FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 14359/18
Marino ŠTOKOVAC against Croatia
and 5 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 20 May 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Péter Paczolay,
Gilberto Felici, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Croatian Government (“the Government”). In some of the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention.
One of the applicants (see appended table below) died after the institution of the proceedings before the Court. Her heirs (see below) expressed the wish to pursue the application in her stead. The Government did not object against the locus standi of the heirs in the proceedings.
The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay them the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake 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 cases.
THE LAW
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
The Court firstly takes note of the information regarding the death of the applicant, Ms Sonja Jakac and the wish of her two heirs to continue the proceedings in her stead, as well as of the absence of an objection on the Government’s part to their standing. Therefore, the Court considers that the heirs of Ms Jakac, as indicated in the table below, have a legitimate interest in pursuing the application.
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 the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Holds that the heirs of the applicant Ms Sonja Jakac (as indicated in the appended table below) have standing to pursue the application in her stead;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 10 June 2021.
{signature_p_2}
Viktoriya MaradudinaAlena Poláčková
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth/
registration
Representative’s name and location
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of applicant’s declaration
Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage
per applicant
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application
(in euros)[2]
14359/18
19/03/2018
Marino ŠTOKOVAC
1967
Bilobrk Tomislav
Umag
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
26/04/2021
29/01/2021
3,500
250
14774/18
20/03/2018
STAN - SERVIS D.O.O.
2020
Bilobrk Tomislav
Umag
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
26/04/2021
29/01/2021
3,000
250
34419/18
16/07/2018
STAN - SERVIS D.O.O.
2020
Bilobrk Tomislav
Umag
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
26/04/2021
29/01/2021
2,000
250
36328/18
25/07/2018
Zoran PETROVEČKI
1974
Marčelan Bojana
Varaždin
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
26/04/2021
08/02/2021
3,000
250
2458/19
07/01/2019
(3 applicants)
Sonja JAKAC
Born in 1942; died on 19/03/2019
Zoran PREVOLNIK
1955
Radoslav PREVOLNIK
1952
Bilobrk Tomislav
Umag
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
26/04/2021
29/01/2021
3,000
(The amount due to the applicant, Ms Sonja Jakac, is to be paid jointly to her two heirs Ms Iva Jakac Brajković and Ms Tamara Vižintin)
250
43842/19
13/08/2019
Milena MILIH
1953
Vladika Vlado
Rijeka
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of civil proceedings -
26/04/2021
26/01/2021
2,500
250
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy