SECOND SECTION
CASE OF
ÁGNES KOVÁCS v. HUNGARY
(Application no.
12089/07)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
24 September 2013
This
judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Ágnes Kovács v. Hungary,
The European Court of Human
Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Peer Lorenzen, President,
András Sajó,
Nebojša Vučinić, judges,
and Atilla Nalbant, Acting Deputy
Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 3 September 2013,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that
date:
PROCEDURE
The case originated in an
application (no. 12089/07) against the Republic of
Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Hungarian national, Ms Ágnes Kovács (“the applicant”), on 24
February 2007.
The Hungarian Government (“the Government”) were
represented by Mr Z. Tallódi, Agent, Ministry of Public Administration and
Justice.
On 13 September 2010 the President of the Second
Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. In
accordance with Protocol No. 14, the application was allocated to a Committee
of three Judges.
THE FACTS
THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
The applicant was born in 1937 and lives in Budapest.
On 18 December 1999 the applicant brought a
labour action against her former employer for unlawful dismissal.
After holding several hearings and obtaining
expert evidence, the Budapest Labour Court dismissed the action on 28 February
2005. The applicant appealed.
On 26 August 2005 the Budapest Regional Court,
acting as a second-instance court, reversed the first-instance decision and
ordered the defendant to pay the applicant 180,582 Hungarian forints (HUF)
in unpaid employment benefits plus interests and HUF 200,000
in non-pecuniary damages. The applicant filed a petition for review.
On 25 October 2006 the Supreme Court decided that
the petition had not disclosed a breach of the relevant law. Although this
decision was given in a single-judge procedure as to the admissibility of the
petition under section 273 (1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, in fact it dealt
with the merits of the applicant’s case and contained detailed reasoning.
Meanwhile, on 11 November 2005 the applicant applied
for the enforcement of the second-instance judgment. Apparently she
miscalculated the claimed interests; therefore the debtor’s bank could not comply
with the prompt collection order, which was issued by the Budapest Labour Court
on an un-specified date. Thus, after clarifying the proper amount, the court issued
a new enforcement order on 2 April 2007. The judgment having been complied with
by the defendant, the court withdrew the enforcement order on 26 April 2007.
THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE
CONVENTION
The applicant complained of unreasonable length
of the proceedings and her inability to obtain timely
enforcement of the court’s decision in her favour, in breach of the
“reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.
The Government contested that argument. They submitted
that the final domestic decision in the case had been made by the Regional
Court on 26 August 2005 and that the application had been introduced only on 24 February
2007, i.e. outside the six-month time-limit prescribed in Article 35 § 1
of the Convention. The applicant’s petition for review, rejected by the Supreme
Court in the admissibility phase, could not be regarded as an effective remedy
and did not, in their view, influence the running of the time-limit.
The Court observes that, for the purpose of its
examination of the reasonableness of the length of proceedings, it must take
into account all instances which could have had an influence on the outcome of
the case (see Maria de Lurdes Rosa Marques and Others v. Portugal
(dec.), no. 48187/99, 7 June 2001). In this connection, it finds that the
decision of the Supreme Court, issued on 25 October 2006, which dealt with the
merits of the applicant’s case and contained a reasoned decision, did have an
influence on the outcome of the litigation.
. Furthermore,
the Court reiterates that the execution of a judgment given by any court must
be regarded as an integral part of a “hearing” for the purposes of Article 6 (Hornsby v. Greece, 19 March
1997, § 40, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1997-II). Since, in the material case, the enforcement
proceedings exceeded the period of the review proceedings, the Court considers
that the overall duration lasted until the end of enforcement proceedings. The
Government’s objection must therefore be rejected.
. The
period to be taken into consideration thus began on 18 December
1999 and ended on 26 April 2007. It thus lasted six
years and five months for three levels of jurisdiction, including the execution
phase. In view of such lengthy proceedings, the application must be declared
admissible.
. The
Court has frequently found violations of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention in
cases raising issues similar to the one in the present application (see Frydlender v. France [GC],
no. 30979/96, § 43,
ECHR 2000-VII). The Government have not put forward any fact or convincing argument
capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion in the present
circumstances. It therefore finds that the length of the proceedings was
excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement. There has
accordingly been a breach of Article 6 § 1.
. The
applicant also complained that the length of the proceedings had infringed her
right to the peaceful enjoyment of her possessions, as guaranteed by Article 1
of Protocol No. 1. The Government did not express an opinion on the matter.
. The
Court notes that this complaint is linked to the one examined above and must
likewise be declared admissible. However, having regard to its finding under
Article 6 § 1 (see paragraph 15 above), the Court considers that it is not
necessary to examine whether, in this case, there has also been a violation of
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (see Zanghě v.
Italy, 19 February 1991, § 23, Series A no.
194-C).
. The
applicant further complained that she had no remedy at her disposal to complain
of the delay in the proceedings. The Government did not express an opinion on
the matter.
. The
Court finds this complaint admissible (see Kudła
v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 156, ECHR
2000-XI) and notes that the Government did not submit any proof of the
existence of an effective remedy available to the applicant in order to redress
the excessive duration either by way of an expedited procedure or by way of
compensation. Accordingly, the Court considers that there has been a violation
of Article 13 of the Convention.
. Lastly,
the applicant complained, relying on Article 6 (1) of the Convention, of
unfairness and the outcome of the labour court proceedings. In particular she complained
about the expert evidence relied on and the amount awarded to her by the domestic
courts.
. The
Court considers that there is nothing in the case file indicating that the
domestic courts lacked impartiality, that the applicant could not properly
state her case or that the proceedings, devoid of any sign of arbitrariness,
were otherwise unfair, in breach of Article 6. It follows that this part of the
application is manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 and
must be rejected pursuant to Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
Relying on Article 41 of the Convention, the
applicant claimed
about 780,000 Hungarian forints (HUF)
in respect of pecuniary damage and HUF 2,000,000
in respect of non-pecuniary damage. The Government contested these claims.
The Court does not discern any causal link
between the violation found and the pecuniary damage alleged; it therefore
rejects this claim. However, it considers that the applicant must have
sustained some non-pecuniary damage and awards her, on an equitable basis, EUR 1,100,
having regard to certain delays attributable to the applicant (see paragraph 9
above).
The applicant also claimed about HUF 35,000
for the costs and expenses incurred before the Court. The Government did not
express an opinion on the matter. Regard being had to the documents in its
possession and to its case-law, the Court considers it reasonable to award the
applicant the full sum claimed, i.e. EUR 140.
The Court considers it appropriate that the
default interest 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. Declares
the complaints concerning Article 6 § 1 (length of proceedings) and Article 13
of the Convention as well as Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 admissible and the
remainder of the application inadmissible;
2. Holds that there has been a violation of
Article 6 § 1 of the Convention;
3. Holds that there has been a violation of
Article 13 of the Convention;
Holds
that it is not necessary to examine the applicant’s complaint under Article 1
of Protocol No. 1;
5. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant,
within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into Hungarian
forints at the rate applicable at the date of settlement:
(i) EUR 1,100 (one thousand one hundred euros),
plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage;
(ii) EUR 140 (one hundred and forty euros), plus
any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and
expenses;
(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;
6. Dismisses the remainder of the applicant’s
claim for just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 24 September 2013,
pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Atilla Nalbant Peer
Lorenzen Acting Deputy Registrar President
