European Court of Human Rights

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 37849/05
by Nikola DABIĆ
against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 4 September 2008 as a Chamber composed of:

Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Anatoly Kovler,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Dean Spielmann,
Sverre Erik Jebens, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 22 September 2005,

Having regard to the decision to examine the admissibility and merits of the case together (Article 29 § 3 of the Convention),

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Nikola Dabić, is a Croatian citizen of Serbian origin who was born in 1949 and lives in Sisak. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs Š. StaZnik.

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

The applicant had been living in his house in Petrinci, Sunja municipality until 5 August 1995 when he left Croatia. In March 1996 the Commission for Temporary Takeover and Use of Certain Property of the Sunja Municipality (Komisija za privremeno preuzimanje i korištenje određene imovine Općine Sunja – “the Takeover Commission”) allowed temporary accommodation of a certain D.V. in the applicant’s house.

Sometime in 1997 the applicant returned to Croatia and applied to the Sunja Municipality Housing Commission (Stambena komisija Općine Sunja) for repossession of his house. On 25 April 2001 the Housing Commission set aside the decision of 23 March 1996 and ordered that the house be returned to the applicant. However, it was only on 24 March 2003 that this decision was complied with.

Meanwhile, in 2001 the applicant brought a civil action in the Sisak Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Sisku) against the occupier, seeking payment of rent. On 30 October 2003 the Municipal Court dismissed the applicant’s claim. The judgment was upheld by the Sisak County Court (Zupanijski sud u Sisku) on 11 October 2004 and by the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) on 17 March 2005

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complained under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention and Article 8 thereof taken alone and in conjunction with Article 13 of the Convention that he had not been able to repossess his house for a prolonged period of time and that he had no effective remedy in this respect. He also complained that he had not obtained any compensation for the use of his house.

He finally complained under Article 14 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 that he had been discriminated against on the basis of his non-Croatian origin.

THE LAW

On 25 June 2008 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant:

“I note that the Government of Croatia are prepared to pay me ex gratia the sum of 12,000 euros 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 the national 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 pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

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

On 30 June 2008 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I declare that the Government of Croatia offer to pay ex gratia 12,000 euros to Mr Nikola Dabić 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 the national 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 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.”

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 public policy reasons to justify a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list and discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

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

Søren Nielsen Christos Rozakis
Registrar President