FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 916/12
Oleksandr Volodymyrovych SERBA
against Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 4 November 2014 as a Committee composed of:
Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
Ganna Yudkivska,
André Potocki, judges,
and Stephen Phillips, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 December 2011,
Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 24 April 2014 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 Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Serba, is a Ukrainian national, who was born in 1969 and lives in Zhytomyr. He was represented before the Court by Mr Y.V. Vyshnya, a lawyer practising in Kirovograd.
The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
The applicant complained that the length of the criminal proceedings, to which he was the party, was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.
He further complained under Article 13 of the Convention about lack of effective domestic remedies in that regard.
The application was communicated to the Government.
THE LAW
The applicant complained about excessive length of the criminal proceedings and lack of effective domestic remedies in that regard. He relied on Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention.
After the failure of attempts to reach a friendly settlement, by a letter of 24 April 2014 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 of Ukraine acknowledge the excessive duration of consideration of the applicant’s case before the national courts and lack of effective domestic remedies.
The Government of Ukraine offer to pay to Mr Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Serba EUR 1,080 (one thousand eighty euros).
The Government therefore invite the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases. They suggest that the present 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.
The above sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into the national currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and free of any taxes that may be applicable. It 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 above 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.
This payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”
By a letter received on 2 September 2014, the applicant indicated that he was not satisfied with the terms of the unilateral declaration.
The Court recalls that Article 37 of the Convention provides that it may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to one of the conclusions specified, under (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 1 of that Article. Article 37 § 1 (c) enables the Court in particular to strike a case out of its list if:
“for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.
It also recalls that in certain circumstances, it may strike out an application under Article 37 § 1(c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicant wishes the examination of the case to be continued.
To this end, the Court will examine carefully the declaration in the light of the principles emerging from its case-law, in particular the Tahsin Acar judgment (Tahsin Acar v. Turkey, [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75-77, ECHR 2003-VI); WAZA Spółka z o.o. v. Poland (dec.) no. 11602/02, 26 June 2007; and Sulwińska v. Poland (dec.) no. 28953/03).
The Court has established in a number of cases, including those brought against Ukraine, its practice concerning complaints about the violation of one’s right to a hearing within a reasonable time (see, for example, Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000-VII; Cocchiarella v. Italy [GC], no. 64886/01, §§ 69-98, ECHR 2006‑V; Majewski v. Poland, no. 52690/99, 11 October 2005; and Pavlyulynets v. Ukraine, no. 70767/01, §§ 39-52, 6 September 2005).
Having regard to the nature of the admissions contained in the Government’s declaration, as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1(c)).
Moreover, in light of the above considerations, and in particular given the clear and extensive case-law on the topic, the Court is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine).
Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declaration, the application could be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declaration under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention and of the modalities for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.
Stephen PhillipsVincent A. De Gaetano
RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy