The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered a judgment concerning four applications against Ukraine regarding excessive length of civil proceedings and lack of effective remedies. The Court found violations of Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention in all cases.The Court examined four cases jointly due to their similar subject matter. The cases involved Ukrainian citizens (Gatalyak, Korniyenko, Podolyan, and Ivashchenko) who complained about unreasonably long civil proceedings in Ukrainian courts, ranging from approximately 4.5 to 9.5 years.The Court assessed the cases based on established criteria: complexity of the case, conduct of applicants and authorities, and what was at stake for the applicants. Following its previous case-law (Karnaushenko v. Ukraine), the Court found that the length of proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the ‘reasonable time’ requirement.The key provisions of the judgment include:
- Recognition of violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to fair trial within reasonable time) and Article 13 (right to effective remedy)
- Award of monetary compensation ranging from 500 to 2,400 euros to the applicants
- Requirement for Ukraine to pay compensation within three months, with interest applicable after this period
The most significant aspects of this decision are:
- Confirmation of systemic problems with length of civil proceedings in Ukraine
- Establishment of specific compensation amounts based on the duration of delays
- Recognition that Ukraine lacks effective domestic remedies for excessive length of proceedings
