FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 77234/12 and 4328/14
Valentyn Yegorovych PYATOV against Ukraine
and Nadiya Mykolayivna TOMILINA against Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 8 September 2015 as a Committee composed of:
André Potocki, President
Ganna Yudkivska,
Síofra O’Leary, judges,
and Milan Blaško, Deputy Section Registrar.
Having regard to the above applications lodged on 26 November 2012 and 14 December 2013 respectively,
Having regard to the declarations submitted by the Government and the applicants’ acceptance of their terms,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant in the first case (application no. 77234/12), Mr Valentyn Yegorovych Pyatov, is a Ukrainian national, who was born in 1947 and lives in Smila. The applicant in the second case (application no. 4328/14), Ms Nadiya Mykolayivna Tomilina, is a Ukrainian national, who was born in 1963 and lives in Slavutych. They were represented before the Court by Mr E.V. Markov, a lawyer practising in Strasbourg.
The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their then Acting Agent, Mrs O. Davydchuk.
The applicants complained under Article 6 of the Convention that they had not been duly informed about the proceedings on appeal and had not been sent a copy of the defendant’s appeal in their respective cases.
On 17 December 2014 the Court decided to communicate the above complaints to the Government and declared the remainder of the applications inadmissible.
On 2 March 2015 the Government submitted declarations offering to pay ex gratia 1,500 euros (EUR) to each of the applicants with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the cases. These sums, which would cover any and all pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as any and all costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants, would be converted into the national currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and 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 these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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 of the above sums would constitute the final resolution of the cases.
On 30 April 2015 the applicants informed the Court that they accepted the terms of the Government’s friendly settlement declarations and requested that, for each applicant, EUR 250, out of the above-mentioned friendly settlement amount of EUR 1,500, be paid directly to their representative’s bank account to cover legal fees and expenses. On 24 June 2015 the Government informed the Court that they left the latter question to the Court’s discretion.
THE LAW
The Court finds that the applicants’ acceptance of the terms of the declarations made by the Government can be considered as a friendly settlement between the parties (see Cēsnieks v. Latvia (dec.), no. 9278/06, § 34, 6 March 2012, and Bakal and Others v. Turkey (dec.), no. 8243/08, 5 June 2012).
The Court therefore 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 applications.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list pursuant to Article 39 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 1 October 2015.
Milan BlaškoAndré Potocki
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy