STĘPIEŃ AND OTHERS v. POLAND

2025-12-18T00:00:00
  FIRST SECTION DECISION Application no. 1385/24 Dorota STĘPIEŃ against Poland and 6 other applications (see appended table) The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 18 December 2025 as a Committee composed of:  Frédéric Krenc, President,  Davor Derenčinović,  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’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law were communicated to the Polish Government (“the Government”). 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 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. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list. 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 22 January 2026.    Viktoriya Maradudina Frédéric Krenc  Acting Deputy Registrar President     APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention (excessive length of civil proceedings and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth 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 (in euros)[1] Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application (in euros)[2]    1385/24 18/12/2023 Dorota STĘPIEŃ 1975       06/03/2025 16/01/2025 3,100      9528/24 08/03/2024 Bartosz SZARAMA 1982       06/03/2025 16/01/2025 2,100      10150/24 28/03/2024 Małgorzata STĘPIEŃ 1960   Muszyński Tomasz Andrzej Warsaw 06/03/2025 14/11/2024 8,300 250    11375/24 05/04/2024 Zdzisław ROGÓŻ 1969   Wityński Rafał Kraków 06/03/2025 02/02/2025 6,600 250    19603/24 29/06/2024 Barbara Magdalena SUDNIK-HRYNIEWICZ 1978     06/03/2025 02/01/2025 3,600      19922/24 08/07/2024 Zofia OSMAŃSKA 1953   Muszyński Tomasz Andrzej Warsaw 06/03/2025 14/11/2024 6,900 250    22426/24 19/07/2024 Andrzej MADEJ 1956   Gąsiorowska Monika Małgorzata Warsaw 06/03/2025 18/11/2024 5,400 250   [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants. [2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.