European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 6557/08
by Ari Olavi SORMUNEN
against Finland

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 9 June 2009 as a Chamber composed of:

Nicolas Bratza, President,
Giovanni Bonello,
David Thór Björgvinsson,
Ján Šikuta,
Päivi Hirvelä,
Ledi Bianku,
Nebojša Vučinić, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 7 February 2008,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Ari Olavi Sormunen, was a Finnish national who was born in 1965. The applicant died on 24 February 2008. However, his heirs expressed their wish to pursue the application. The heirs were represented before the Court by Mr Jaakko Tuutti, a lawyer practising in Tampere. The Finnish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Arto Kosonen of Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

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

The applicant was charged with a smuggling offence in 1998. On 5 March 1998 the complainants, that is, the State of Finland and the National Board of Customs (Tullihallitus, Tullstyrelsen), lodged a compensation claim against him, claiming 21,383,617 Finnish Marks (FIM; about 4,200,000 euros) plus interest running from 3 November 2007.

On 31 March 1998 the Tampere District Court (käräjäoikeus, tingsrätten) gave judgment in the criminal proceedings. The applicant was convicted, inter alia, of aiding and abetting the distribution of alcohol, and he was sentenced to a term of two years and two months’ imprisonment. On 22 June 1999 this judgment was upheld by the Appeal Court (hovioikeus, hovrätten). On 27 October 1999 the Supreme Court (korkein oikeus, högsta domstolen) refused leave to appeal.

In its judgment of 31 March 1998 the District Court decided to sever the State’s compensation claim from the criminal proceedings and to examine it in separate civil proceedings. The District Court also decided to request a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Communities on the interpretation of certain aspects of Community law. This preliminary ruling was rendered by the Court of Justice on 29 June 2000 (case C-455/98 Tullihallitus v. Kaupo Salumets et al.).

The civil proceedings are apparently still pending before the District Court.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the total length of his civil proceedings had been incompatible with the reasonable-time requirement.

THE LAW

On 1 April 2009 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I, Mr Arto Kosonen, Agent of the Government of Finland, declare that the Government of Finland offer to pay ex gratia EUR 13,500 (thirteen thousand five hundred euros)¹ to the heirs of Mr Ari Olavi Sormunen 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 non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, 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.”

On 23 April 2009 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant’s heirs:

“We, the heirs of Mr Ari Olavi Sormunen, the applicant in the above-mentioned case, note that the Government of Finland are prepared to pay us ex gratia the sum of EUR 13,500 (thirteen thousand five hundred euros)¹ 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 non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, 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.

We accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Finland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. We declare that this constitutes a 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 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.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

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

Fatoş Aracı Nicolas Bratza
Deputy Registrar President