FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 62215/15
Slobodan BULATOVIĆ
against Bosnia and Herzegovina
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 3 February 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 14 December 2015,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table. He was represented by Mr Katanić, a lawyer practising in Novi Sad.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 8 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention concerning his unsuccessful attempts to repossess his pre-war military flat were communicated to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the Government”).
Following the applicant’s death, his spouse, Mrs Janja Bulatović, declared in July 2021 her wish to pursue the application as his heir. The Government did not submit any observations in this connection. Having regard to its well-established case-law in this respect (see Malhous v. the Czech Republic (dec.) [GC], no. 33071/96, ECHR 2000-XII, and Murray v. the Netherlands [GC], no. 10511/10, § 79, ECHR 2016, with further references), the Court accepts that Mrs Bulatović has standing to pursue the application on behalf of the late Slobodan Bulatović.
The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant party agreed to waive any further claims against Bosnia and Herzegovina in respect of the facts giving rise to this application, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay to the estate of the late Slobodan Bulatović the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, from the 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.
The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.
THE LAW
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 the Protocols thereto 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 that the heir of the late applicant, Mrs Janja Bulatović, has locus standi in the proceedings;
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 24 February 2022.
Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 8 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration
Amount awarded for pecuniary damage
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
(in euros)[2]
62215/15
14/12/2015
Slobodan BULATOVIĆ
1943
Arsenije Katanić
Novi Sad
14/12/2021
21/09/2021
20,142
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.