European Court of Human Rights

SECOND SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 15979/08
by Ahmet ASLANBAKAN
against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 7 July 2009 as a Chamber composed of:

Françoise Tulkens, President,
Ireneu Cabral Barreto,
Vladimiro Zagrebelsky,
Danutė Jočienė,
András Sajó,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Işıl Karakaş, judges,
and Françoise Elens-Passos, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 26 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 Ahmet Aslanbakan, is a Turkish national who was born in 1958 and is serving a prison sentence in Kırıkkale F-type prison.

Relying on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the applicant complained that the length of the criminal proceedings brought against him had exceeded the reasonable time requirement (the criminal proceedings have already lasted twenty-seven years and are still pending).

THE LAW

On 23 February 2009 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I declare that the Government of Turkey offer to pay ex gratia 15,000 (fifteen thousand) euros to Mr Ahmet Aslanbakan 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 Turkish liras 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.”

On 16 March 2009 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant:

“I note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay me ex gratia the sum of 15,000 (fifteen thousand) 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 Turkish liras 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 Turkey 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. 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). Nevertheless, in the particular circumstances of the case, the Court considers that the State should still ensure that all necessary steps are taken to allow the trial to be concluded as speedily as possible, taking into account the requirements of the proper administration of justice (see Katic v. Serbia (dec.), no. 13920/04, ECHR 4 March 2008). 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.

Françoise Elens-Passos Françoise Tulkens
Deputy Registrar President