FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 45059/05
Ignac SNOJ
against Slovenia
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 2 October 2012 as a Committee composed of:
Ann Power-Forde, President,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Angelika Nußberger, judges,
and Stephen Phillips, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 22 November 2005,
Having regard to the Government’s settlement proposal made to the applicant,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS
The applicant, Mr Ignac Snoj, is a Slovenian national, who was born in 1960 and lives in Ljubljana. He was represented before the Court by Mr Z. Lipej, a lawyer practising in Medvode.
The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complained under Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention about the excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in this regard.
THE LAW
The Court notes that, after the Government had been given notice of the application under Article 54 § 2(b) of the Rules of Court, the applicant received the State Attorney’s Office’s settlement proposal under section 25 of the Act on the Protection of the Right to a Trial without undue Delay (“the 2006 Act”) acknowledging a violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time. It further notes that the applicant has since then been in a position to either negotiate a settlement with the State Attorney’s Office or, if that were to be unsuccessful, lodge a “claim for just satisfaction” in accordance with the relevant provisions of the 2006 Act. The latter has been considered by the Court to constitute appropriate means of redressing a breach of the reasonable time requirement of Article 6 that has already occurred (see Pohlen v Slovenia (dec.), no. 28457/03, §§ 40-43, 3 June 2008, and Kešelj and 6 others v. Slovenia, cited above).
The Court reiterates Article 37 of the Convention, which in the relevant part reads as follows:
“1. The Court may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that
...
(c) for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application.
However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto so requires.”
Having regard to the foregoing, the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue with the examination of the application and it should be struck out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c). In reaching this conclusion, the Court has taken into account its competence under Article 37 § 2 of the Convention to restore the case to its list of cases if it considers that the circumstances justify such a course.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Stephen PhillipsAnn Power-Forde
Deputy RegistrarPresident
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