THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 1449/05, 40698/05, 40738/05, 42252/05 and 45038/05
by Josip ŠOJAT and 4 others
against Slovenia
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 10 March 2009 as a Chamber composed of:
Josep Casadevall, President,
Corneliu Bîrsan,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Alvina Gyulumyan,
Ineta Ziemele,
Luis López Guerra,
Ann Power, judges,
and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications,
Having regard to the written submissions of the parties,
Having regard to the friendly settlement offers and acceptances submitted by the parties,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant Mr Josip Šojat is a Croatian national who was born in 1948 and lives in Zagreb (Croatia). He was represented before the Court by Mr B. Verstovšek, a lawyer practising in Celje (Slovenia).
The applicant Mr Peter Zalokar is a Slovenian national who was born in 1970 and lives in Trzin (Slovenia). He was represented before the Court by Mrs B. Zidar, a lawyer practising in Celje.
The applicant Mr Boštjan Nabergoj is a Slovenian national who was born in 1972 and lives in Podnanos (Slovenia). He was represented before the Court by Mr D. Đuragić, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
The applicant Mr Mirko Vasilić is a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina who was born in 1952 and lives in Čelinac (Bosnia and Herzegovina). He was also represented by Mrs B. Zidar.
The applicant Mr Peter Jamnikar is a Slovenian national born in 1989 who lives in Velenje (Slovenia). He was also represented by Mr B. Verstovšek.
The respondent Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Lucijan Bembič, State Attorney-General.
A. The circumstances of the case
The applicants were parties to civil proceedings which terminated before 1 January 2007. The relevant length of each set of proceedings is indicated in the attached table.
B. Relevant domestic law
The Act on the Protection of the Right to a Trial without Undue Delay (Zakon o varstvu pravice do sojenja brez nepotrebnega odlašanja, Official Gazette, No. 49/2006 – “the 2006 Act”) became operational on 1 January 2007.
Section 25 lays down the following transitional rules in relation to the applications already pending before the Court:
Section 25 - Just satisfaction for damage sustained prior to implementation of this Act
“(1) In cases where a violation of the right to a trial without undue delay has already ceased and the party had filed a claim for just satisfaction with the international court before the date of implementation of this Act, the State Attorney's Office shall offer the party a settlement on the amount of just satisfaction within four months after the date of receipt of the case referred by the international court for the settlement procedure. The party shall submit a settlement proposal to the State Attorney's Office within two months of the date of receipt of the proposal of the State Attorney's Office. The State Attorney's Office shall decide on the proposal as soon as possible and within a period of four months at the latest.....
(2) If the proposal for settlement referred to in paragraph 1 of this section is not acceded to or the State Attorney's Office and the party fail to negotiate an agreement within four months after the date on which the party filed its proposal, the party may bring an action before the competent court under this Act. The party may bring an action within six months after receiving the State Attorney's Office reply that the party's proposal referred to in the previous paragraph was not acceded to, or after the expiry of the period fixed in the previous paragraph for the State Attorney's Office to decide to proceed with settlement. Irrespective of the type or amount of the claim, the provisions of the Civil Procedure Act concerning small claims shall apply in proceedings before a court.”
COMPLAINTS
1. The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the excessive length of civil proceedings.
2. In substance, they also complained under Article 13 of the Convention that they did not have an effective domestic remedy in this regard.
THE LAW
On 3 July 2008 the respondent Government were given notice of the applications lodged by the applicants.
Subsequently, the State Attorney's Office sent settlement proposals to each applicant under section 25 of the 2006 Act (see “Relevant domestic law” above). In its proposals, the State Attorney's Office acknowledged the violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time and offered to pay monetary compensation in respect of non-pecuniary damage and reimbursement of costs and expenses connected with the case to each applicant. The amount offered to the applicants by the State Attorney's Office depended on the individual circumstances of the case (see the attached table).
Further to the receipt of the applicants' replies, the Government informed the Court that the applicants had accepted the settlement proposals (for the date of each settlement agreement see the attached table). The applicants then informed the Court that they were withdrawing their applications.
The Court recalls 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
(a) the applicant does not intend to pursue his application; or
(b) the matter has been resolved;
...
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.”
The Court takes note that following the settlements reached between the parties the matter has been resolved at the domestic level and that the applicants do not wish to pursue their applications (Article 37 § 1 (a) and (b) of the Convention). It is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols does not require the examination of the applications to be continued (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).
In these circumstances, the cases should be struck out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.
Santiago QuesadaJosep Casadevall
RegistrarPresident
No.
App. No.
Name
Relevant period
Settlement date
Non-pecuniary damage
Costs and expenses
Total Settlement Figure
1
1449/05
ŠOJAT, Josip
11 years and app. 4 months, two levels of jurisdiction
22 September 2008
2,880 €
426.86 €
3,306.86 €
2
40698/05
ZALOKAR, Peter
9 year and 6 months, two levels of jurisdiction
2 December 2008
1,350 €
275.41 €
1,625.41 €
3
40738/05
NABERGOJ, Boštjan
10 years and 11 months for two levels of jurisdiction (main and enforcement proceedings)
14 November 2008
3,600 €
413.12 €
4,013.12 €
4
42252/05
VASILIČ, Mirko
15 years and 8 months (3 years imputable to the applicant), three levels of jurisdiction and several instances
2 December 2008
2,790 €
413.12 €
3203.12 €
5
45038/05
JAMNIKAR, Peter
6 years and 6 months for two levels of jurisdiction
29 October 2008
1,800 €
424.70 €
2,224.70 €
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