Santos Sarmento and Others v. Portugal

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 70712/13 Adelino Dias SANTOS SARMENTO against Portugal and 9 other applications (see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 15 March 2016 as a Committee composed of:

Boštjan M. Zupančič, President, Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque, Iulia Antoanella Motoc, judges,

and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the dates set out in the appendix no. 2,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicants are all Portuguese nationals. They were represented before the Court by Mr. Jorge F. Alves, a lawyer practising in Matosinhos. A list of the applicants is set out in appendix no. 2.

The Portuguese Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M. F. da Graça Carvalho, Deputy Attorney-General.

The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of civil proceedings before the Leiria Administrative Court to which they were a party. Under Article 13 they complained about the fact that they had not had an effective remedy with regard to the length of proceedings.

On 26 November 2015 and 29 January 2016 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Portugal in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications against an undertaking by the Government to pay them the sums set in the appendix no. 2 to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. They 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 cases.

THE LAW

Given that the present applications concern the same facts and complaints and raise related issues under the Convention, the Court decides to join them pursuant to Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of the Court.

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 applications. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications ,

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 7 April 2016.

Fatoş Aracı Boštjan M. Zupančič Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX no. 1 List of Applications

1 .

70712/13

Santos Sarmento v. Portugal

1.

75989/13

Pires Serra v. Portugal

2.

77088/13

Curica Calixto v. Portugal

3.

3168/14

Carvalho Aparício v. Portugal

4.

30090/14

Quental Rodrigues Sarmento v. Portugal

5.

30115/14

Valamatos Esteves v. Portugal

6.

30118/14

Lopes de Jesus v. Portugal

7.

30119/14

Rodrigues Teixeira v. Portugal

8.

30122/14

De Oliveira Caldeira de Carvalho Aparício v. Portugal

9.

31553/14

Calado Bernardo Maia Alcaravela and Others v. Portugal

APPENDIX no. 2 List of Applicants

No.

Name of the applicants

Application number

Date of birth

Place of residence

Non-pecuniary damage

in euros (EUR)

Costs and expenses

in euros (EUR)

1.

2.

Adelino Dias SANTOS SARMENTO

70712/13 (lodged on 31/10/2013)

29/11/1954

Abrantes

Maria Fernanda QUENTAL RODRIGUES SARMENTO

30090/14 (lodged on 08/04/2014)

06/04/1955

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

jointly

EUR 1,000

jointly

3

4.

Ernesto Manuel PIRES SERRA

75989/13 (22/11/2013)

30/09/1975

Abrantes

Elisabete LOPES DE JESUS

30118/14 (lodged on 08/04/2014)

12/10/1974

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

jointly

5.

Mário João CURICA CALIXTO

77088/13 (lodged on 02/12/2013)

18/12/1966

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

6.

7.

Luís Augusto CARVALHO APARÍCIO

3168/14 (lodged on 27/12/2013)

03/08/1951

Mação

Maria da Graça DE OLIVEIRA CALDEIRA DE CARVALHO APARÍCIO

30122/14 (lodged on 08/04/2014)

01/03/1953

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

jointly

8.

Luís Manuel VALAMATOS ESTEVES

30115/14 (lodged on 08/04/2014)

05/12/1954

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

9.

Maria de Fátima RODRIGUES TEIXEIRA

30119/14 (lodged on 08/04/2014)

23/11/1964

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

10.

Célia Margarida CALADO BERNARDO MAIA ALCARAVELA

31553/14 (lodged on 11/04/2014)

01/07/1958

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

11.

12.

Matilde Preciosa FERNANDES DE MATOS

31553/14 (lodged on 11/04/2014)

01/07/1958

Abrantes

Delfim SILVA MATOS

31553/14 (lodged on 11/04/2014)

22/07/1955

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

jointly

13.

Francisco ROSA FERREIRA

31553/14 (lodged on 11/04/2014)

31/03/1951

Abrantes

EUR 4,875

14.

Jorge do Carmo PEDRO DOS SANTOS

31553/14 (lodged on 11/04/2014)

19/05/1958

Loures

EUR 4,875