FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 44657/14
Gojko BOGOVIĆ
against Croatia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 12 June 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Kristina Pardalos, President,
Ksenija Turković,
Tim Eicke, judges,
and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 June 2014,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. The applicant, Mr Gojko Bogović, is a Croatian national who was born in 1950 and lives in Njivice. He was represented before the Court by Mr D. Beljan, a lawyer practising in Rijeka.
2. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Š. Stažnik.
3. The applicant complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that the domestic authorities had determined his tax liability in a way that was contrary to the relevant domestic law and practice and that the length of the tax assessment proceedings in question had been excessive and thus contrary to Article 13 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 thereto or to the State’s procedural positive obligations under the latter Article.
4. On 26 and 29 March 2018 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against the following undertaking by the Government:
“(1) to pay ex gratia to Gojko Bogović:
(a) EUR 39,362 (thirty nine thousand three hundred and sixty two euros), that is, the amount thus far seized from the applicant on account of the tax debt established by the tax authorities’ decision of 29 February 2008, to cover any and all pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, and
(b) EUR 6,000 (six thousand euros) to cover any and all non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.
These sums will be converted into national currency at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases. In the event of failure to pay these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, 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;
(2) to write-off, within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases, the remainder of the applicant’s outstanding tax-debt established by the tax authorities’ decision of 29 February 2008;
(3) within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases, to apply to the competent court and issue all the documents necessary for deleting from the land register all the encumbrances (tereti) established on the applicant’s immovable property with a view to securing payment of the tax debt established by the tax authorities’ decision of 29 February 2008. In particular, to apply to the competent court, within the said time-limit, to delete the security measures established by the decision of the Krk Municipal Court of 12 July 2011 on the plots of land owned by the applicant registered with the same court in the cadastral municipality (katastarska općina) of Omišalj, namely, in the land register folios (zemljišnoknjižni uložak) nos. 2244, 2204, 1435 (land register unit III – zemljišnoknjižno tijelo), 2194, 2209 (land register units V and VI) and 3791.
The undertaking of the above actions will constitute the final resolution of the case.”
THE LAW
5. 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 its Protocols 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 5 July 2018.
Renata DegenerKristina Pardalos
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy