SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 56914/09
Thomas Josef GUTSFELD
against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 19 June 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Ledi Bianku, President,
Nebojša Vučinić,
Jon Fridrik Kjølbro, judges,
and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 October 2009,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Thomas Josef Gutsfeld, is a German national, who was born in 1959 and lives in Germany. He was represented before the Court by Ms J. Ertürk, a lawyer practising in Ankara.
The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
The applicant was an individual small shareholder of Demirbank, which was taken over by the State. He complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that, since he was illegally deprived of his shares in Demirbank and could not receive any compensation for his loss, his right to peaceful enjoyment of his possessions was violated.
The applicant’s complaint was communicated to the Government.
On 17 March 2018 and 17 April 2018 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 750.23 euros (EUR) to cover any and all pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and EUR 100 to cover any and all costs and expenses, 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. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, 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 its Protocols 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 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 12 July 2018.
Hasan BakırcıLedi Bianku
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy