FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 33725/06
by Antun ŠPOLJAR
against Croatia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 10 January 2008 as a Chamber composed of:
Christos Rozakis, President,
Loukis Loucaides,
Nina Vajić,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Dean Spielmann,
Sverre Erik Jebens,
Giorgio Malinverni, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 7 July 2006,
Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together.
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case.
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Antun Špoljar, is a Croatian national who was born in 1948 and lives in Županja. He was represented before the Court by Mr D. Štivić, a lawyer practising in Županja. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs Š. Stažnik.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant had been employed with the company S. from 1 July 1969 until 16 September 1996, when he was dismissed as redundant.
On 6 November 1996 he brought a civil action against the company in the Županja Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Županji) challenging the lawfulness of his dismissal. He also sought severance pay, salary arrears, non-pecuniary damages and compensation for unused annual leave.
On 18 September 2000 the Municipal Court stayed the proceedings on account of the pending bankruptcy proceedings that had, in the meantime, been opened against the respondent.
On 4 October 2001 the court resumed the proceedings, declined its jurisdiction in the matter and decided to transfer the case to the Osijek Commercial Court.
On 24 April 2003, the Osijek Commercial Court (Trgovački sud u Osijeku) gave judgment accepting the applicant’s claim in part. On 28 March 2006 the High Commercial Court (Visoki trgovački sud Republike Hrvatske) dismissed the respondent’s appeal and upheld the first-instance judgment.
Meanwhile, on 20 October 2004 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint about the length of the above proceedings. On 18 May 2006 the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) dismissed the applicant’s complaint finding no violation of his constitutional right to a hearing within a reasonable time.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of the above civil proceedings.
THE LAW
By letter of 10 October 2007 the applicant informed the Court that he accepted a proposal for a friendly settlement and waived any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts of the present application.
On 12 November 2007 the Government informed the Court that the parties had reached a settlement whereby the Government would pay the applicant 7,100 Euros in full and final settlement of the case, costs and expenses included.
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 (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). In view of the above, it is appropriate to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 and 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 WampachChristos Rozakis
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy