FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 19732/11
Robert Bogdan WOCH
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 9 October 2012 as a Committee composed of:
George Nicolaou, President,
Ledi Bianku,
Vincent A. De Gaetano, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 11 March 2011,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Robert Bogdan Woch, is a Polish national, who was born in 1982 and lives in Lublin.
The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The applicant complained under Article 9 of the Convention that he had not been provided with vegan food in prison.
That complaint was communicated to the Government, who did not submit observations on the admissibility and merits. The applicant was invited to submit his own observations. No reply was received to the Registry’s letter.
By multiple letters dated 22 March, 20 April and 11 May 2012, which were sent by ordinary and registered post to the applicant’s address in prison, his new address as communicated by the prison authorities and his new home address as communicated by the applicant on 3 March 2012, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations had expired on 18 April 2012 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant’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. Three of the above-mentioned letters were returned to sender. One of the letters of 11 May 2012 was collected by the applicant’s mother on 23 May 2012. However, no response from the applicant has been received.
THE LAW
The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.
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.
Fatoş AracıGeorge Nicolaou
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy