FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 35549/10
Yerina Yefimovna OLKHOVSKAYA
against Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 22 April 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
Jovan Ilievski,
Mattias Guyomar, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar
Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 June 2010,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Ms Yerina Yefimovna Olkhovskaya, was born in 1941.
The examination of the case was adjourned on 5 December 2017 as there was no contact with the applicant who lived in Crimea.
The examination was resumed as the applicant replied to one of the Court’s letters sent via DHL to the only available address indicated in application form. She confirmed that she wished to pursue her application before the Court. In this view, by letter of 24 June 2020, sent via DHL to the same address and delivered to the applicant on 16 July 2020, the Registry requested her to provide the Court with an e-mail address and a valid telephone number to ensure proper communication with the Court. However, no response followed from the applicant.
In September 2020, the applicant’s complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention related to the failure to inform her of the appeal proceedings as a result of which the appeal court refused to acknowledge her ownership previously confirmed by the final court proceedings, and subsequently deprived her ex lege of the acquired ownership of a plot of land were communicated to the Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) who submitted observations on admissibility and merits of the case on 15 February 2021.
By a letter of 23 September 2020, also sent via DHL to the only available address indicated in the application form, the applicant was informed of the communication and was asked to designate, by 2 December 2020, a lawyer to represent her case before the Court. The applicant’s attention was drawn to the fact that her failure to comply with the Court’s request may lead the Court to conclude that she was no longer interested in pursuing her application and to strike it out of its list of cases. The letter of 23 September 2020 was returned to the Court undelivered on 5 October 2020. For this reason, and in the absence of any alternative contact details, the Government’s observations of 15 February 2021 were not sent to the applicant.
THE LAW
The Court observes that it has unsuccessfully tried to communicate with the applicant on numerous occasions. It recalls that, pursuant to Rule 47 § 7 of the Rules of Court, “applicants shall keep the Court informed of any change of address and of all circumstances relevant to the application”. Under that Rule, it is incumbent on the applicant to provide at least a minimum of information enabling the Court to conduct correspondence with her and to proceed with her petition.
In the present case, the applicant failed to comply with the Court’s request of 24 June 2020, which she was aware of, and indicate any provisional address, phone number or email through which communication with her could be effected. Thus, the applicant made it impossible for the Court to continue the examination of her case (see Krutov v. Russia (dec.), no. 25260/02, 5 January 2007).
In the light of the foregoing, given that the complaints raised by the applicant are the subject of well-established case law and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention and the Protocols thereto, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (see Ananyeva and Konyev v. Ukraine (dec.), nos. 1132/11 and 24351/13, 15 December 2020).
Accordingly, the case should be struck out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Done in English and notified in writing on 20 May 2021.
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Viktoriya MaradudinaStéphanie Mourou-Vikström
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy