FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 23042/12
Zsolt SZABO
against Croatia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 12 November 2013 as a Committee composed of:
Elisabeth Steiner, President,
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos,
Ksenija Turković, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 27 March 2012,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Zsolt Szabo, is a Hungarian national, who was born in 1968 and lives in Böhönye (Hungary). He was represented before the Court by Ms M. Jukić Jurišić, a lawyer practising in Zagreb.
The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Š. Stažnik. The Government of Hungary, having been informed of their right to intervene (Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 of the Rules of Court), did not avail themselves of this right.
The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of civil proceedings.
On 13 September 2013 and 8 October 2013 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 2,400 euros to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Croatian kunas at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It 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 this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, 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 WampachElisabeth Steiner
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy