FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 31523/16
Hao BI against Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 23 November 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Mārtiņš Mits, President,
Kateřina Šimáčková,
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 26 May 2016,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Hao Bi, was born in 1975. He was represented by Mr P. Karachiy, a lawyer practising in Kyiv.
The applicant’s complaint under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the Convention concerning the confiscation by the customs authorities of the undeclared cash he had carried across the border was communicated to the Ukrainian Government (“the Government”), who submitted observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant, who was invited to submit his own observations. No reply was received to the Registry’s letter.
By letter dated 23 September 2021, sent through the Court’s Electronic Communications Service (eComms) and by registered post to the applicant’s representative, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations had expired on 2 June 2021 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant’s attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. The letter sent via eComms was not downloaded by the applicant’s lawyer and it appears that he had never received the letter by post.
When contacted by the Registry on the phone, Mr Karachiy submitted that he was no longer representing the applicant since his legal aid contract with him had expired long time ago. The applicant never contacted the Court to inform it of his new representative or inquire about his case. It was impossible to establish contact with the applicant on the phone. The applicant did not provide the Registry with any other proper address for correspondence.
THE LAW
In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention and the Protocols thereto, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application.
Accordingly, the case should be struck out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Done in English and notified in writing on 14 December 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Mārtiņš Mits
Acting Deputy Registrar President
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy