FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 65570/13
SMOKING BT and others
against Hungary
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 24 January 2017 as a Committee composed of:
Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
Egidijus Kūris,
Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,
and Andrea Tamietti, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 11 October 2013,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix. They are all represented by Mr T. Bihary, a lawyer practising in Budapest.
2. The Hungarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr Z. Tallódi, Agent, Ministry of Justice.
3. The applicants complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that the effective removal of the tobacco retail licences that belonged to their family businesses without any realistic prospect to continue their businesses amounted to an unjustified deprivation of possessions.
4. On 8 and 21 November 2016 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Hungary in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay
(i) Smoking Bt, Gábor Felkai and Rita Felkai EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euros) jointly;
(ii) Kedvezményes Családi Kft, Imre Szalay, Zsuzsanna Szalayne Hajas, Csaba Szalay, Gergely Szalay, Ella Szalayné Kozári and Krisztina Mészáros EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euros) jointly;
(iii) Buda-Investment 2000 Kft, Péter Gajzágó and Erzsébet Löwinger Gáborné Nagy EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euros) jointly; and
(iv) Vinex Bt, Erzsébet Túriné Szabó, Boglárka Túri and István Túri EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euros) jointly
to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Hungarian forints at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be 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. 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 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 will constitute the final resolution of the case.
THE LAW
5. The Court 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 application. In view of the above, it is appropriate 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 in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 16 February 2017.
Andrea TamiettiVincent A. De Gaetano
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix Smoking Bt is a Hungarian company with its registered seat in Budapest; Gábor Felkai is a Hungarian national who was born in 1954 and lives in Budapest; Rita Felkai is a Hungarian national who was born in 1990 and lives in Budapest; Kedvezményes Családi Kft is a Hungarian company with its registered seat in Budapest; Imre Szalay is a Hungarian national who was born in 1947 and lives in Budapest; Zsuzsanna Szalayne Hajas is a Hungarian national who was born in 1954 and lives in Budapest; Csaba Szalay is a Hungarian national who was born in 1977 and lives in Budapest; Gergely Szalay is a Hungarian national who was born in 1981and lives in Budapest; Ella Szalayné Kozári is a Hungarian national who was born in 1977, and lives in Budapest;Krisztina Mészáros is a Hungarian national who was born in 1977 and lives in Budapest;Buda-Investment 2000 Kft is a Hungarian company with its registered seat in Budapest;Péter Gajzágó is a Hungarian national who was born in 1963 and lives in Csömör;Erzsébet Löwinger Gáborné Nagy is a Hungarian national who was born in 1970 and lives in Budapest;Vinex Bt is a Hungarian company with its registered seat in Budapest;Erzsébet Túriné Szabó is a Hungarian national who was born in 1954 and lives in Budapest;Boglárka Túri is a Hungarian national who was born in 1978 and lives in Budapest;István Túri is a Hungarian national who was born in 1954 and lives in Budapest.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy