FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 60520/17
Nikolay Vladov SMILENOV
against Bulgaria
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 24 March 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the above application lodged on 7 August 2017,
the declaration submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the application out of its list of cases, and the reply of the applicant’s heir to this declaration,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant, and after his death his only heir, were represented by Mr V. Stoyanov, a lawyer practising in Pazardzhik.
The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applicant’s complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the allegedly inhuman and degrading conditions of his detention and the alleged lack of an effective remedy in that respect.
The Government submitted a unilateral declaration in which they acknowledged the violations of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention and offered to pay the applicant the amounts set out in the appended table. On that basis, they invited the Court to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment and be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay those amounts within that three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, from the 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 would constitute the final resolution of the case.
The applicant died while the proceedings before the Court were pending. His son and only heir (see the table below) stated that he wished to pursue the application in his stead. The Government accepted that the applicant’s heir could do so and undertook to pay the amounts set out in the appended table to him. The applicant’s heir informed the Court that he agreed to the terms of the Government’s declaration.
THE LAW
The applicant died while the proceedings were pending, and his son and only heir wishes to pursue the application in his stead. The Government did not object to that. There is no reason to hold that the applicant’s heir, whose details are set out in appended table, is not entitled to pursue the application in the applicant’s stead.
Since the applicant’s heir expressly agreed to the terms of the declaration made by the Government, the parties may be considered to have reached a friendly settlement. The Court takes note of that friendly settlement. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols to it, and thus finds no reasons justifying the continued examination of the application.
It is hence appropriate to strike the case out of the Court’s list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides that the applicant’s son and only heir can pursue the application;
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 14 April 2022.
{signature_p_1} {signature_p_2}
Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of applicant’s acceptance
Amount offered for non-pecuniary damage
(in euros)[1]
Amount offered for costs and expenses
(in euros)[2]
60520/17
07/08/2017
Nikolay Vladov SMILENOV
1981
(died on 13 November 2019, only heir Vladimir Nikolaev Smilenov (son, born in 2003))
Valeri Stoyanov
Pazardzhik
12/07/2021
21/08/2021
1,400
250
[1]. Plus any tax that may be chargeable
[2]. Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant