WASIAK proti Polsku

THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 72153/01
by Honorata WASIAK
against Poland

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 15 June 2006 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr B.M. Zupančič, President,
Mr J. Hedigan,
Mr C. Bîrsan,
Mr V. Zagrebelsky,
Mr L. Garlicki,
Mrs A. Gyulumyan,
Mr David Thór Björgvinsson, judges,
and Mr V. Berger, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 1 September 2000,

Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Ms Honorata Wasiak, is a Polish national who was born in 1941 and lives in Sopot. The respondent Government are represented by Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

In January 1996 the applicant had a car accident. She suffered multiple fractures and underwent, first, hospital treatment for two months and a half and subsequently was treated at home. Afterwards, she used physical rehabilitation services.

On 27 July 1999 the applicant submitted a claim to the Gdańsk Regional Court for damages in the amount of PLN 50,000 against the Enterprise which owned the car involved in the accident.

She recounted the events linked with the accident and informed the court that she had received PLN 12,000 as compensation from the insurer of the company. She argued that the compensation was flagrantly insufficient and not in proportion to the suffering and costs she had had to bear as a result of the accident. Her retirement pension was, since 1 June 1999, PLN 680. She did not have any other sources of income and had no immediate family.

The applicant requested the court to either grant her an exemption from the court fee or to be allowed to pay the fee after a judgment on the merits of the case is given.

Requested by the court to provide a detailed description of her financial situation, the applicant informed the court, that she had retired in May 1994 and that her retirement pension was, since 1 June 1999, PLN 680 per month. She had an apartment of 43 square metres, no other immovable property, no car, and no other valuables. She had received PLN 12,000 as compensation for the accident. She had put PLN 10,000 to a blocked bank account. Interest on that amount, PLN 78 per month, served the purpose of buying medicaments. She regarded this amount as her only provision for her old age and in case of any illness or any other calamity. She did not have any other savings. The remaining PLN 2000 she put in her ordinary bank account, and used it to finance her normal expenditure. She was still undergoing physical rehabilitation.

By a decision of 6 September 1999 the Gdańsk Regional Court refused to exempt the applicant from the court fee. It observed that the applicant’s retirement pension was PLN 680, that her only property was the apartment she owned and that she had received PLN 10,000 as compensation for the consequences of the accident. She had put PN 10,000 in to the bank account and had regarded this amount as an inviolable provision for her old age. The court considered that the savings at the applicant’s disposal were sufficient to pay the court fee in full and to financially secure her future. It further considered that the applicant had “not shown that her financial situation made it impossible for her to pay the fee without a substantial reduction in her standard of living”.

The applicant appealed. She reiterated her arguments which she had already submitted to the first-instance court and added that her monthly expenditure for rent, electricity, water and TV amounted to PLN 350. Consequently, she had only PLN 330 to cover all her other living expenses, which was barely sufficient to pay for the essentials. She could hardly afford buying any clothes. PLN 10,000 she had put in the bank made it possible for her to finance her medicaments and it was her only provision for her old age.

She further stated that she was withdrawing her request for exemption and only requested the court to allow her to pay the court fee after she would receive compensation from the defendant.

On 29 December 1999 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal.

On 12 January 2000 the court summoned the applicant to pay the court fee in the amount of PLN 3,600.

On 2 February 2000 the applicant’s statement of claim was returned to her for failure to pay the court fee in the amount of PLN 3,600. She appealed against this decision, reiterating that if she paid the fee in the amount required she would not be able to cover the costs of rehabilitation. On 11 May 2000 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal, having regard to the fact that the applicant had not paid the court fee.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that she was deprived of access to a court because she could not afford, in her individual situation, to pay the court fee in full and the courts refused to grant her the exemption. She was therefore prevented from pursuing her civil claim before domestic courts.

THE LAW

Notice of the application was given to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits of the applicant’s complaint on 17 February 2006. By letters of 20 March and 14 April 2006, the applicant informed the Court that she wished to withdraw the case.

Having regard to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, the Court concludes that the applicant no longer intends to pursue the application. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the examination of this application to be continued. Accordingly, the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should be discontinued.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Vincent Berger Boštjan M. Zupančič
Registrar President