Source: http://echr.ketse.com/doc/27347.02-en-20051215/view/
Timestamp: 2020-07-10 07:29:28
Document Index: 576836398

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application no. 27347', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 1', '§ 46', '§ 55', '§ 36', '§ 2']

KUCHERENKO v. UKRAINE
KUCHERENKO v. UKRAINE About Project
CASE OF KUCHERENKO v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 27347/02)
In the case of Kucherenko v. Ukraine,
1. The case originated in an application (no. 27347/02) against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Ukrainian national, Ms Lyudmila Andreyevna Kucherenko (“the applicant”), on 3 July 2002.
2. The applicant is represented before the Court by Mr Petro Petrovich Kukta, a human rights activist from Dneprodzerzhinsk. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agents, Ms Zoryana Bortnovska, succeeded by Ms Valeria Lutkovska.
6. The applicant was born in 1936 and currently resides in Dneprodzerzhinsk, the Dnepropetrovsk Region. The applicant is a former employee of the Public Transportation Company “Dneprodzerzhinskgorelectrotrans” (“the PTC”), managed and owned by the Department of Communal Property of the Dneprodzerzhinsk City Council.
7. On 5 July 2000 the applicant instituted proceedings in the Zavodskoy District Court of Dneprodzerzhinsk against the PTC, seeking compensation for unpaid salary. On 18 July 2000 the Zavodskoy District Court of Dneprodzerzhinsk allowed her claims and ordered the PTC to pay her UAH 2,970 in compensation.
8. On 10 August 2000 the Bailiffs’ Service instituted the enforcement proceedings with regard to the judgment of 18 July 2000.
9. In June 2001 the applicant instituted proceedings against the PTC, seeking compensation for delayed salary payments, unpaid salary and compensation for moral damage. On 4 July 2001 the Zavodskoy District Court of Dnepropetrovsk allowed the applicant’s claims in part and ordered the PTC to pay her UAH 990 and UAH 800 in compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage respectively.
10. The execution proceedings for this judgment were initiated on 16 July 2001.
11. On 3 September 2001 the Zavodskoy Bailiffs’ Service informed the applicant that the aforementioned judgments could not be executed due the PTC’s lack of funds.
12. On 4 February 2002 the Bailiffs’ Service proposed that the PTC’s property (trams, technical equipment and an administrative building) be transferred to the debtors.
13. On 14 June 2002 the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Department of Justice also informed the applicant that the judgments could not be executed due to the PTC’s lack of funds.
14. On 6 September 2002 the Bailiffs’ Service returned the writs of enforcement to the applicant unenforced. On 20 September 2002 the applicant informed the Court that the execution proceedings were still pending.
15. On 7 June 2003 the applicant received UAH 1,380 in partial enforcement of the judgments against PTC. On 17 June 2003 the Donetsk Regional Commercial Court declared the PTC bankrupt.
16. On 14 October 2004 the applicant informed the Court that the outstanding unpaid debt was UAH 1,436.
17. On 16 December 2004 the PTC ceased to exist as a result of its liquidation.
18. On 1 February 2005 the applicant informed the Court that the unpaid amount was UAH 800.
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 6 § 1 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION AND ARTICLE 1 OF PROTOCOL NO. 1
20. The applicant complained of an alleged failure of the State authorities to enforce the judgments of 18 July 2000 and 4 July 2001 of the Zavodskoy District Court of Dnepropetrovsk given in her favour. She invoked Articles 6 § 1, 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, which provide, insofar as relevant, as follows:
21. The Court finds that the applicant’s complaints, concerning the lengthy non-enforcement of the final judgments of 18 July 2000 and 4 July 2001 of the Zavodskoy District Court of Dnepropetrovsk, are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that these complaints are not inadmissible on any other grounds. They must therefore be declared admissible.
22. The Government submitted that they took all necessary measures under domestic law to enforce the judgments given in the applicant’s favour. They maintained that the delay from the date of the adoption of the judgments to the date of the receipt by the applicant of the part of the sums due to her under these judgments did not violate her rights and was caused by the enterprises’ difficult financial situation.
24. The Court notes that the judgments of 18 July 2000 and 4 July 2001 of the Zavodskoy District Court of Dnepropetrovsk remain unenforced in part until the present moment. It was only after the communication of the case to the respondent Government that part of the debt owed to the applicant was paid. The amount of outstanding debt at present moment, in accordance with the parties’ submission is UAH 800.
25. The Court has frequently found violations of Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 in cases raising similar issues, where a debtor was a public enterprise (see Romashov cited above, §§ 46-47; Mykhaylenky and Others v. Ukraine, nos. 35091/02, 35196/02, 35201/02, 35204/02, 35945/02, 35949/02, 35953/02, 36800/02, 38296/02 and 42814/02, §§ 55 and 64, ECHR 2004-...).
26. Having examined the materials submitted to it, the Court notes that the Government have not put forward any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion in the present case. The Court finds that by failing to execute for almost five years and three months and for four years and three months the enforceable judgments of 18 July 2000 and 4 July 2001, respectively, given in the applicant’s favour, the Ukrainian authorities prevented her from receiving the money to which she was entitled. Moreover, she did not have an effective domestic remedy to redress the damage created by the delay in the present proceedings.
28. As to the complaints under Article 2 of the Convention, the Court considers that they are wholly unsubstantiated (cf. Romashov cited above, § 36).
It also notes that the complaints pertaining to the violation of the European Social Charter provisions are outside the competence of the Court.
30. The applicant claimed 10,000 United States dollars in respect of non-pecuniary damage. Initially, the applicant claimed a sum of UAH 1,436 in compensation for pecuniary damage. She eventually changed her claim to UAH 800 in compensation for pecuniary damage as according to her this sum remained unpaid. She claimed no particular sum in costs and expenses in the proceedings before the Court.
31. The Government suggested that a finding of a violation would of itself constitute sufficient just satisfaction.
32. In so far as the applicant claimed the amount awarded to her by the judgments at issue, the Court notes that the State’s outstanding obligation to enforce these judgments is not in dispute. Accordingly, the Court considers that, if the Government were to pay the debt owed to the applicant, it would constitute full and final settlement of the case.
33. As for non-pecuniary damage, the Court, making its assessment on an equitable basis, as required by Article 41 of the Convention, awards the applicant 3,000 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final according to Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the judgment debt still owed to her, as well as EUR 3,000 (three thousand euros) in respect of non-pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of settlement;
KUCHERENKO v. UKRAINE JUDGMENT