European Court of Human Rights

 

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 61206/11
Patience ASUQUO
against the United Kingdom

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

          Lech Garlicki, President,
          Nicolas Bratza,
          Päivi Hirvelä,
          Ledi Bianku,
          Zdravka Kalaydjieva,
          Nebojša Vučinić,
          Vincent A. De Gaetano, judges,
and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 September 2011,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The applicant, Ms Patience Asuquo, is a Nigerian national who was born in 1983 and lives in London. She was represented before the Court by Ms C. Ferguson, a lawyer practising with Liberty in London. The United Kingdom Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms L. Dauban of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The applicant complained under Article 4 of the Convention that she had been subjected to forced labour in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2007, against which the authorities had failed to afford her sufficient and effective protection.

On 13 and 14 June 2012, the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against the United Kingdom in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay her eighteen thousand six hundred and fifty euros (EUR 18,650) to cover any and all damage as well as three thousand one hundred and fifty euros (EUR 3,150) to cover any and all costs and expenses, which would be converted into pounds sterling at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and would be inclusive of any taxes or liabilities that may be applicable. These amounts 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 these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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 would 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.

       Lawrence Early                                                                Lech Garlicki
            Registrar                                                                         President