THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 47880/07
by Miguel DALA
against the Netherlands
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 4 May 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
Josep Casadevall, President,
Elisabet Fura,
Corneliu Bîrsan,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Egbert Myjer,
Luis López Guerra,
Ann Power, judges,
and Stanley Naismith, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 19 October 2007,
Having regard to the interim measure indicated to the respondent Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court,
Having regard to the decision to grant priority to the above application under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
PROCEDURE
The application was lodged by Mr Miguel Dala, an Angolan national who was born in 1989 and lives in Tilburg. He was represented before the Court by Mr J.J. Eizenga, a lawyer practising in Utrecht. The Dutch Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Deputy Agent, Ms L. Egmond, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The applicant, who is suffering from type-1 diabetes with complications, complained under Article 3 of the Convention that his return to Angola would cause him suffering and early death and would amount to inhuman and degrading treatment within the meaning of this provision. He also claimed that the Dutch authorities' failure to examine, firstly, whether a return to Angola would amount to treatment proscribed by Article 3 and, secondly, whether he would have access to the medical treatment required by him, meant he had not had an effective remedy as guaranteed by Article 13 of the Convention. Finally, the applicant complained that his forced removal to Angola would constitute a disproportionate interference with his Article 8 rights. In this context he pointed to the fact that he had been residing in the Netherlands since the age of 11, and that he had been receiving medical treatment, as well as education and training, in that country.
On 21 January 2010 the Court decided to give notice to the Government of the applicant's complaint detailed above.
On 4 March 2010 the Government informed the Court that in a decision of 2 March 2010, the Minister of Justice (Minister van Justitie) had decided to grant the applicant a residence permit for stay as an alien who, through no fault of his own, is unable to leave the Netherlands (verblijf als vreemdeling die buiten zijn schuld niet uit Nederland kan vertrekken). The applicant's representative informed the Court on 3 March 2010 that in view of this development the applicant no longer wished to maintain his application to the Court.
THE LAW
In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention or its Protocols, the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) and (b) of the Convention.
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.
Stanley NaismithJosep Casadevall
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy