SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 17401/09
Šefćeta HODŽIĆ against Serbia
and 4 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 2 October 2012 as a Committee composed of:
András Sajó, President,
Dragoljub Popović,
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque, judges,
and Françoise Elens-Passos, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged 19 March 2009 and 11 August 2011,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
All of the applicants are Serbian nationals (for additional personal details see the appended table). The applicant in case no. 69502/11 was represented before the Court by Ms Š. Dolovac, while the applicant in case no. 49473/11 was represented before the Court by Ms R. Garibović. Both lawyers are practising in Novi Pazar. The applicants in cases nos. 17401/09, 59526/09 and 61644/09 did not have representatives before the Court. The Serbian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr S. Carić.
Relying on various Articles of the Convention, the applicants complained about the respondent State’s failure to fully enforce final court decisions rendered in their favour against the same socially/State-owned company. The essential information as to the domestic proceedings in respect of each application is indicated in the appended table.
Between 7 May 2012 and 28 May 2012 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Serbia in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications against an undertaking by the Government to pay each of them the amounts specified in the appended table to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into local currency at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. These sums 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 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 parties, furthermore, agreed that within the said three-month period the Government will pay, from their own funds, the sums awarded in the domestic decisions under consideration in the present case (see table appended), less any amounts which may have already been paid on the basis of the said decisions, plus the costs of the domestic enforcement proceedings. These payments will constitute the final resolution of the cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
THE LAW
The Court considers that, in accordance with Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court, the applications should be joined, given their similar factual and legal background.
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 applications.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list pursuant to Article 39 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.
Françoise Elens-PassosAndrás Sajó
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
No.
Application
no.
Lodged on
Applicant name
date of birth
place of residence
Final domestic decision (issuing authority / case no., adopted on)
Company name and seat
Enforcement order (enforcement authority, case no. date of order)
Friendly settlement amount
17401/09
19/03/2009
Šefćeta HODŽIĆ
23/06/1956
Novi Pazar
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
1. P1. 1071/04 of 29 October 2004
2. P1. 440/05 of 24 October 2005
3. P1. 835/06 of 06 March 2007
4. P1. 1085/06 of 29 November 2007
“Raška” Holding Kompanija AD, “Viskozna predionica”, DOO Novi Pazar.
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
1. I. 1145/04 of 24/09/2005
2. I. 1892/05 of 06/01/2005
3. I. 1164/07 of 31/05/2007
4. I. 2095/11 of 23/11/2011
4,000 euros
59526/09
28/10/2009
Radmila RADOVANOVIĆ
01/10/1957
Raška
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
P1. 335/07 of 22 May 2007
“Raška” Holding Kompanija AD, “Viskozna predionica”, DOO Novi Pazar.
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
1. I. 1858/07 of 15/11/2007
3,000 euros
61644/09
23/10/2009
Branislav MUTAVDŽIĆ
08/03/1949
Novi Pazar
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
1. P1. 1163/06 of 20 February 2007
2. P1. 64/05 of 16 May 2005
“Raška” Holding Kompanija AD, Novi Pazar. Under restructuring.
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
1. I. 1876/07 of 15/11/2007
2. I. 1909/11 of 26/10/2011
3,000 euros
49473/11
18/09/2009
Dobrila BUGARIĆ
02/01/1958
Novi Pazar
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
P1. 244/04 of 30 April 2004
“Raška” Holding Kompanija AD, Novi Pazar
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
I.. 612/04 of 07/07/2004
2,600 euros
69502/11
11/08/2011
Šućro BOGUĆANIN
09/11/1962
Novi Pazar
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
P1. 76/07 of 25 September 2007
“Raška” Holding Kompanija AD, Novi Pazar
Municipal Court in Novi Pazar
I. 1814/07 of 02/11/2007
3,100 euros
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