European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 33798/06
by Dana WEICHSELGÄRTNER
against Slovakia

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 15 December 2009 as a Chamber composed of:

Nicolas Bratza, President,
Lech Garlicki,
Ljiljana Mijović,
David Thór Björgvinsson,
Ján Šikuta,
Päivi Hirvelä,
Mihai Poalelungi, judges,
and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 27 July 2006,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The application was lodged by Mrs Dana Weichselgärtner, a Slovakian national who was born in 1965 and lives in Zilina. She was represented before the Court by Mr J. Mrázovský, a lawyer practising in Zilina. The Slovakian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M. Pirošíková.

The applicant’s complaints under Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy were communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant, who was invited to submit her own observations. No reply was received to the Registry’s letter.

By letter dated 12 October 2009, sent by registered post, the applicant’s representative was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations had expired on 27 August 2009 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant’s representative’s 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 applicant’s representative received this letter on 19 October 2009. However, no response has been received.

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue her 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.

Lawrence Early Nicolas Bratza
Registrar President