Szczepaniak and Others v. Poland
Struck out of the list
Berörda konventionsartiklar
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 53778/20 Krzysztof Piotr SZCZEPANIAK against Poland and 13 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 7 November 2024 as a Committee composed of:
Georgios A. Serghides , President , Erik Wennerström, Alain Chablais , judges ,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants and their representatives is set out in the appended table.
The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention of a violation of their right to a hearing by an “independent and impartial tribunal established by law” since their civil or criminal cases had been decided by various formations of the Supreme Court composed of judges appointed to that court by the President of Poland, pursuant to the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary ( Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa , “the NCJ”) as established under the Amending Act on the NCJ and certain other statutes of 8 December 2017. The complaints were communicated to the Polish Government (“the Government”).
On various dates indicated in the appended table, the Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Poland in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay them the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
The payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.
THE LAW
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
The Court notes that the deficiencies in the procedure for the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court, resulting in violations of the applicants’ right to a hearing by an “independent and impartial tribunal established by law” protected by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, have been established in respect of various Chambers of the Supreme Court: the Disciplinary Chamber (see Reczkowicz v. Poland , no. 43447/19, 22 July 2021), the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs (see Dolińska-Ficek and Ozimek v. Poland , nos. 49868/19 and 57511/19, 8 November 2021) and formations of the Civil Chamber (see Advance Pharma sp. z o.o v. Poland , no. 1469/20, 3 February 2022). In its pilot judgment in the case of Wałęsa v. Poland (no. 50849/21, 23 November 2023), the Court listed several interrelated systemic problems which entailed repeated breaches of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
The Court has recently examined friendly settlements reached between the parties in identical cases against Poland and considers that its conclusions are directly applicable to the cases under consideration (see I.G. and Others v. Poland (dec.), no. 42668/21, 8 October 2024).
The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 28 November 2024.
Viktoriya Maradudina Georgios A. Serghides Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
No.
Application no. Date of introduction
Case name
Applicant’s name
Year of birth/ registration
Representative’s name and location
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
per applicant/household
(in euros) [1]
53778/20
17/11/2020
Szczepaniak v. Poland
Krzysztof Piotr SZCZEPANIAK
1984
Nowosielski Roman
Gdańsk
04/06/2024
19/09/2024
10,000
8916/21
28/01/2021
Bojańczyk v. Poland
Klaudyna BOJAŃCZYK
1981
Kamionowski Robert
Warsaw
13/06/2024
10/06/2024
10,000
21998/21
21/04/2021
Frąckowiak-Mitura v. Poland
Małgorzata FRĄCKOWIAK-MITURA
1971
Siadlak Kinga Dagmara
Słupsk
10/04/2024
27/05/2024
10,000
22918/21
20/04/2021
Hetnarowicz-Sikora v. Poland
Joanna HETNAROWICZ-SIKORA
1978
Siadlak Kinga Dagmara
Słupsk
10/04/2024
27/05/2024
10,000
24398/21
21/04/2021
Odelski v. Poland
Hubert ODELSKI
1971
Siadlak Kinga Dagmara
Słupsk
23/05/2024
27/05/2024
10,000
25545/21
21/04/2021
Tomasz ZIELONKA
1973
Siadlak Kinga Dagmara
Słupsk
23/05/2024
27/05/2024
10,000
26638/21
12/05/2021
Janusz Michał EJSMONT
1977
Paduszyński Piotr
Łódź
13/06/2024
13/06/2024
10,000
39887/21
30/07/2021
Salwin v. Poland
Pawel SALWIN
1978
Zygmont Bogumił Marcin
Warsaw
10/05/2024
07/10/2024
10,000
1510/22
13/12/2021
Michalak v. Poland
Łukasz Piotr MICHALAK
1979
Weiss Mariusz
Poznań
04/06/2024
20/09/2024
10,000
2809/22
18/12/2021
Household
Piotr SZULC
1947
Wladyslaw SZULC
1941
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
23/05/2024
16/05/2024
10,000
Jointly to both applicants
12691/22
22/02/2022
Ramona NAWROT
1989
08/07/2024
07/08/2024
10,000
12895/22
10/02/2022
Przedsiębiorstwo Badań i Ekspertyz Środowiska SEPO Sp. z o. o. v. Poland
EUROFINS SEPO Sp z o.o.
(name changed)
2002
Bzdyń Agata
Warsaw
23/08/2024
09/092024
10,000
18490/22
05/04/2022
Jaźwiński v. Poland
Stanislaw JAŹWIŃSKI
1955
Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata
Warsaw
28/05/2024
17/05/2024
10,000
28626/22
27/05/2022
Hulsz v. Poland
Edmund HULSZ
1947
Szybowska-Zunbulzanbak Katarzyna
Gdynia
09/05/2024
05/09/2024
10,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.