European Court of Human Rights

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 45043/05
by Čedomil CERIN
against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 14 April 2009 as a Chamber composed of:

Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina Vajić,
Anatoly Kovler,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Giorgio Malinverni,
George Nicolaou, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 24 November 2005,

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

Having regard to the partial decision of 26 June 2008,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Čedomil Cerin, is a Croatian national who was born in 1932 and lives in Zagreb. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs Š. StaZnik.

1. Civil proceedings

On 14 July 1998 the applicant brought a civil action against several respondents in the Zagreb Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Zagrebu) seeking to be declared the owner of a certain building in Zagreb.

On 7 December 2006 the Municipal Court gave judgment, dismissing the applicant’s claim.

Following an appeal by the applicant, on 8 March 2008 the Zagreb County Court (Zupanijski sud u Zagrebu) quashed the first-instance judgment and remitted the case.

It appears that the case is currently again pending before the Zagreb Municipal Court.

1. The proceedings following the applicant’s request for the protection of the right to a hearing within a reasonable time

Meanwhile, on 30 March 2006 the applicant lodged a request for the protection of the right to a hearing within a reasonable time (zahtjev za zaštitu prava na suđenje u razumnom roku) with the Zagreb County Court.

On 28 November 2007 the County Court decided that it no longer had jurisdiction in the matter because the Municipal Court had in the meantime given its decision in the principal proceedings. Accordingly, the case was transferred to the Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske).

On 22 October 2008 the Supreme Court found a violation of the applicant’s right to a hearing within a reasonable time. It awarded him 13,500 Croatian kunas (HRK) in compensation and ordered the Zagreb Municipal Court to give a decision in the applicant’s case within six months of service of its decision.

COMPLAINTS

THE LAW

By letter of 14 March 2009 the applicant informed the Court that he accepted a proposal for a friendly settlement and waived any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts of the present application.

By letter of 18 March 2009 the Government informed the Court that the parties had reached a settlement whereby the Government would pay the applicant 4,500 euros in full and final settlement of the case, costs and expenses included.

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 (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.

André Wampach Christos Rozakis
Deputy Registrar President