22/09/2005, Poltava Regional Court of Appeal	
71.		53622/08
25/10/2008	Vladimir Vasilyevich GANISHNYUK
19/01/1959	12/06/2002, Krasnyy Luch Court
24/06/2005, Krasnyy Luch Court
14/06/2007, Krtasnyy Luch Court	
72.		53647/08
25/10/2008	Valentina Petrovna BARABASH
16/06/1940	22/02/2002, Krasnyy Luch Court
15/10/2003, Krasnyy Luch Court
24/06/2005, Krasnyy Luch Court
24/06/2005, Krasnyy Luch Court
14/06/2007, Krasnyy Luch Court	
73.		54464/08
30/10/2008	Lyudmyla Vasylivna KOVAL
03/10/1958	07/12/2007,
Vinnytsya Administrative Court	
74.		57381/08
17/11/2008	INTERKON, TOV	21/01/2003,
Khmelnytskyy Regional Commercial Court	
75.		58299/08
04/11/2008	Aleksandr Vasilyevich BUDYLKO
17/04/1938	11/12/2007, Kupyansk Court	
76.		61133/08
06/12/2008	Natalya Volodymyrivna KHAKNAZAROVA
14/11/1961	30/05/07, Feodosiya Court
20/06/07, Feodosiya Court
as amended by the Crimea Court of Appeal on
18/09/2007 and by the Supreme Court on 22/08/08	
77.		3062/09
29/12/2008	Viktor Ivanovich ZAMIUSSKIY
06/10/1957	17/09/2007, Antratsyt Court, amended by the Luhansk Regional Court of Appeal on 04/12/2007	
78.		3279/09
06/12/2008	Oleg Ibragimovych KHAKNAZAROV
27/03/1961	06/05/2008, Commercial Court of Crimea	
79.		5190/09
14/01/2009	Yeva Vasylivna FOKIY
02/02/1975	22/06/2007,
Sadgirskyy District Court of Chernivtsi	

APPENDIX 2
(non-enforcement delays less than three years)

No.	Application
no. and date of introduction	Applicant’s name
and date of birth (if known)	Enforceable domestic decisions	
80.		2025/05
28/12/2004	Viktor Viktorovych MELNYK
14/07/1959	22 /10/2002,
Vyshgorod Court, became enforceable on 04/02/03 and was enforced on 28/10/05	
81.		2385/05
04/01/2005	Pavlo Ivanovych MALYUTA
01/01/1961	23/10/2003,
Lenynskyy District Court of Kirovograd, became enforceable on 24/02/2004 and was quashed on 17/10/2006	
82.		30864/05
13/08/2005	Yevgeniy Petrovich SHYNKARYOV
02/07/1952	15/03/2005,
 Kyiv Military Harrison Court, enforced by 05/01/2007	
83.		31062/05
12/08/2005	Yuriy Ivanovich NAGOGA
13/12/1955	30/09/2004,
Lebedyn Court, enforced on 24/05/2006	
84.		15057/06
06/04/2006	Nadezhda Vladimirovna PARKHOMENKO
10/05/1954	14/11/2005,
 Novokakhovka Court, enforced on 11/07/2008	
85.		15158/06
04/04/2006	Valentina Nikolayevna BOYKO
08/02/1949	15/11/2005 (court order),
Novokakhovka Court, enforced on 11/07/2008	
86.		32723/06
10/07/06	Dmytro Myklayovych SHURUTA
27/04/1980	29/11/2005,
Dzerzhynsk Court, enforced on 23/11/2007	
87.		2707/07
28/12/2006	Viktor Ivanovych PEDORYA
09/07/1949	20/03/2006,
 Oleksandriya Court, enforced on 22/01/2008	
88.		28983/08
07/06/2008	Viktor Vasilyevich SERDYUKOV
16/04/1956	03/07/2007,
 Krasnyy Luch Court, enforced on 30/04/2009	
89.		802/09
13/12/2008	Oleksandr Oleksandrovych LIFANOV
03/05/1963	11/03/2008,
Vugledar Court, enforced on 26/11/2010