European Court of Human Rights

FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 22434/02
by Valeri Lyubenov IVANOV
against Bulgaria

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

Peer Lorenzen, President,
Rait Maruste,
Karel Jungwiert,
Renate Jaeger,
Mark Villiger,
Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre, judges,
Pavlina Panova, ad hoc judge,
and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 May 2002,

Having regard to the partial decision of 25 September 2007,

Noting that, following the withdrawal of Zdravka Kalaydjieva, the judge elected in respect of Bulgaria, the respondent Government appointed in her stead Pavlina Panova as an ad hoc judge (Article 27 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 29 § 1 of the Rules of Court),

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The applicant, Mr Valeri Lyubenov Ivanov, is a Bulgarian national born in 1959 and living in Pleven. He was represented before the Court by Ms Z. Stefanova, a lawyer practising in Sofia. The Bulgarian Government were represented by their Agent, Ms M. Dimova, of the Ministry of Justice.

The applicant was complaining, in particular, about the lack of speedy examination of a request for release from pre trial detention, about his continued deprivation of liberty despite a court order for his release, and about the impossibility of obtaining compensation in respect of these matters (for further particulars see Ivanov v. Bulgaria (dec.), no. 22434/02, 25 September 2007).

On 25 September 2007 the Court decided to communicate the above complaints to the Government and declared the remainder of the application inadmissible. On 28 November 2007 and 30 April 2009 it received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties, under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Bulgaria in respect of the facts giving rise to his application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him EUR 1,500 (payable directly to him) in respect of any non pecuniary damage, and EUR 1,000 (payable directly into the bank account of his lawyer) in respect of costs and expenses. These sums would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and free of any taxes that may be applicable. The entirety of these sums would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court under Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay these sums within the said three month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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 would constitute the final resolution of the case.

THE LAW

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement between the parties. It is satisfied that it is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no reasons justifying a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). It therefore considers it appropriate to strike the case out of its list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

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

Claudia Westerdiek Peer Lorenzen
Registrar President