THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 50817/06
Samson TCHANTURIA
against Georgia
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 12 March 2013 as a Committee composed of:
Luis López Guerra, President,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Valeriu Griţco, judges,
and Marialena Tsirli, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 8 November 2006,
Having regard to the Government’s observations,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Samson Tchanturia, a Georgian national, was born in 1955 and lived in Abasha. He was represented before the Court by Mr G. Turazashvili, a lawyer practising in Tbilisi. The Georgian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Levan Meskhoradze of the Ministry of Justice.
On 25 May 2012 the Court gave notice to the Government of the applicant’s complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the alleged lack of adequate medical treatment for his various diseases in prison and the poor conditions of his detention. On 14 September 2012 the Government’s observations on the admissibility and merits were received. The Government also informed the Registry of the applicant’s death which had occurred on 6 July 2007 and invited the Court to dismiss the application of the late applicant in accordance with Article 35 of the Convention.
The Government’s observations were forwarded to the late applicant’s representative, who was invited to submit by 14 November 2012 any written observations in reply, together with any claims for just satisfaction. He was also asked to provide explanations for his failure to inform the Court about the applicant’s death and also indicate the name of a possible heir who would wish to pursue the above application. The above letter with the Government’s observations, sent by registered post, was served on the representative on 10 October 2012, however, no reply to either of the requests followed.
By letter dated 11 December 2012, sent by registered post, the representative was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations and the explanations concerning the applicant’s death had expired on 14 November 2012 and that no extension of time had been requested. The representative’s attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application.
No reply or further correspondence has since been received from the late applicant’s representative.
THE LAW
The Court notes that, after tthe applicant’s death, none of his heirs or next of kin expressed their wish to continue the case. In these circumstances, the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application and concludes pursuant to Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention that the application should be struck out of its list of cases.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Marialena TsirliLuis López Guerra
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy