THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 74518/01
by Fatma BAKIR and Others
against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 16 October 2003 as a Chamber composed of:
MrG. Ress, President,
MrI. Cabral Barreto,
MrL. Caflisch,
MrR. Türmen,
MrB. Zupančič,
MrsH.S. Greve,
MrK. Traja, judges,
and Mr V. Berger, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 January 2001,
Having regard to the formal declarations of acceptance of a friendly settlement of the case respectively submitted by the applicants and the Government on 28 March and 14 May 2003,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicants, whose names appear in the appendix, are Turkish[Note1] nationals. They were represented before the Court by MM. T. Akıllıoğlu, A. Aktay and M. Nerse, lawyers practising in Ankara.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
On 24 February 1993 the General Directorate of National Roads and Highways expropriated plots of land belonging to the applicants in İskenderun. A committee of experts assessed the value of the plots of land and compensation was paid to the applicants on 2 November 1995.
Following the applicants’ requests for increased compensation, the Iskenderun Court of General Jurisdiction decided to award them an additional compensation assessed at TRL 6,177,931,000 plus interest at the statutory rate of 30% per annum. The applicants appealed. On 30 March 1998 the Court of Cassation quashed the decision of the first instance court and remitted the case to the first instance court for further investigation. On 26 November 1998 the Iskenderun Court of General Jurisdiction decided to award the applicants an additional compensation assessed at TRL 4,958,363,000 plus interest at the statutory rate of 30% per annum. The date, 2 November 1995, was fixed by the first instance court for the running of the statutory rate of interest. This decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation on 22 March 1999. On 3 August 2000 the administration paid the applicants an additional compensation of TRL 14,732,620,000, interest included.
The interest on the additional compensation was calculated at the statutory rate applicable between 2 November 1995 and 1 January 1998, namely 30%. As regards the period after 1 January 1998 the interest was calculated at the then applicable rate, namely 50%. The statutory rate of interest was increased to 60% as of 1 January 2000.
Between 1993 and 1999 the rate of inflation averaged 81.7% per annum.
Details are indicated in the table below:
DATE FROM WHICH THE STATUTORY RATE OF INTEREST (30%) BEGAN TO RUN (the statutory rate of interest was increased to 50% on 1.1.1998 and 60% on 1.1.2000)
DATE OF FINAL DECISION AS REGARDS ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION
AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION
(interests and legal costs are not included)
(in Turkish Liras)
DATE AND AMOUNT OF PAYMENT AWARDED TO THEM
(in Turkish Liras)
2.11.1995
22.3.1999
4,958,363,000
3.08.2000
14,732,620,000
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complain under Article 1 of Protocol 1 and Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that at a time when the annual rate of inflation in Turkey had been very high, they had been paid insufficient interest on additional compensation received following the expropriation of their land and that the authorities had delayed in paying them the relevant amounts.
The applicants further complain under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the length of the civil proceedings ‑resulting from the authorities’ delay in payment of the additional compensation‑ was in breach of the “reasonable time requirement” of the relevant article.
THE LAW
On 19 May 2003 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:
“Je déclare qu’en vue d’un règlement amiable de l’affaire ayant pour origine la requête no 74518/01, introduite par Mmes Fatma Bakır, Fatma Bakır, Gülen Çetin, Hanifiye Bakır, Meral Bakır, Ümmühani Çetin, Ayşe Meşe et Fidan Bakır, ainsi qu’à MM. İsmail Bakır, Hasan Bakır, Salih Bakır, Mehmet Turgut Bakır et Salim Bakır, le gouvernement turc offre de verser aux intéressées, ex gratia, au titre du dommage subi, frais et dépens compris, la somme globale de 5 800 USD (cinq mille huit cents dollars américains).
Cette somme ne sera soumise à aucun impôt ni à une quelconque autre charge fiscale à l’époque pertinente et sera versée en euros sur un compte bancaire indiqué par les requérants. Son versement aura lieu dans les trois mois suivant la date de notification de la décision de la Cour rendue conformément à l’article 37 § 1 de la Convention européenne des Droits de l’Homme. A défaut de règlement dans ledit délai, le Gouvernement s’engage à verser, à compter de l’expiration de celui-ci et jusqu’au règlement effectif de la somme en question, intérêt simple à un taux sera égal à celui de la facilité de prêt marginal de la Banque centrale européenne, augmenté de trois points de pourcentage.”
On 1 April 2003 the Court received the following declaration signed by one of the applicants’ representatives:
“Je note qu’en vue d’un règlement amiable de l’affaire ayant pour origine la requête no 74518/01 pendante devant la Cour européenne des Droits de l’Homme, le gouvernement turc est prêt à verser à Mmes Fatma Bakır, Fatma Bakır, Gülen Çetin, Hanifiye Bakır, Meral Bakır, Ümmühani Çetin, Ayşe Meşe et Fidan Bakır, ainsi qu’à MM. İsmail Bakır, Hasan Bakır, Salih Bakır, Mehmet Turgut Bakır et Salim Bakır, ex gratia, au titre du dommage subi, frais et dépens compris, la somme globale de 5 800 USD (cinq mille huit cents dollars américains).
Je note également que le versement de cette somme s’effectuera dans un délai de trois mois à compter de la date de notification de la décision de la Cour rendue conformément à l’article 37 § 1 de la Convention européenne des Droits de l’Homme.
J’accepte cette proposition et renonce par ailleurs à toute autre prétention à l’encontre de la Turquie à propos des faits à l’origine de ladite requête. Je déclare l’affaire définitivement réglée.
La présente déclaration s’inscrit dans le cadre du règlement amiable auquel le Gouvernement et moi-même sommes parvenus.”
The Court takes note of the agreement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).
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.
Vincent BergerGeorg Ress
RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applicants
1.Fatma Bakır, born in 1931, resides in Denizciler
2.Ismail Bakır, born in 1931, resides in Denizciler
3.Fatma Bakır, born in 1929, resides in Denizciler
4.Hasan Bakır, born in 1954, resides in Denizciler
5.Gülen Çetin, born in 1961, resides in Denizciler
6.Hanifiye Bakır, born in 1951, resides in Denizciler
7.Meral Bakır, born in 1965, resides in Denizciler
8.Salih Bakır, born in 1968, resides in Denizciler
9.Mehmet Turgut Bakır, born in 1965, resides in Denizciler
10.Ümmühani Çetin, born in 1982, resides in Denizciler
11.Ayşe Meşe, born in 1974, resides in Denizciler
12.Fidan Bakır, born in 1936, resides in Denizciler
13.Salim Bakır, born in 1947, resides in Denizciler
[Note1]To be checked.
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