FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 16409/13
Jeļena FROLOVA
against Latvia
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 1 September 2015 as a Committee composed of:
Nona Tsotsoria, President,
Paul Mahoney,
Faris Vehabović, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 1 March 2013,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 22 October 2014 requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases and the applicant’s reply to that declaration,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Ms Jeļena Frolova, is a Latvian national, who was born in 1957 and lives in Riga.
The Latvian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms K. Līce.
The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention about the length of her civil proceedings.
The application was communicated to the Government.
After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, by letter dated 22 October 2014 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by the application.
They acknowledged a violation of the applicant’s rights guaranteed by Article 6 of the Convention in that the applicant’s civil proceedings had been excessively long. Accordingly, they undertook to adopt all necessary measures in order to avoid similar infringements in future and, with a view of terminating the present proceedings, to pay the applicant 2,000 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, free of any taxes that may be applicable. The Government undertook to pay this sum within three months from the date of delivery of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest, as established in the Court’s decision. They noted that this payment would constitute the final resolution of the case.
On 27 November 2014 the Court received a letter from the applicant informing the Court that she had agreed to the terms of the Government’s declaration.
THE LAW
The Court finds that following the applicant’s express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government the case should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties (see Cēsnieks v. Latvia (dec.), no. 9278/06, § 34, 6 March 2012).
It therefore 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.
The Court considers that the friendly settlement amount should be paid within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to settle within this period, simple interest shall be payable on the amount in question at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank plus three percentage points.
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 pursuant to Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 24 September 2015.
Fatoş AracıNona Tsotsoria
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy