FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 28360/08
by Emil HAJKO
against Slovakia
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 18 May 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
Nicolas Bratza, President,
Giovanni Bonello,
David Thór Björgvinsson,
Ján Šikuta,
Päivi Hirvelä,
Ledi Bianku,
Nebojša Vučinić, judges,
and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 3 June 2008,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
PROCEDURE
The application was lodged by Mr Emil Hajko, a Slovak national who was born in 1967 and lives in Medzilaborce. He was represented before the Court by Mr D. Sitarčík, a lawyer practising in Humenné. The Slovak Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M. Pirošíková.
The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length and alleged unfairness of civil proceedings which started on 26 May 1999 and ended on 10 July 2009. On 7 February 2008 the Constitutional Court rejected the applicant's complaint lodged under Article 127 of the Constitution.
The Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties on 29 March and 1 April 2010 under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Slovakia in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 10,000 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses. This sum would be free of any taxes that might 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 undertook 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.
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 (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.
Lawrence EarlyNicolas Bratza
RegistrarPresident
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