THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos. 8478/06, 15995/06, 50654/06, 3007/07, 3131/07,
3632/07 and 3647/07
by Ivan TRTINJAK and 6 Others
against Slovenia
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 24 June 2010 as a Committee composed of:
Elisabet Fura, President,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Ineta Ziemele, judges,
and Stanley Naismith, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,
Having regard to the settlement agreements signed by the parties,
Having regard to Protocol No. 14,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr Ivan Trtinjak, is a Croatian national who lives in Croatia. All the other applicants are Slovenian nationals who live in Slovenia.
Mr Ivan Trtinjak, Mr Pavla Novak, Mr Branko Novak and Ms Majda Novak were represented before the Court by Mr Boštjan Verstovšek, a lawyer practising in Celje. Mr Borut Golob was represented before the Court by Mr Andrej Pipuš, a lawyer practising in Maribor. Mr Jožef Kociper and Ms Marija Novak were represented before the Court by Ms Marjana Verstovšek, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana. Ms Emilija Anclin was represented before the Court by Mr Ivan Marovt, a lawyer practising in Celje. Ms Špela Grohar and Mr Luka Časar were represented before the Court by Mr Leon Benigar Tošič, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana.
The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Lucijan Bembič, State Attorney-General.
In accordance with Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 of the Rules of Court, the Registrar informed the Government of the Republic of Croatia of their right to submit written comments with respect to application no. 8478/06, lodged by Mr Ivan Trtinjak. They did not indicate that they wished to exercise their right.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicants were parties to civil proceedings which were finally resolved (pravnomočno končan postopek) before 1 January 2007, that is, before the 2006 Act on the Protection of the Right to a Trial Without Undue Delay (“the 2006 Act”) became operational.
Subsequently, they lodged appeals on points of law with the Supreme Court (Vrhovno sodišče).
The details concerning each particular case are indicated in the attached table.
COMPLAINTS
All the applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the excessive length of civil proceedings and under Article 13 of the Convention about the lack of an effective domestic remedy in that regard.
THE LAW
In the present cases, the Court notes that, after the Government had been given notice of the applications in 2009, they submitted their observations and informed the Court that they had made a settlement proposal to each of the applicants.
By the settlement agreements signed by the State's Attorney's Office and the applicants, the former acknowledged a violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time and accepted to pay the applicants the non-pecuniary damage sustained and costs and expenses incurred. The applicants accepted the amount as full compensation for the damage sustained due to the length of the above proceedings and waived any further claims against the Republic of Slovenia in respect of this complaint.
The applicants subsequently informed the Court that they had reached settlements with the State's Attorney's Office and that they wished to withdraw their applications introduced before the Court.
The Court recalls Article 37 of the Convention which, in the relevant part, reads as follows:
“1. The Court may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that
(a) the applicant does not intend to pursue his application; or
(b) the matter has been resolved;
...
However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto so requires.”
The Court takes note that following the settlement reached between the parties the matter has been resolved at the domestic level and that the applicants do not wish to pursue their applications. It is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols does not require the examination of the application to be continued (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) and (b) of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.
Stanley NaismithElisabet Fura
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix
No.
Application No.
Applicant's Name
Year of Birth
Address
Date of Introduction
Date of domestic settlement and compensation paid to the applicant
Date of the applicant's withdrawal of the application
1.
8478/06
Ivan Trtinjak
1955
Turčin
30/01/2006
25/11/2009, 1.440,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 426,12 EUR for costs and expenses
25/11/2009
2.
15995/06
Pavla Novak
Branko Novak
Majda Novak
1949
1971
1980
Velenje
Velenje
Velenje
09/03/2006
14/01/2010; 1440,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage;
2.160,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage;
2.160,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage
for costs and expenses of all three applicants jointly 508,76 EUR
14/01/2010
3.
50654/06
Borut Golob
1964
Maribor
06/12//2006
16/06/2009, 5.000,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 550,80 EUR for costs and expenses
17/06/2009
4.
3007/07
Jožef Kociper
1961
Odranci
19/12/2006
21/01/2010, 1.125,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 280,30 EUR for costs and expenses
21/01/2010
No.
Application No.
Applicant's Name
Year of Birth
Address
Date of Introduction
Date of domestic settlement and compensation paid to the applicant
Date of the applicant's withdrawal of the application
5.
3131/07
Emilija Anclin
1942
Celje
28/12/2006
14/12/2009, 2.160,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 413,12 EUR for costs and expenses
17/12/2009
6.
3632/07
Špela Grohar
Luka Časar
1979
1990
Borovnica
Borovnica
29/12/2006
25/11/2009, each 5.000,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage, and jointly 605,88 EUR for costs and expenses
11/01/2010
7.
3647/07
Marija Novak
1944
Ljubljana
18/12/2006
23/12/2009, 540,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 283,25 EUR for costs and expenses
23/12/2009
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