FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 8074/06 and 729/07
by Anatoliy Sergeyevich BREKHOV and Andrey Vladimirovich TYURIN
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 2 December 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Anatoly Kovler,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Giorgio Malinverni,
George Nicolaou, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications,
Having regard to the decision to apply the pilot-judgment procedure taken in the case of Burdov (no. 2) v. Russia (no. 33509/04, ECHR 2009-...),
Having regard to the declarations by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the applications out of its list of cases and the applicants' reply to those declarations,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applications were lodged by Mr Anatoliy Sergeyevich Brekhov and Mr Andrey Vladimirovich Tyurin, Russian nationals who were born in 1980 and live in Natalyinsk, Sverdlovsk Region. They were represented before the Court by Ms A.V. Demeneva, a lawyer practising in Yekaterinburg. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyshkin, the Representaitve of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
Both applicants used to be military servicemen who participated in the “anti-terrorist operation” in the Chechen Republic.
In June 2002 the Vladikavkaz Garrison Military Court allowed the applicants' claims for salary arrears. Those judgments were not appealed against and became final and enforceable. Writs of execution were issued.
In 2004 Ms Merzlyakova, Sverdlovsk Regional Ombudsperson, wrote to the military authorities referring to continuing violation of the applicants' rights under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and urging that the judgments in their favour be promptly and fully executed.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 about delayed enforcement of the final and enforceable judgments in their favour.
THE LAW
Following the pilot judgment in Burdov (no. 2), cited above, the Government informed the Court of the payment of the domestic court awards in the applicant's favour and submitted unilateral declarations dated 17 August 2010. They acknowledged lengthy enforcement of the final and enforceable judgments in the applicants' favour. They also declared their intention to pay each of the applicants ex gratia a sum of EUR 4,000 as just satisfaction in this respect. They went on to invite the Court to strike the cases out of the Court's list of cases. The remainder of their declarations read as follows:
“The sum referred to above, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, 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 pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the [Convention]. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake 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.
This payment will constitute the final resolution of the case”.
In a letter of 8 October 2010 the applicants agreed with the sum proposed in the Government's declarations.
The Court reiterates that under Article 37 § 1 (c) it is empowered to strike a case out of its list if:
“for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.
The Court recalls that it ordered the Russian Federation to grant redress to all victims of non-payment or unreasonably delayed payment by State authorities of a judgment debt in their favour who had lodged their applications with the Court before 15 January 2009 (Burdov (no. 2), cited above, §§ 144-145).
Having examined the terms of the Government's declaration, the Court understands it as intending to give the applicants redress in line with the Burdov (no. 2) pilot judgment.
The Court is satisfied that the excessive length of the enforcement of the final judgments in the applicants' favour is acknowledged by the Government. It also notes that the compensation offered is comparable with Court awards in similar cases.
The Court therefore considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications; it is also satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention (Article 37 § 1 in fine) does not require it to continue the examination of the present applications (see Sobol and Others v. Russia (dec.), nos. 11373/03 et al., 24 June 2010).
Accordingly, the present applications should be struck out of the Court's list of cases.
As regards the question of implementation of the Government's undertakings, the Committee of Ministers remains competent to supervise this matter in accordance with Article 46 § 2 of the Convention. In any event the Court's present ruling is without prejudice to any decision it might take to restore, pursuant to Article 37 § 2 of the Convention, the present applications to its list of cases (see Sobol and Others, cited above).
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.
Søren NielsenChristos Rozakis
RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy