SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 24244/11
Oktay AŞIK and Others
against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 22 January 2019 as a Committee composed of:
Julia Laffranque, President,
Valeriu Griţco,
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, judges,
and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 1 March 2011,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 2 August 2018 requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases and the applicants’ reply to that declaration,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.
2. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
3. The applicants alleged under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention that they did not have an effective remedy to challenge the lawfulness of their detention and complained about their inability to appear before the court for approximately fifteen months when their pre-trial detention was reviewed.
4. The application was communicated to the Government.
5. After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, by letter dated 2 August 2018 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by the application. They acknowledged a violation of the applicants’ rights guaranteed by Article 5§ 4 of the Convention and undertook to pay to each of the applicants 1,800 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It 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 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. They further requested the Court to strike out the application.
6. On 7 September 2018, the Court received a letter from the applicants informing the Court that they had agreed to the terms of the Government’s declaration.
THE LAW
7. The Court finds that following the applicants’ express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government the case should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.
8. It therefore 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 its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.
9. 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 pursuant to Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 14 February 2019.
Hasan BakırcıJulia Laffranque
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix
List of applicants
Oktay Aşık is a Turkish national who was born in 1981, lives in Çanakkale and is represented by H. Akarken. Selman Atasever is a Turkish national who was born in 1987, lives in Çanakkale and is represented by H. Akarken. Mesut Demir is a Turkish national who was born in 1987, lives in Çanakkale and is represented by H. Akarken. Savaş Demir is a Turkish national who was born in 1953, lives in Çanakkale and is represented by H. Akarken.
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