FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 62472/09
Eleni SPANOU and Georgios PALAIOLOGOS
against Greece
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 17 January 2012 as a Committee composed of:
Anatoly Kovler, President,
Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 3 November 2009,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
PROCEDURE
The applicants, Ms Eleni Spanou and Mr Georgios Palaiologos, are Greek nationals who were born in 1952 and 1955 respectively and live in Attiki. They were represented before the Court by Mr D. Christopoulos, a lawyer practising in Athens. The Greek Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr F. Georgakopoulos, President of the Legal Council of the State.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicants are employed in the General Hospital of Western Attica “Agia Varvara”.
On 28 May 2001 they lodged an action against the hospital with the First Instance Administrative Court of Athens seeking the payment of a premium (πρόσθετη αμοιβή) of 3,944,850 drachmas (11,576.962 euros) each to their salary, plus interest.
On 28 May 2004 their action was partially accepted (judgment no. 6164/2004).
On 6 April 2005 the hospital lodged an appeal.
On 28 April 2006 the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal accepted the appeal and, after having examined the applicants’ action, dismissed their allegations (judgment no. 1454/2006).
On 20 December 2006 the applicants lodged an appeal on points of law with the Supreme Administrative Court which was also dismissed on 19 January 2009 (judgment no. 152/2009). The judgment was finalised on 11 June 2009.
COMPLAINTS
1. The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of the proceedings before the domestic courts.
2. Furthermore, they complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 in conjunction with Articles 13 and 14 of the Convention that, because of the failure of the authorities to award them a premium to their salary, their right to property was infringed.
3. Finally, the applicants complained that their rights under Article 2 §§ 1 and 2 (b) and Article 7 of the International Convention concerning Employment and Conditions of Work and Life of Nursing Personnel (No. 149/1977) were violated.
THE LAW
On 15 September 2011 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:
“I, Fokion P. Georgakopoulos, Agent of the Greek Government, declare that the Government of Greece offer to pay, ex gratia to Mrs Eleni Spanou and to Mr Georgios Palaiologos, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, 4,500 euros each to cover any and all pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
This sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, from 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.”
On 16 September 2011 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicants’ representative:
“I, Dimitrios Ch. Christopoulos, note that the Government of Greece are prepared to pay ex gratia to Mrs Eleni Spanou and to Mr Georgios Palaiologos, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, 4,500 euros each to cover any and all pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to to the applicants.
This sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Having consulted my clients, I would inform you that they accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Greece in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. They declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.”
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 (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).
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.
André WampachAnatoly Kovler
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy