FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 48794/11
Radosław HOŁOWIŃSKI
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 6 January 2015 as a Committee composed of:
Nona Tsotsoria, President,
Paul Mahoney,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 19 July 2011,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 13 August 2013 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, Mr Radosław Hołowiński, is a Polish national, who was born in 1981 and lives in Elbląg. He was represented before the Court by Ms M. Zipser, a lawyer practising in Elbląg.
The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms J. Chrzanowska of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The applicant complained under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention that the length of his pre‑trial detention was excessive. In this connection he also complained that the amount of bail had been set too high and that the domestic courts had failed to take into account his financial circumstances when fixing the bail.
After the failure of attempts to reach a friendly settlement, by a letter of 13 August 2014 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issue raised by the application. They further requested the Court to strike out the application in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.
The declaration provided as follows:
“The Government hereby wish to express – by way of the unilateral declaration – their acknowledgement that the length of the applicant’s detention on remand violated Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
Consequently, the Government are prepared to pay the applicant the sum of PLN 16,000 (sixteen thousand Polish zlotys), which they consider reasonable in the light of the Court’s case-law. The sum referred to above, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, 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 Government would respectfully suggest that the above declaration might be accepted by the Court as ‘any other reason’ justifying the striking out of the case of the Court’s list of cases, as referred to in Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. ...”
On 23 September 2014 the Court received a letter from the applicant informing the Court that he 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 unilateral declaration made by the Government the case should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.
It therefore takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on the respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.
Accordingly, it should be struck 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 29 January 2015.
Fatoş AracıNona Tsotsoria
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy