FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 35005/07
by Milica IVOŠEVIĆ
against Croatia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 11 December 2008 as a Chamber composed of:
Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Dean Spielmann,
Sverre Erik Jebens,
Giorgio Malinverni,
George Nicolaou, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 6 July 2007,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mrs Milica Ivošević, is a Croatian national who was born in 1938 and lives in Daruvar. She was represented before the Court by Mrs S. Drašner, a lawyer practising in Daruvar. 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.
Until 10 January 1992 the applicant had been working for the company V., when she was dismissed by the decision of its director. On 10 February 1992 the company's workers' council dismissed the applicant's complaint against that decision. On 26 October 1992 the company's director issued another decision on the applicant's dismissal, this time on different grounds.
Meanwhile, on 13 February 1992 the applicant brought a civil action in the Daruvar Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Daruvaru) against her employer, challenging the decisions of 10 January and 10 February 1992 and seeking reinstatement and salary arrears. However, she never extended her action so as also to challenge the decision of 26 October 1992.
On 19 December 1997 the Daruvar Municipal Court quashed the impugned decisions of 10 January and 10 February 1992 but dismissed the applicant's claims for reinstatement and salary arrears. The court held that it could not grant those claims because she had never challenged the second decision on her dismissal of 26 October 1992.
On 22 May 1998 the Bjelover County Court (Županijski sud u Bjelovaru) dismissed the applicant's appeal and upheld the first-instance judgment.
On 30 December 1998 the Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske) dismissed the applicant's appeal on points of law (revizija).
On 17 May 1999 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) challenging the lower courts' decisions.
On 6 March 2007 the Constitutional Court dismissed the applicant's complaint and on 19 March 2007 served its decision on her representative.
COMPLAINTS
1. The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of the above proceedings.
2. The applicant also complained under Article 6 § 1 that the judgment of 19 December 1997 was contradictory and unenforceable as the first-instance court had quashed the decisions on her dismissal but had failed to order her reinstatement.
THE LAW
By letter of 3 November 2008 the applicant's representative informed the Court that the applicant accepted a proposal for a friendly settlement and waived any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts of the present application.
On 4 November 2008 the Government informed the Court that the parties had reached a settlement whereby the Government would pay the applicant 7,500 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 strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Søren NielsenChristos Rozakis
RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy