FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 22453/19
Anna KHVOROVA
against Azerbaijan
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 2 June 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
Ivana Jelić,
Kateřina Šimáčková, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 April 2019,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant was represented by Ms N. Sadikhova, a lawyer based in Azerbaijan.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 concerning the non-enforcement of domestic decisions were communicated to the Azerbaijani Government (“the Government”).
The applicant died on 7 September 2021. On 3 February 2022 Ms Olga Vladimirova Iachmeneva, the applicant’s daughter, expressed her wish to continue the proceedings before the Court in the applicant’s stead. The Court notes that in various cases in which an applicant has died in the course of the Convention proceedings, it has taken into account the statements of the applicant’s heirs or of close family members expressing the wish to pursue the proceedings before the Court (see, among other authorities, Jėčius v. Lithuania, no. 34578/97, § 41, ECHR 2000‑IX; Pisarkiewicz v. Poland, no. 18967/02, §§ 30-33, 22 January 2008; and Ergezen v. Turkey, no. 73359/10, §§ 27-30, 8 April 2014). The Court has accepted that the next‑of-kin or heir may in principle pursue the application, provided that he or she has sufficient interest in the case (see Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 97, ECHR 2014, and Ksenz and Others v. Russia, nos. 45044/06 and 5 others, § 86, 12 December 2017). In view of the above and having regard to the circumstances of the case, the Court holds that Ms Olga Vladimirova Iachmeneva has standing to continue the present proceedings in her late mother’s stead.
The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant’s heir agreed to waive any further claims against Azerbaijan in respect of the facts giving rise to this application, and the Government undertook to pay her the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, 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 Government also undertook to ensure the enforcement of the domestic decisions under consideration in the case within the same three-month period, and to pay any costs of the domestic enforcement proceedings.
The payment and the enforcement of the domestic decisions in the case 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 the Protocols thereto 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 that the applicant’s daughter and heir can pursue the application;
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 23 June 2022.
Viktoriya Maradudina Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
(non-enforcement of domestic decisions)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Years of birth and death
Heir’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Relevant
domestic
decision
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of the declaration of the applicant’s heir
Amount awarded for non‑pecuniary damage
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses
(in euros)[2]
22453/19
12/04/2019
Anna
Nikolayevna KHVOROVA
Born in 1928
Deceased in 2021
Olga
Vladimirova
IACHMENEVA
1959
Nigar SADIKHOVA
Baku
Supreme Court
02/07/2010
04/05/2022
10/04/2022
3,600
250
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.