European Court of Human Rights

FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 9351/03
by Valentin Petrov FILIPOV
against Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 6 January 2009 as a Chamber composed of:

Peer Lorenzen, President,
Rait Maruste,
Karel Jungwiert,
Renate Jaeger,
Mark Villiger,
Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,
Zdravka Kalaydjieva, judges,
and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 11 March 2003,

Having regard to the partial decision of 25 September 2007,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The applicant, Mr Valentin Petrov Filipov, is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1967 and is serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Varna prison. The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms M. Dimova, of the Ministry of Justice.

The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention that he had been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment while being detained at Varna prison. The Government contested the applicant's assertions.

On 5 October 2007 the Court gave notice to the parties of the above complaint.

In a letter of 25 December 2007 the applicant informed the Court that he wished to discontinue the proceedings. On 25 February 2008 the Court requested the applicant to equivocally confirm his wish to withdraw his application. The applicant did not reply.

On 5 March 2008 the Government's observations were sent to the applicant, who was requested to submit his observations in reply and claims for just satisfaction by 28 April 2008. The applicant did not reply.

By letter dated 19 June 2008, sent by registered post to the applicant's permanent address and his current address in Varna prison, the applicant was informed that the period allowed for submission of his observations had expired and that no extension of time had been requested. His attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. The letter sent to the applicant's permanent address was returned as unclaimed and it is not possible to determine when the letter sent to Varna prison was received as the return receipt was not returned. In any event, applicant did not reply and there has not been any further correspondence in the case.

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.

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.

Claudia Westerdiek Peer Lorenzen
Registrar President