PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 16651/05) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by six Polish nationals, Ms Barbara Czajkowska, Mr Tadeusz Korsak, Ms Danuta Korsak, Mr Tadeusz Łagowski, Mr Tomasz Świeczak, and Ms Agata Wicherek (“the applicants”), on 9 April 2005.

The applicants were represented by Mr P. Paluch, a lawyer practising in Kraków. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The applicants alleged, in particular, that the length of administrative proceedings in their case exceeded a “reasonable time”. They also alleged that the delay in payment of compensation amounted to a breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention.

On 11 September 2008 the President of the Fourth Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It was also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicants, Ms Barbara Czajkowska, Mr Tadeusz Korsak, Ms Danuta Korsak, Mr Tadeusz Łagowski, Mr Tomasz Świeczak, and Ms Agata Wicherek, are Polish nationals who were born in 1963, 1926, 1925, 1927, 1956 and 1963 respectively and live in Warsaw. They were represented before the Court by the first applicant, Ms Barbara Czajkowska.

Ms Wacława Korsak, the first applicant's grandmother, owned a plot of agricultural land measuring a total surface area of 46,000 sq. m located in Warsaw. The applicants are Ms Wacława Korsak's heirs.

By virtue of the Decree of 26 October 1945 on the Ownership and Use of Land in Warsaw, ownership of all private land was transferred to the City of Warsaw. Subsequently, under section 32(2) of the Law of 20 March 1950 on Local Organs of the Uniform State Power (ustawa o terenowych organach jednolitej władzy państwowej), all this land became the property of the State Treasury.

In 1961 Ms Wacława Korsak applied for compensation for the nationalised property.

On 13 February 1965 the Board of the Warsaw National Council (Prezydium Rady Narodowej) granted the application in part and awarded Ms Korsak compensation for 23,000 sq. m of the land in question.

On 20 November 1969 the Board awarded further compensation for a house and trees under section 53(1) of the Expropriation of Property (Conditions and Procedures) Act of 12 March 1958. The decision contained a statement that the question of compensation for the remaining part of the land would be decided at a later stage. That decision was amended in 1970 as regards the amount of the compensation awarded to the first applicant's grandmother.

On 29 March 1978 Ms Wacława Korsak's son, Mr Jerzy Korsak, applied for compensation for the remaining part of the property. It appears that other applicants joined the proceedings and that between 1991 and 2007 they made repeated requests for compensation.

In 1992 the administrative proceedings, pending before the Warsaw District Office (Urząd Rejonowy), were stayed.

In 1998 the second applicant lodged a complaint about the inactivity of the Mayor of Warsaw (Prezydent Miasta Warszawy), but this was dismissed by the Supreme Administrative Court on 11 March 1998.

In the meantime, on 15 January 1998, the Head of the Warsaw District Office had informed the Supreme Administrative Court that the administrative proceedings concerning the property in question had now been completed. The Office did not, however, have the necessary financial means to pay the compensation under section 215(1) of the 1997 Land Administration Act. The letter then stated: “In the light of the above, payment of the compensation could be finalised after the Office receives the necessary funds.”

The Warsaw District Office having failed to reach a decision, the applicants lodged a complaint about its inactivity with the Supreme Administrative Court.

On 8 May 2003 the court allowed the complaint and ordered the District Office to issue a decision regarding the applicants' claim for compensation within two months.

Subsequently, the Mayor of Warsaw resumed the proceedings, and then discontinued them on 30 September 2003. The applicants appealed.

On 6 February 2004 the Mazowiecki Governor (Wojewoda) quashed the impugned decision and remitted the case for fresh consideration.

On 27 May 2005 the Mayor of Warsaw gave a decision in which he dismissed the application for compensation. The Mayor relied on section 215(1) of the 1997 Land Administration Act and considered that the applicants had not fulfilled the legal requirements and could not therefore be awarded compensation.

The applicants appealed, but their appeal was dismissed by the Mazowiecki Governor on 14 February 2006. They lodged a complaint with the Regional Administrative Court (Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny) against that decision.

On 18 October 2006 the Regional Administrative Court allowed the complaint and quashed both impugned decisions.

The applicants complained about the Mayor of Warsaw's inactivity and asked the Regional Administrative Court to fine the Mayor for having failed to implement the Supreme Administrative Court's decision of 8 May 2003. However, on 30 October 2007 the applicants withdrew their application apparently because in the meantime the Mayor had given a decision. On the same day – that is, on 30 October 2007 – the Regional Administrative Court discontinued the proceedings.

On 17 October 2007 the Mayor of Warsaw gave a decision, under section 215(1) of the 1997 Land Administration Act, in which he agreed to pay the applicants compensation for a part of the property measuring 11,400 sq. m. The Mayor considered that this part of the property had been agricultural land and that the conditions for payment of the compensation under the above provision had thus been fulfilled. The total compensation paid (PLN 5,782,335) was divided among Ms Barbara Czajkowska, Mr Tadeusz Korsak, Mr Tomasz Świeczak and Ms Agata Wicherek according to their share in Ms Wacława Korsak's estate. The two remaining applicants, Ms Danuta Korsak and Mr Tadeusz Łagowski, were not parties to the proceedings at that stage as they had either donated or sold their shares in the inheritance to the other applicants. The Mayor also decided that the application regarding compensation for the remaining part of the property, measuring 13,208 sq. m, would be settled at a later stage.

The applicants did not appeal against that decision.

On 20 January 2009 the Mayor of Warsaw gave a further decision, under section 215(1) of the 1997 Land Administration Act, in which he agreed to pay the applicants compensation for a part of the property measuring 12,009 sq. m. The Mayor considered that this part of the property had been agricultural land and that the conditions for payment of the compensation under the above-mentioned provision had thus been fulfilled. The total compensation paid (PLN 6,376,779) was divided among Ms Barbara Czajkowska, Mr Tadeusz Korsak, Mr Tomasz Świeczak and Ms Agata Wicherek according to their share in Ms Wacława Korsak's estate. The Mayor also decided that the application regarding compensation for the remaining (and last) part of the property, measuring 1,103 sq. m, would be settled at a later stage by a separate decision.

The proceedings regarding this part of the applicants' claim are pending.