FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 11981/22
Franz ARNOLD
against Switzerland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 3 July 2025 as a Committee composed of:
Diana Sârcu, President,
Andreas Zünd,
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 February 2022,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Franz Arnold, is a Swiss national, who was born in 1969 and lives in Altendorf. He was represented by Ms I. Schwander, a lawyer practising in Brunnen.
The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention that he had been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by police officers in September 2012. The officers had handcuffed him for several hours due to an unpaid tax bill of 66 Swiss francs.
The Court received friendly settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Switzerland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 7,800 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Swiss francs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. The sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.
THE LAW
The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 28 August 2025.
Viktoriya Maradudina Diana Sârcu
Acting Deputy Registrar President