FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 31345/11
Serafim SOUSA OLIVEIRA and others
against Portugal
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 1 July 2014 as a Committee composed of:
Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, President,
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque,
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 13 May 2011,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicants are all Portuguese nationals. They were all represented before the Court by Mr. P. Costa, a lawyer practising in Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal). A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.
The Portuguese Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M. F. da Graça Carvalho, Deputy Attorney-General.
The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of civil proceedings before the Court of Vila Nova de Gaia to which they were a party.
On 23 April and 23 May 2014 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Portugal in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay them the sums set in the appendix to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. They 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
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.
André WampachMirjana Lazarova Trajkovska
Deputy Registrar President
Appendix
Name of the applicants
Non-pecuniary damage
Costs and expenses
1.
2.
Serafim Sousa Oliveira
24/01/1952
Vila Nova de Gaia
Rosa da Silva Ferreira Arnelas
12/03/1958
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
€ 2.000,00
jointly
3.
Adelino Albano Costa Alves
12/05/1965
Maia
€ 8.775,00
4.
5.
Arminda da Conceição da Silva Pinto Pacheco
08/08/1955
Vila Nova de Cerveira
Fernando Alfredo Mendes Pacheco Moreira
24/02/1950
Vila Nova de Cerveira
€ 8.775,00
jointly
6.
7.
Olinda Celeste da Silva Santos Gaio Araújo
13/02/1945
Vila Nova de Gaia
Joaquim Fernando Ferreira Araújo
19/02/1949
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
8.
9.
José Damião de Almeida Souto
06/07/1947
Vila Nova de Gaia
Maria da Conceição Sousa Sequeira
21/11/1949
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
10.
11.
Maria Virgínia de Castro Cunha
25/01/1951
Vila Nova de Gaia
José da Silva Santos
22/05/1947
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
12.
Alexandre Lemos de Oliveira
19/05/1963
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
13.
14.
Rosa Lemos Oliveira Fraga
23/06/1959
Vila Nova de Gaia
Aparício Lopes Macedo Fraga
15/09/1958
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
15.
16.
Conceição Lopes Pinto Teixeira
21/09/1956
Vila Nova de Gaia
José Salomão Teixeira
30/03/1953
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
17.
18.
José Serafim Pereira Silva
22/01/1950
Avintes
Guiomar da Conceição Ramos Bandeira Silva
29/07/1955
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
19.
20.
Tito Reis Sousa Moreira
28/11/1959
Vila Nova de Gaia
Isaura Carmen Teixeira Silva
23/03/1963
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
jointly
21.
Fernando Manuel Teixeira Pinto
08/04/1919
Vila Nova de Gaia
€ 8.775,00
22.
23.
Alberto Alexandre Sousa Gonçalves
03/05/1953
Porto
Cândida Maria Pereira da Costa Gonçalves
03/08/1955
Porto
€ 8.775,00
jointly
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