European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 23584/10
by B.G.
against the United Kingdom

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on
31 May 2011 as a Chamber composed of:

Lech Garlicki, President,
Nicolas Bratza,
Ljiljana Mijović,
Sverre Erik Jebens,
Päivi Hirvelä,
Ledi Bianku,
Vincent A. De Gaetano, judges,
and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 27 April 2010,

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

Having regard to the comments submitted by the respondent Government regarding the grant of refugee status to the applicant on 10 March 2011,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, B.G., is an Iranian national who was born in 1974 and lives in Clapham. She was represented before the Court by Gulbenkian Andonian, a firm of lawyers practising in London.

The applicant relied before the Court on Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention, claiming that she would be at risk if returned to Iran because of her status as a single, unaccompanied woman and her activities in the United Kingdom, namely engaging in protest against the Iranian regime. She also claimed to have a partner in the United Kingdom with whom she enjoyed family life.

Rule 39 was applied on 4 May 2010 to prevent her removal to Iran the following day, and the application was communicated to the Government of the United Kingdom on 17 January 2011. On 16 March 2011, prior to receipt of the Government’s observations, the Government advised that the applicant had been granted refugee status in the United Kingdom and suggested that the application be struck out of the Court’s list of cases in consequence. The Court wrote to the applicant on 21 March 2011, asking whether, in light of the grant of refugee status, she was content for her case to be struck out. She was also advised that, if no response was received by 18 April 2011, her application would be struck out without further notice.

No response was received from the applicant.

THE LAW

The Court observes that the applicant has not indicated any intention to pursue her application, subsequent to the grant of refugee status in the United Kingdom. The Court further observes that there is no longer any risk of the applicant being removed to Iran and that the matter has therefore been resolved. The requirements of Article 37 (1) (a) and (b) being met, it is therefore appropriate that the application should be struck out of the Court’s list of cases. Moreover, the Court considers that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention does not require that the Court continues its examination of the application, in terms of Article 37 § in fine.

In view of the above, it is also appropriate to discontinue the application of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Discontinues the interim measure indicated on 4 May 2010; and

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

Lawrence Early Lech Garlicki
Registrar President