FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 28393/12
Patryk KRIGER
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 1 July 2014 as a Committee composed of:
Päivi Hirvelä, President,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Faris Vehabović, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 20 March 2012,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 4 December 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 Patryk Kriger, is a Polish national, who was born in 1983 and lives in Lubań.
The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms J. Chrzanowska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention about the conditions of his detention, in particular overcrowding.
The application was communicated to the Government.
After unsuccessful friendly-settlement negotiations, by letter dated 4 December 2013 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 conditions of the applicant’s detention violated Article 3 of the Convention.
Consequently, the Government declare that they offer to pay the applicant the amount of 10,000 PLN (ten thousand Polish zlotys), which they consider to be reasonable in the light of the Court’s case-law. The sum referred to above is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses of proceedings before the Court plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant. The payment is intended to provide the applicant with redress for the systemic violation of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the conditions of his detention, in particular overcrowding, as identified by the Court in the pilot judgment given in the case of Orchowski v. Poland (no. 17885/04) on 22 October 2009 (see paragraphs 135 and 147 et seq.].
The above-mentioned sum 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.”
In a letter of 23 April 2014 the applicant stated that he accepted the terms and conditions of the Government’s unilateral 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.
Fatoş AracıPäivi Hirvelä
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy