European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Applications nos. 38666/05, 38667/05, 38668/05, 38669/05, 38670/05, 38671/05, 38672/05, 38673/05, 38674/05, 38675/05
by Olga BUIMISTRU and nine others
against Moldova

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 2 September 2008 as a Chamber composed of:

Nicolas Bratza, President,
Lech Garlicki,
Giovanni Bonello,
Ljiljana Mijović,
David Thór Björgvinsson,
Ledi Bianku,
Mihai Poalelungi, judges

and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on 9 August 2005,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Ms Olga Buimistru, and nine others whose names appear in the appendix, are all Moldovan nationals. They were represented before the Court by Ms V. Guţu, a lawyer practising in Chişinău. The Moldovan Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr V. Grosu.

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

All the applicants worked for a State-owned company (“the Company”) run by the Ministry of Communications and Transport. Between 1999 and 2001 the Company did not pay the applicants all of their salaries.

In 2001 the applicants initiated proceedings against the Company and sought the payment of salary arrears. They all obtained final judgments in their favour and enforcement warrants. However, the judgments have not been fully enforced to date.

Details regarding each applicant are presented in the Appendix.

COMPLAINTS

THE LAW

On 13 March 2008 the Court received the following declaration from the Government, reproducing the same text for each applicant, except for their names and amounts offered as compensation:

“I, Vladimir Grosu, Agent for the Government of Republic of Moldova, declare that the Government of Moldova offer to pay the sum of [see the Appendix for specific amounts offered to each applicant] euros to [the relevant applicant] with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into Moldovan lei at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and 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 pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on it, from expiry of that period until settlement, at arate 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.”

On 13 February 2008 the Court received the following declaration signed by the representative of each of the applicants:

“I, V. Guţu, the applicant’s representative in [each] case, note that the Government of Moldova are prepared to pay the sum of [see the Appendix for specific amounts accepted on behalf of each applicant] euros to [the relevant applicant] with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into Moldovan lei at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and 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 pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake 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 payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.

I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Moldova in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. I declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.”

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties in each case. It is satisfied that the settlements are 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 (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). In view of the above, it is appropriate to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 and to strike the cases out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

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

Fatoş Aracı Nicolas Bratza
Deputy Registrar President

Appendix – applicants’ personal details and sums agreed on by the parties as part of their friendly settlement negotiations