European Court of Human Rights

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 40251/04
Sergey Vladimirovich ZHARIKOV
against Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 10 January 2012 as a Chamber composed of:

Nina Vajić, President,
Anatoly Kovler,
Peer Lorenzen,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos,
Erik Møse, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 10 September 2004,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Sergey Vladimirovich Zharikov, is a Russian national who was born in 1951 and lives in Krasnoyarsk. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, the Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.

The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 about the failure of the State to enforce an award against a private party.

The applicant’s complaints were communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant, who was invited to submit his own observations. No reply was received to the Court’s letter.

By letters dated 30 September 2009 and 17 May 2010, sent by registered post, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations had expired on 6 August 2009 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant’s attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. However, he did not collect the letters from the post office and they were returned as not claimed. The applicant did not attempt to communicate with the Court on any later date.

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.

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.

Søren Nielsen Nina Vajić
Registrar President