FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 30677/03
by Viktor LITVINENKO
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 1 April 2008 as a Chamber composed of:
Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Anatoly Kovler,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Dean Spielmann,
Giorgio Malinverni, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 27 August 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 deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Viktor Savelyevich Litvinenko, is a Russian national who was born in 1936 and lives in the town of Bataysk in the Rostov Region. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were initially represented by Mr P. Laptev, the former Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights, and subsequently by Mrs V. Milinchuk.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant sued the local Social Security Committee for the unpaid allowance and sought its re-calculation.
A. Proceedings in 2003
By judgment of 22 January 2003, the Bataysk Town Court of the Rostov Region increased the applicant’s monthly disability allowance to 4,800 Russian roubles (RUB) and his subsistence allowance to RUB 576. On 13 November 2003 the Presidium of the Regional Court quashed the above judgment on supervisory review and remitted the case to the District Court.
On 25 December 2003 the Town Court increased the applicant’s allowance to RUB 3,937.50 and awarded him a lump sum of RUB 34, 500. It appears that the parties did not appeal and the judgment became final. On 28 January 2004 the applicant received the money.
B. Other proceedings
On 14 May 2004 the Town Court awarded the applicant RUB 1,890 and increased his disability allowance to RUB 4,567.50.
On 30 June 2005 the Town Court increased the applicant’s allowance to RUB 4,932.90 and awarded him a lump sum of RUB 2,192.40.
It appears that the above judgments were enforced in October and December 2005, respectively.
COMPLAINTS
1. The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 about the non-enforcement of the judgments in his favour.
2. The applicant complained under the same provisions about the quashing of the judgment of 22 January 2003 by way of supervisory review.
3. Finally, the applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the domestic courts had misinterpreted the applicable legislation.
THE LAW
By letter dated 30 March 2007 the Government’s observations were sent to the applicant, who was requested to submit any observations together with any claims for just satisfaction in reply by 30 May 2007.
By letter of 13 July 2007, sent by registered post, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of the applicant’s observations had expired on 30 May 2007 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant’s attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. The applicant received this letter on 27 July 2007. However, no response has been received.
The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case. In view of the above, it is appropriate to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 and 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.
André WampachChristos Rozakis
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy