RAFAEL AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY

  SECOND SECTION DECISION Application no. 25240/25 József Lajos RAFAEL against Hungary and 9 other applications (see appended table) The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 9 April 2026 as a Committee composed of:  Stéphane Pisani, President,  Juha Lavapuro,  Hugh Mercer, judges, and Attila Teplán, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having regard to the above applications against Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) 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 PROCEDUREThe list of applicants and their representatives is set out in the appended table. The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of criminal proceedings were communicated to the Hungarian Government (“the Government”). In some of the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention. The Court received friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Hungary 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 LAWHaving 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 13 May 2026.    Attila Teplán Stéphane Pisani  Acting Deputy Registrar President     APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (excessive length of criminal proceedings) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth Representative’s name and location Other complaints under well-established case-law   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 (in euros)[1]    25240/25 06/08/2025 József Lajos RAFAEL 1956   Borsos Tamás Budapest Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 10/03/2026 14/11/2025 2,600    25472/25 07/08/2025 Sándor ÁCS 1984   Kiss Dániel Bálint Budapest Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 09/03/2026 26/11/2025 2,600    25717/25 11/08/2025 Zsolt OLÁH 1970   Kiss Dániel Bálint Budapest Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 04/03/2026 05/01/2026 3,300    25900/25 12/08/2025 Ferenc WÁGNER 1979 Varga Nóra Erzsébet Budapest   10/03/2026 02/12/2025 3,300    26062/25 11/08/2025 Imre Csaba DÉRI 1973   Szabó Gábor Göd Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 09/03/2026 16/01/2026 2,600    26063/25 11/08/2025 Márk KÁLLAI 1994   Szabó Gábor Göd Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 09/03/2026 16/01/2026 3,300    27826/25 03/09/2025 Krisztián MÁTYUS 1974   Szabó Gábor Göd Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 23/02/2026 19/02/2026 2,600    28446/25 29/08/2025 Zsolt BARÁCZIUS 1977   Andorfer Miklós Budajenő Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 18/02/2026 29/11/2025 4,800    28463/25 09/09/2025 György PINTYI 1980   Szabó Gábor Göd Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 03/03/2026 16/01/2026 3,900  28479/25 03/09/2025 Rezső BULISSA 1970   Kiss Dániel Bálint Budapest Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings - 10/03/2026 10/12/2025 2,400   [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.