FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 9355/07
by Ladislav KOŠARKO
against Slovakia
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 8 June 2010 as a Committee composed of:
Giovanni Bonello, President,
Lech Garlicki,
Ján Šikuta, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 February 2007,
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 Ladislav Košarko, a Slovak national who was born in 1962 and lives in Košice. 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 of civil proceedings which had started on 15 November 2000 and ended on 16 January 2009. The Constitutional Court decided twice that the applicant's right to a hearing within a reasonable time had been violated, ordered the court concerned to proceed without unjustified delay and awarded to the applicant just satisfaction for non‑pecuniary damage. It also ordered the competent court to reimburse the applicant's legal cost. On 14 September 2006 the Constitutional Court rejected the applicant's third complaint under Article 127 of the Constitution.
The Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties on 24 February and 31 March 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 2,100 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.
Fatoş AracıGiovanni Bonello
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy