The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered a judgment concerning eight applications against Ukraine regarding excessive length of civil proceedings and lack of effective remedies. The Court found violations of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention in all cases.The Court examined cases where civil proceedings lasted from approximately 5 to 10 years, which was deemed excessive and incompatible with the ‘reasonable time’ requirement. The longest proceeding lasted more than 10 years (Yakovleva case), while the shortest one lasted about 5 years (Bulgaru case).The Court’s assessment was based on established criteria including:
- The complexity of the case
- The conduct of the applicants
- The conduct of relevant authorities
- What was at stake for the applicants
The Court awarded monetary compensation ranging from 500 to 4,200 euros per applicant/household for non-pecuniary damage. The highest compensations (4,200 euros) were awarded in cases where proceedings were still pending at the time of the judgment (Volenshchak and Yakovleva cases). The respondent State was ordered to pay these amounts within three months, with interest applicable in case of delayed payment.
