THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 43518/06
by Petru GEORGESCU
against Romania
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 12 May 2009 as a Chamber composed of:
Josep Casadevall, President,
Elisabet Fura-Sandström,
Corneliu Bîrsan,
Alvina Gyulumyan,
Egbert Myjer,
Ineta Ziemele,
Ann Power, judges,
and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 14 September 2006,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case.
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Petru Georgescu, is a Romanian national who was born in 1950 and lives in Slimnic. The Romanian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr. R.H. Radu, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant has two daughters, one born in 1987 and the other one in 1989. In 1996, the applicant’s wife left him in the course of a family vacation in Germany, taking with her both daughters. The applicant returned to Romania and instituted civil proceedings in 1996 with a view to obtaining the custody of his daughters.
By a judgment of 2 October 2000, the Sibiu District Court dismissed the applicant’s action granting the sole custody of the daughters to their mother. On 16 December 2002, the Sibiu County Court upheld this decision, as did the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal on 3 October 2006. As a whole, the proceedings regarding the custody lasted about ten years.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the lack of fairness and the length of the civil proceedings instituted by him.
THE LAW
On 6 February 2009, the Court received the following declaration from the Government:
“I, Răzvan-Horaţiu Radu, Agent of the Government of Romania before the European Court of Human Rights, declare that the Government of Romania offer to pay ex gratia 4 200 (four thousand two hundred) euros to Mr Petru Georgescu with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into the respondent State’s national currency at the rate applicable at the date of payment, and 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 European Convention on Human Rights. 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. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”
On 6 November 2008, the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant:
“I, Petru Georgescu, note that the Government of Romania are prepared to pay me ex gratia the sum of 4 200 (four thousand two hundred) euros with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into the respondent State’s national currency at the rate applicable at the date of payment, and 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 European Convention on Human Rights. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Romania in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. I declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.”
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 strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Santiago QuesadaJosep Casadevall
RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy