European Court of Human Rights
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URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2010/1080.html
Cite as: [2010] ECHR 1080
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THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no.
58877/09
by Rana Najib TOBIYA
against the Netherlands and
Greece
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 15 June 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
Josep Casadevall,
President,
Elisabet
Fura,
Christos
Rozakis,
Corneliu
Bîrsan,
Alvina
Gyulumyan,
Egbert
Myjer,
Ineta
Ziemele, judges,
and
Santiago Quesada, Section
Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 5 November 2009,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
PROCEDURE
The application was lodged by Ms Rana Najib Tobiya, an Iraqi national who was born in 1981 and residing in Geeuwenbrug, the Netherlands. She was initially represented before the Court by Ms J. Hofstede, a lawyer practising in Almelo, and subsequently by Mr H.A. Limonard, a lawyer practising in Leeuwarden. The Dutch Government were represented by their Deputy Agent, Ms L. Egmond, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Greek Government were represented by their Agent, Mr A.G. Tzeferakos, President of the State Legal Council.
The applicant complained that her expulsion by the Dutch authorities to Greece pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 (“the Dublin Regulation”) would be in breach, as regards the Netherlands, of Articles 3 and 14 of the Convention and, as regards Greece, of Articles 3, 5 §§ 2 and 4, 6 and 13.
On 12 November 2009 the Acting President of the Chamber decided not to indicate to the Government of the Netherlands, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the interim measure sought by the applicant, to the effect that she not be removed to Greece for the time being. At the same time, a number of questions were put to the Government of Greece under Rule 54 § 2 (a) of the Rules of Court. The Acting President requested the Greek Government to undertake to inform the Court of the progress of any asylum claim made by the applicant in Greece as well as of the place of her detention if she were detained on arrival in that country.
On 23 November 2009 the Dutch Government informed the Court that the applicant would be transferred to Greece on 26 November 2009.
No reaction having been forthcoming from the Greek Government in respect of the request for information put to them by the Acting President, the Chamber put a number of specific questions to them under Rule 54 § 2 (a) of the Rules of Court on 9 February 2010. Some questions were also put to the Dutch Government.
On 17 March 2010 the applicant's representative informed the Court that the period of time within which the applicant – who was apparently still in the Netherlands despite the contents of the Dutch Government's letter of 23 November 2009 mentioned above – should have been transferred to Greece pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Dublin Regulation, had expired and that, therefore, it was for the competent authorities in the Netherlands to examine the applicant's asylum application on the merits. In these circumstances, the applicant wished to withdraw her application.
THE LAW
In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention or its Protocols, the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) 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.
Santiago Quesada Josep Casadevall
Registrar President