THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 61464/16
Karl Emil WERNERSSON
against Iceland
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 2 February 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Georges Ravarani, President,
Darian Pavli,
Anja Seibert-Fohr, judges,
and Olga Chernishova, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 19 October 2016,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Karl Emil Wernersson, is an Icelandic national, who was born in 1962 and lives in Garðabær. He was represented before the Court by Mr Ólafur Eiríksson, a lawyer practising in Reykjavik.
The Icelandic Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Einar Karl Hallvarðsson, State Attorney General.
The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention about the manner in which the Supreme Court of Iceland overturned his acquittal and about the length of the criminal proceedings against him.
On 27 November 2020 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties. In the declarations, the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Iceland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an acknowledgement by the Government, with reference to the Court’s judgment in the case of Styrmir Þór Bragason v. Iceland, no. 36292/14, 16 July 2019, that the applicant’s right to a fair trial had been violated and an undertaking by the Government to pay him 12,000 euros to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant. The friendly settlement declarations furthermore noted the possibility for the applicant to apply to the Court on Reopening of Judicial Proceedings for the reopening of the case against him, pursuant to Chapter XXXV of the Criminal Procedure Act No. 88/2008, as amended by Act No. 47/2020.
The sum will be converted into Icelandic krónur at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and 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.
Done in English and notified in writing on 4 March 2021.
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Olga ChernishovaGeorges Ravarani
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy