European Court of Human Rights

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URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2010/868.html
Cite as: [2010] ECHR 868

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THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 185/10
by Soraya Fouad Hanna GIRGIS
against the Netherlands

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 18 May 2010 as Chamber composed of:

Josep Casadevall, President,
Corneliu Bîrsan,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Egbert Myjer,
Ineta Ziemele,
Luis López Guerra,
Ann Power, judges,
and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 4 January 2010,

Having regard to the interim measure indicated to the respondent Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The application was lodged by Ms Soraya Fouad Hanna Girgis, an Iraqi national who was born in 1965 and is currently residing in the Netherlands. She was represented before the Court by Mr A.H. Hekman, a lawyer practising in Utrecht. The Dutch Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr R.A.A. Böcker, and their Deputy Agent, Ms L. Egmond, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

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 violation of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

On 12 January 2010 the President of the Chamber decided to indicate to the Government of the Netherlands that it was desirable in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings before the Court not to remove the applicant from their territory until 2 February 2010 (Rule 39 of the Rules of Court). On 2 February 2010 the Chamber decided to prolong this interim measure until 2 March 2010. At the same time, a number of questions were put to the Government under Rule 54 § 2 (a) of the Rules of Court. The Government's replies to the questions were received on 23 February 2010. The Chamber again prolonged the interim measure – this time for the duration of the proceedings before the Court – on 2 March 2010.

On 22 March 2010 the Government informed the Court that they had decided to examine the applicant's asylum application on the merits and that she would therefore not be expelled to Greece.

On 9 April 2010 the applicant's representative informed the Court that, in these circumstances, the applicant wanted to withdraw the application.

THE LAW

The Court notes that the applicant is no longer at risk of being expelled to Greece and that, for this reason, she does not intend to pursue her application. In these circumstances, and having regard to Article 37 § 1 (a) and (b) of the Convention and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention or its Protocols, the Court is of the opinion that it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list, and to discontinue the application of Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Santiago Quesada Josep Casadevall
Registrar President