Németh and Hoffmanné Németh v. Hungary

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 41003/11 Éva NÉMETH and Ildikó HOFFMANNÉ NÉMETH against Hungary

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 1 July 2014 as a Committee composed of:

Helen Keller, President, András Sajó, Robert Spano, judges, and Abel Campos, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 June 2011,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicants, Ms Éva Németh and Ms Ildikó Hoffmanné Németh, are Hungarian nationals, who were born in 1952 and 1956 and live in Győr and Nagyatád, respectively. They were represented before the Court by Mr A. Grád, a lawyer practising in Budapest.

The Hungarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr Z. Tallódi, Agent, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice.

The applicants complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 read in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention about the imposition of a special tax.

On 10 March and 26 May 2014 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Hungary in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay (i) 18,000 euros to Ms Éva Németh and (ii) 27,000 euros to Ms Ildikó Hoffmanné Németh, to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Hungarian forints at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. These sums 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 these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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.

Abel Campos Helen Keller Deputy Registrar President