European Court of Human Rights

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 11608/07
by Nicos KONNIDES and Kyriakos NICOLAOU
against Cyprus

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 2 April 2009 as a Chamber composed of:

Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Anatoly Kovler,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Dean Spielmann,
Sverre Erik Jebens,
Giorgio Malinverni, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 1 March 2007,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Mr Nicos Konnides and Mr Kyriakos Nicolaou, are Cypriot nationals who were born in 1960 and 1963 respectively and live in Nicosia. They were represented before the Court by Mr D. Drakos, a lawyer practising in Nicosia. The Cypriot Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr P. Clerides, Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus.

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

Both applicants are quantity surveyors who, on an unspecified date, applied to be registered with the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (CSTC). On 26 January 2001 their applications were rejected.

The applicants filed separate recourses.

On 20 April 2001 the first applicant lodged a recourse (no. 339/01) before the Supreme Court (revisional jurisdiction). This was dismissed on 12 September 2003.

On 5 April 2002 the second applicant lodged a recourse (no. 311/02) before the Supreme Court. This was dismissed on 23 September 2003.

The applicants then filed separate appeals before the Supreme Court against the first instance judgments on 24 October 2003 and 4 November 2003 respectively (appeals no. 3711 and no. 3714).

On 14 September 2006 the Supreme Court heard the appeals together and dismissed them both on the same day.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complained under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention about the protracted length of the proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in this respect.

They further complained under Article 6 of the Convention that the Supreme Court had failed to adequately reason the dismissal of their appeals.

THE LAW

On 7 October 2008 the applicants’ complaints concerning the length of proceedings and the lack of an effective remedy in this respect were communicated to the respondent Government under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court.

On 9 January 2009 the Court received the following declarations from the Government:

1. “I, Mr Petros Clerides, Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus, declare that the Government of Cyprus offer to pay 3,900 euros (three thousand nine hundred euros) to the first applicant, Mr Nicos Konnides 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 free of any taxes that may be applicable and 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.”

2.“I, Mr Petros Clerides, Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus, declare that the Government of Cyprus offer to pay 2,700 euros (two thousand seven hundred euros) to the second applicant, Mr Kyriakos Nicolaou 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 free of any taxes that may be applicable and 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 5 February 2009 the Court received the following declarations signed by the applicants’ representative:

1.“I, Mr Sotiris Drakos, note that the Government of Cyprus, are prepared to pay the first applicant, Mr Nicos Konnides, the sum of 3,900 euros (three thousand nine hundred 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 free of any taxes that may be applicable and 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.

Having consulted my client, I would inform you that he accepts the proposal and waives any further claims against Cyprus in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. He declares 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). In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.”

2. “I, Mr Sotiris Drakos, note that the Government of Cyprus, are prepared to pay the second applicant, Mr Kyriakos Nicolaou, the sum of 2,700 euros (two thousand seven hundred 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 free of any taxes that may be applicable and 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.

Having consulted my client, I would inform you that he accepts the proposal and waives any further claims against Cyprus in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. He declares 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). 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.

Søren Nielsen Christos Rozakis
Registrar President