European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 20670/10
by Ladislav ZIMAN
against Slovakia

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 18 October 2010 as a Committee composed of:

Lech Garlicki, President,
Ján Šikuta,
Vincent Anthony de Gaetano, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 1 April 2010,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The application was lodged by Mr Ladislav Ziman, a Slovak national who was born in 1946 and lives in Nesvady. He was represented before the Court by Ms E. Szabóová, a lawyer practising in Nové Zámky. The Government of the Slovak Republic (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M. Pirošíková.

The applicant complained under Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention about the length of inheritance proceedings which started on 7 July 1992 and which have been stayed since June 2009 pending the outcome of related civil proceedings. On 13 October 2009 the Constitutional Court found a violation of the applicant's right to a hearing within a reasonable time and awarded him 3,500 euros (EUR) as just satisfaction for non-pecuniary damage suffered. The applicant further alleged a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.

On 30 August and 13 September 2010 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Slovakia in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him EUR 7,050 to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses. This sum would be free of any taxes that might be applicable. It 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 undertook 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.

THE LAW

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 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.

Fatoş Aracı Lech Garlicki
Deputy Registrar President