CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 31 août 2004

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s6C3B0BAF { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:28.35pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s9F8EB0C0 { width:18.63pt; display:inline-block } .s9E97F54A { width:85.05pt; display:inline-block } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   400 31.8.2004   Press release issued by the Registrar     “Bug River” cases adjourned   The European Court of Human Rights has decided to adjourn all current and future applications which raise the same issues as the case Broniowski v. Poland (application no. 31443/96) – the so-called “Bug River” claims ( roszczenia zabużańskie ) – pending the adoption of measures to deal with the underlying problem in Poland.   Broniowski v. Poland concerned Poland’s failure to implement the applicant’s entitlement to compensatory property; the applicant’s family had been repatriated from the “territories beyond the Bug River” in the aftermath of the Second World War and had had to abandon its property. According to the Polish Government, the anticipated total number of people entitled to such property is nearly 80,000.   In its Grand Chamber judgment in the case of 22 June 2004, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of the applicant’s right to property, under Article   1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, and that the violation had originated in a systemic problem connected with the malfunctioning of Polish legislation and practice caused by the failure to set up an effective mechanism to implement the “right to credit” of Bug River claimants. Through appropriate legal measures and administrative practices, Poland was to secure the implementation of the property right in question in respect of the remaining Bug River claimants or provide them with equivalent redress in lieu.   On 6 July 2004, having regard to the fact that the substantive examination of the remaining cases was linked to the execution of the Broniowski judgment and the implementation of the measures indicated by the Court to the Polish Government, the Fourth Section of the Court decided that all similar applications – including future applications – should be adjourned pending the outcome of the leading case and the adoption of the measures to be taken at national level. It also decided that the Polish Government and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should be informed of the adjournment and supplied with a list of the adjourned pending cases. The applicants were informed accordingly.   ***   Further information about the Court can be found on its Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Press contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)   Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1 November 1998 it has sat as a full-time Court composed of an equal number of judges to that of the States party to the Convention. The Court examines the admissibility and merits of applications submitted to it. It sits in Chambers of 7 judges or, in exceptional cases, as a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the Court’s judgments.