European Court of Human Rights
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URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2010/263.html
Cite as: [2010] ECHR 263
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FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no.
6423/04
by Evlogi Petrov PETKOV
against Bulgaria
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 2 February 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
Peer
Lorenzen,
President,
Renate
Jaeger,
Karel
Jungwiert,
Rait
Maruste,
Isabelle
Berro-Lefèvre,
Mirjana
Lazarova Trajkovska,
Zdravka
Kalaydjieva,
judges,
and Claudia
Westerdiek, Section
Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 10 February 2004,
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 Evlogi Petrov Petkov, a Bulgarian national who was born in 1939 and lived in Sofia. He was represented before the Court by Mr M.T. Ekimdzhiev and Mrs K. Boncheva, lawyers practising in Plovdiv.
The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs S. Atanasova of the Ministry of Justice.
The applicant complained of the length of two sets of interrelated proceedings in connection to compensation for work related accidents and the applicant's disability (Article 6 § 1 of the Convention). The proceedings lasted from September 1998 to August 2003 and from April 1998 to December 2004, respectively. The applicant also complained under Article 13 of the Convention that he did not have any effective remedies in respect of the length of the two sets of proceedings and under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 that the delayed proceedings resulted in depriving him of his pension for a lengthy period of time.
On 22 September 2008 the President of the Chamber to which the case had been allocated communicated the application to the respondent Government.
In a letter received by the Court on 18 November 2008 the applicant's son and only heir – Mr Petar Evlogiev Petkov informed the Court that his father had passed away on 13 September 2008 and stated that he wished to continue the present proceedings in his stead.
On 18 November 2008 and 4 December 2009 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant's son agreed to waive any further claims against Bulgaria in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 3,400 euros to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses. The parties agreed that the sum above would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and free of any taxes that may be applicable. It would 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 parties agreed that the payment would constitute the final resolution of the case.
In his communication of 18 November 2008 Mr Petar Petkov expressed preferences as to the repartition of the amount between him and his legal representatives.
THE LAW
The Court notes the wish of the heir of Mr Evlogi Petrov Petkov to continue the present proceedings in his stead. It finds that he has standing to do so.
Furthermore, 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.
The Court observes also that under the terms of the declarations for friendly settlement the Government undertakes to pay 3,400 euros to the applicant. However in view of his demise, the sum is to be paid to his son Mr Petar Evlogiev Petkov.
As to the expressed preferences concerning the repartition of the amount offered by the Government between Mr Petar Evlogiev Petkov and his legal representatives, the Court considers this to be an internal matter between them.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Holds that the heir of the applicant has standing to continue the present proceedings in his stead and that the sum offered by the Government is to be paid to Mr Petar Evlogiev Petkov;
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Claudia Westerdiek Peer Lorenzen
Registrar President