CASE OF SOLODYUK v. RUSSIA
Violation of P1-1;Not necessary to examine Art. 6-1;Pecuniary damage - financial award;Non-pecuniary damage - financial award
Nicolas Bratza
8. The applicants, who are husband and wife, were born in 1936 and 1937 respectively and live in Donetsk in the Rostov Region of Russia. 9. The applicants receive old-age pensions. Under section 120 of the State Pensions Act of 1990, old-age pensions were payable in the month for which they were due. From June to December 1998 and from January to April 1999 the applicants received their pensions, totalling approximately 439 and 355 Russian roubles (RUR) per month, several months in arrears. In particular, the pensions due for June 1998 were paid on 14 August 1998; for July 1998 on 6 November 1998; for August 1998 on 14 December 1998; for September 1998 on 15 January 1999; for October 1998 on 9 February 1999; for November 1998 on 1 March 1999; for December 1998 on 25 March 1999; for January 1999 on 16 April 1999; for February 1999 on 18 June 1999; for March 1999 on 26 July 1999 and for April 1999 on 27 August 1999. 10. According to the applicants, inflation and devaluation of the Russian rouble during this period meant that pensions paid several months in arrears had lost a significant part of their value by the time they were paid. 11. According to information obtained by the applicants from the Donetsk Town Department of State Statistics, the month-on-month inflation rate ran at 2.7% in August 1998, 37.3% in September 1998, 4.4% in October 1998, 4.8% in November 1998, 10.2% in December 1998, 8.8% in January 1999, 5.9% in February 1999, 3.4% in March 1999 and 3.8% in April 1999. 12. According to information from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the official exchange rate was approximately 6.2 Russian roubles to the US dollar in the period June - August 1998, 9.3 in September 1998, 15.8 in October and November 1998, 17.9 in December 1998, 20.7 in January 1998, 22.8 in February 1999, 22.9 in March 1999 and 24.2 in April 1999. 13. In December 1999 the applicants lodged an action with the Donetsk Town Court for damages in respect of the delays in payment of their pensions. In particular, they claimed index-linking of their pensions in line with inflation. The action was lodged against the Pension Fund which was responsible for the financing of pension payments. 14. On 26 January 2000 the Town Court refused to entertain the action on the ground that it had been lodged against the wrong respondent. 15. In February 2000 the applicants lodged an equivalent action against the Donetsk Social Security Authority, which was responsible for the calculation of pensions. During those proceedings, the Social Security Authority argued that the proper respondent in the case was the Pension Fund and not the Authority. The Town Court rejected that objection. 16. On 18 July 2000 the Town Court dismissed the applicants’ action. It confirmed that there had been delays in payment of the pensions but established no fault on the part of the Social Security Authority, which had calculated the pensions and filed requests for their payment in due time. The court found that the pensions had been paid late because the Pension Fund had failed to finance the payments in time. The court also considered that the applicants had failed to substantiate the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage allegedly sustained as a result of the delays. 17. On 13 September 2000 the applicants’ appeal was dismissed by the Rostov Regional Court. The appeal court stated that the delays were not the fault of the Social Security Authority because it merely made payments on receipt of funds from the Pension Fund, which had been delayed. 18. Subsequently, the applicants unsuccessfully tried to have their case re-examined by way of the supervisory review procedure. On 13 April 2001 the Rostov Regional Court refused to re-open the proceedings. 19. Old-age pensions were paid at the material time on the basis of the State Pensions Act of 1990 (Закон РФ от 20 ноября 1990 г. N 340-I «О государственных пенсиях в Российской Федерации»). Under section 7 of the Act, pensions were increased four times a year in line with the increase in the average salary, which was determined by the Government on the basis of State statistical data. Under section 8 of the Law, the State Pension Fund was responsible for financing the payment of pensions. It derived its resources from contributions of employers and citizens and from State budgetary allocations. Under Part IX of the Act, pensions were set by the Social Security Authority. Under section 120 of the Act, pensions were payable in the month for which they were due. According to section 123 of the Act, where pension debts resulted from the State’s failure to pay pensions in due time, they remained due irrespective of the time that had elapsed.