Trtinjak v. Slovenia

THIRD SECTION

Applications nos. 8478/06, 15995/06, 50654/06, 3007/07, 3131/07, 3632/07 and 3647/07 by Ivan TRTINJAK and 6 Others against Slovenia

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 24 June 2010 as a Committee composed of:

Elisabet Fura, President, Boštjan M. Zupančič, Ineta Ziemele, judges, and Stanley Naismith, Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above applications,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,

Having regard to the settlement agreements signed by the parties,

Having regard to Protocol No. 14,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Ivan Trtinjak, is a Croatian national who lives in Croatia. All the other applicants are Slovenian nationals who live in Slovenia.

Mr Ivan Trtinjak, Mr Pavla Novak, Mr Branko Novak and Ms Majda Novak were represented before the Court by Mr Boštjan Verstovšek, a lawyer practising in Celje. Mr Borut Golob was represented before the Court by Mr Andrej Pipuš, a lawyer practising in Maribor. Mr Jožef Kociper and Ms Marija Novak were represented before the Court by Ms Marjana Verstovšek, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana. Ms Emilija Anclin was represented before the Court by Mr Ivan Marovt, a lawyer practising in Celje. Ms Špela Grohar and Mr Luka Časar were represented before the Court by Mr Leon Benigar Tošič, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana.

The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Lucijan Bembič, State Attorney-General.

In accordance with Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 of the Rules of Court, the Registrar informed the Government of the Republic of Croatia of their right to submit written comments with respect to application no. 8478/06, lodged by Mr Ivan Trtinjak. They did not indicate that they wished to exercise their right.

The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

The applicants were parties to civil proceedings which were finally resolved ( pravnomočno končan postopek ) before 1 January 2007, that is, before the 2006 Act on the Protection of the Right to a Trial Without Undue Delay (“the 2006 Act”) became operational.

Subsequently, they lodged appeals on points of law with the Supreme Court ( Vrhovno sodišče ).

The details concerning each particular case are indicated in the attached table.

COMPLAINTS

All the applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the excessive length of civil proceedings and under Article 13 of the Convention about the lack of an effective domestic remedy in that regard.

THE LAW

In the present cases, the Court notes that, after the Government had been given notice of the applications in 2009, they submitted their observations and informed the Court that they had made a settlement proposal to each of the applicants.

By the settlement agreements signed by the State's Attorney's Office and the applicants, the former acknowledged a violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time and accepted to pay the applicants the non-pecuniary damage sustained and costs and expenses incurred. The applicants accepted the amount as full compensation for the damage sustained due to the length of the above proceedings and waived any further claims against the Republic of Slovenia in respect of this complaint.

The applicants subsequently informed the Court that they had reached settlements with the State's Attorney's Office and that they wished to withdraw their applications introduced before the Court.

The Court recalls Article 37 of the Convention which, in the relevant part, reads as follows:

“1. The Court may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that

(a) the applicant does not intend to pursue his application; or

(b) the matter has been resolved;

...

However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto so requires.”

The Court takes note that following the settlement reached between the parties the matter has been resolved at the domestic level and that the applicants do not wish to pursue their applications. It is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols does not require the examination of the application to be continued (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) and (b) of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to join the applications;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.

Stanley Naismith Elisabet Fura Deputy Registrar President

Appendix

No.

Application No.

Applicant's Name

Year of Birth

Address

Date of Introduction

Date of domestic settlement and compensation paid to the applicant

Date of the applicant's withdrawal of the application

1.

8478/06

Ivan Trtinjak

1955

Turčin

30/01/2006

25/11/2009, 1.440,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 426,12 EUR for costs and expenses

25/11/2009

2.

15995/06

Pavla Novak

Branko Novak

Majda Novak

1949

1971

1980

Velenje

Velenje

Velenje

09/03/2006

14/01/2010; 1440,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage;

2.160,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage;

2.160,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage

for costs and expenses of all three applicants jointly 508,76 EUR

14/01/2010

3.

50654/06

Borut Golob

1964

Maribor

06/12//2006

16/06/2009, 5.000,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 550,80 EUR for costs and expenses

17/06/2009

4.

3007/07

Jožef Kociper

1961

Odranci

19/12/2006

21/01/2010, 1.125,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 280,30 EUR for costs and expenses

21/01/2010

No.

Application No.

Applicant's Name

Year of Birth

Address

Date of Introduction

Date of domestic settlement and compensation paid to the applicant

Date of the applicant's withdrawal of the application

5.

3131/07

Emilija Anclin

1942

Celje

28/12/2006

14/12/2009, 2.160,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 413,12 EUR for costs and expenses

17/12/2009

6.

3632/07

Špela Grohar

Luka Časar

1979

1990

Borovnica

Borovnica

29/12/2006

25/11/2009, each 5.000,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage, and jointly 605,88 EUR for costs and expenses

11/01/2010

7.

3647/07

Marija Novak

1944

Ljubljana

18/12/2006

23/12/2009, 540,00 EUR for non-pecuniary damage and 283,25 EUR for costs and expenses

23/12/2009