On November 30, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights condemned the Polish government in the case of "TRELA AND OTHERS v. POLAND" regarding the delay of proceedings.
The applicants complained of the excessive length of criminal proceedings and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. The applicants complained that the length of the criminal proceedings in question had been incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention. The Court rejected the Government’s request to strike the applications out and accordingly pursued its examination of the merits of the cases. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court didn’t find any fact or argument capable of justifying the overall length of the proceedings at the national level. The Court also considered that in the instant case the length of the proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement. The Court further noted that the applicants hadn’t had at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints. The Court finally announced the complaints admissible and disclosed a breach of Article 6 § 1 and of Article 13 of the Convention. The Court convicted the respondent State to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated for each applicant, at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.