CASE OF CIRNEROVÁ AND OTHERS v. SLOVAKIA
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Reasonable time)
Alena Poláčková;Helen Keller;Pere Pastor Vilanova
8. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 9. On 27 November 1987 a claim was lodged with Košice-okolie District Court against some of the applicants or their predecessors. With this claim, the plaintiffs were seeking a judicial ruling declaring them to be the owners of an area of grassland. The other applicants entered the proceedings as defendants on different dates and on the basis of different legal entitlements as outlined in the annexed table. 10. Between 1988 and 2009 the first-instance court held a number of hearings, ordered expert opinions, dealt with other relevant evidence, and heard witnesses. It also took some time to determine the parties who were actually to be sued in the proceedings in view of multiple deaths among the original defendants and various transactions made in respect of the property in question. 11. On 27 April 2010 the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment, finding that the applicants’ (or their predecessors’) right to a hearing within a reasonable time had been violated by the District Court. It ordered the District Court to proceed without undue delay and to reimburse the complainants’ legal costs. It also awarded just satisfaction in respect of nonpecuniary damage in the amount of EUR 300 to the applicants listed under points 1 to 17 and EUR 500 to those listed under points 18 to 28 and to the deceased predecessor of the applicants listed under points 29 to 32 of the Appendix. The Constitutional Court noted inter alia that the District Court had failed to proceed with the matter between 1995 and 2009. It also observed some of the applicants’ lack of interest in those proceedings. That judgment became final on 19 July 2010. 12. On 22 November 2011 the District Court delivered a judgment on the merits of the case, which was not served on the parties to the proceedings until seven months after its delivery. 13. On 19 March 2013 the Constitutional Court rejected a fresh constitutional complaint that had been lodged by the applicants (except those listed under points 30 to 32). It found no further undue delays in the proceedings before the District Court after the constitutional judgment of 27 April 2010. It noted the delay of seven months which the District Court had taken to serve its judgment on the parties. However, it did not consider it unconstitutional. 14. On 15 May 2013 the District Court transferred the case file to Košice Regional Court following an appeal lodged by the applicants listed under points 9 and 18 and some other defendants in the proceedings. 15. On 12 March 2014 the Regional Court had to identify and deal with successors of some of the deceased parties to the proceedings. It partly upheld the District Court’s judgment and partly dismissed the claim concerning some of the contested property. It also rejected the remainder of the appeal. The judgment became final on 10 July 2014. 16. On 8 August 2014 the applicants listed under points 4 and 30 to 32, together with several other defendants in the proceedings, lodged an appeal on points of law. On 21 January 2015 the proceedings in respect of that appeal were discontinued without examination of its merits due to the appellants’ failure to pay the court fees. That decision became final on 13 February 2015.