SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 47071/08
Radoje ZDRAVKOVIĆ
against Serbia
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on
4 June 2013 as a Committee composed of:
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque, President,
Dragoljub Popović,
Helen Keller, judges,
and Françoise Elens-Passos, Acting Deputy Section Registrar.
Having regard to the above application lodged on 22 September 2008,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Radoje Zdravković, was a Serbian national, who was born in 1954 and lived in Kraljevo. He was represented before the Court by Ms D. Todorović, a lawyer practising in Kraljevo. On 23 May 2012 the applicant’s representative informed the Court that the applicant had died on 1 December 2012.
The Serbian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr S. Carić.
The applicant complained about the respondent State’s failure to fully enforce final court decision of 22 April 2005 rendered in his favour against a State-owned company.
On 25 May 2012 the applicant’s representative, informed the Court that in the framework of inheritance proceedings Mr Mladen Zdravković, the applicant’s son had been declared as the applicant’s heir. On 28 January 2013 the applicant’s representative provided the Court with a power of attorney signed by the applicant’s son.
The Government did not oppose to the applicant’s legal successor.
On 10 November 2011 and 13 December 2011 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Serbia in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 5,500 euros (five thousand five hundred euros) to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which would be converted into domestic currency at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It 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 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 parties, furthermore, agreed that within the said three-month period the Government will pay, from their own funds, the sums awarded in the domestic decision adopted by the Municipal Court (Opštinski sud) in Kraljevo on 22 April 2005 (domestic case no. IP. 69/01), less any amounts which may have already been paid on the basis of the said decisions, plus the costs of the domestic enforcement proceedings. These payments will constitute the final resolution of the case.
THE LAW
The Court must first examine whether Mr Mladen Zdravković has standing to pursue the application originally lodged by the applicant, who died in the course of the proceedings before the Court.
In various cases in which an applicant has died in the course of the proceedings the Court has taken into account the statements of the applicant’s heirs who have expressed the wish to pursue the proceedings before the Court (see, for example, Deweer v. Belgium, 27 February 1980, §§ 37-38, Series A no. 35; and Kovačić and Others v. Slovenia [GC], nos. 44574/98, 45133/98 and 48316/99, §§ 189-192, 3 October 2008).
Regard being had to the fact that Mr Mladen Zdravković, as the applicant’s son, is his lawful heir under national law, the Court finds that he has a standing to proceed in the applicant’s stead.
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.
F. Elens-Passos Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque
Acting Deputy Registrar President
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy