THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 23663/06
by Michael BOYCE
against Ireland
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 6 May 2008 as a Chamber composed of:
Josep Casadevall, President,
Elisabet Fura-Sandström,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Alvina Gyulumyan,
Ineta Ziemele,
Luis López Guerra,
Ann Power, judges,
and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 22 May 2006,
Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together.
Having regard to the correspondence to this Court accepting a friendly settlement of the case.
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Michael Boyce, is an Irish national who was born in 1944 and lives in Mullingar. He was represented before the Court by Mr P. Groarke, a lawyer practising in Longford. The Irish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms P. O’Brien.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
On 10 July 1996 the applicant was arrested in respect of several sexual offences between January 1983 and December 1994.
On 16 October 2000 the applicant’s jury trial began at the Central Criminal Court.
On 7 March 2001 the applicant was sentenced to a total of 8 years’ imprisonment.
On 9 March 2001 the applicant applied for leave to appeal against his conviction by lodging a Notice of Appeal with the Registrar of the Court of Criminal Appeal.
On 24 and 25 June 2003 his appeal was heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal, with the applicant relying on a further additional ground of appeal with the Director of Public Prosecutions’ consent.
On 17 February 2005 the applicant was released from prison on expiration of his sentence.
On 21 December 2005 the Court of Criminal Appeal delivered judgment, dismissing the applicant’s application for leave to appeal against his conviction on all grounds.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention that the length of the criminal proceedings against him was excessive and in violation of his right to trial within a reasonable period of time.
The applicant further complained under Article 13 of the Convention that he had no effective domestic remedy as regards the above-noted violation of Article 6 of the Convention.
THE LAW
By a letter dated 11 April 2008 the applicant’s representative indicated the applicant’s willingness to accept EUR 15,000 together with costs and expenses in the sum of EUR 12,500 as friendly settlement of this case.
By a letter dated 24 April 2008 the Government informed the Court that it had accepted the applicant’s friendly settlement proposal.
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 public policy reasons to justify a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). In view of the above, it is appropriate to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 and to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention;
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Santiago QuesadaJosep Casadevall
RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy