FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 721/04
by Vyacheslav Muratovich LETOV
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 29 April 2008 as a Chamber composed of:
Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Anatoly Kovler,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Giorgio Malinverni,
George Nicolaou, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 15 October 2003,
Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Vyacheslav Muratovich Letov, was a Russian national who was born in 1972 and lived in the town of Yesentuki in the Stavropol Region. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mrs V. Milinchuk, the Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
On 16 November 2001 the traffic police fined the applicant. On 5 December 2001 the decision to fine him was annulled and the administrative proceedings were discontinued.
On 6 March 2002 the Justice of the Peace of the 3rd Court Circuit upheld the applicant’s action against the Ministry of Internal Affairs and awarded him 2,135.55 Russian roubles in compensation for damage caused by the unlawful imposition of the fine. The judgment was not appealed against and became final.
Enforcement proceedings were instituted but the judgment was not enforced because the debtor did not have the necessary funds.
On 26 July 2004 the Presidium of the Stavropol Regional Court, by way of a supervisory review, quashed the judgment of 6 March 2002 and sent the case for a fresh examination.
According to the Government, on 23 September 2004 the Justice of the Peace of the 3rd Court Circuit discontinued the proceedings due to the applicant’s death.
COMPLAINT
The applicant, without invoking any Convention provision, complained that the judgment of 6 March 2002 had not been enforced.
THE LAW
On 7 May 2007 the application was communicated to the respondent Government.
On 5 September 2007 the Government’s observations on the admissibility and merits of the application were received. The Government informed the Court that the applicant had died.
On 13 September 2007 the Court sent the Government’s observations by registered mail to the applicant’s home address. The Court noted that in a number of cases in which an applicant had died in the course of the proceedings the Court had taken into account the statements of the applicant’s heirs or of close family members expressing the wish to pursue the proceedings before it. The Court requested the applicant’s family to indicate by 31 October 2007 whether an heir of the applicant wished to pursue the proceedings before the Court and provide a written statement explaining such heir’s legitimate interest in having proceedings pursued. The applicant’s family members were also advised that the failure to respond might result in the strike-out of the application. No response followed.
The Court takes note of the fact that the applicant died and that no member of his family or heir has expressed a wish to continue the proceedings before the Court in his stead.
In these circumstances, the Court concludes that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application, that Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should no longer apply to the case and that the case should be struck out of the list in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The Court finds no reasons of a general character, as defined in Article 37 § 1 in fine that would require to continue the proceedings by the virtue of that provision.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and to strike the application out of its list of cases.
André WampachChristos Rozakis
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy