European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 27910/09
J.R.
against the United Kingdom

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 24 January 2012 as a Chamber composed of:

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

Having regard to the above application lodged on 15 May 2009,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, J.R., is a British national who was born in 1959 and lives in Maidenhead. The President of the Section granted his request that his identity should not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 3).

The applicant was not represented. The United Kingdom Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms H. Moynihan, of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The applicant complained under Article 7 of the Convention that although he was found not guilty in the context of previous criminal proceedings, he continued to be punished by the retention and disclosure of police data. He also complained under Article 13 of the Convention that he did not have access to an effective remedy in respect of his complaint.

The applicant’s complaints were communicated to the Government under Articles 8 and 13 of the Convention.

On 6 October 2010 the applicant was informed that, pursuant to Rule 36 §§ 2 and 4, he was required to be represented by an “advocate” before the Court at this stage of the proceedings. He was invited to complete and return a form of authority by 4 November 2010.

On 30 October 2010 the applicant returned the form of authority nominating himself as his legal representative.

On 8 November 2010 the applicant was sent a further form of authority for completion and was reminded that he was required to be legally represented. A deadline of 6 December 2010 was set for the return of the completed form.

No further communication from the applicant was received.

On 15 March 2011 the Registrar of the Fourth Section reminded the applicant of the terms of the letter of 6 October 2010 and requested that the completed form of authority be returned by 31 March 2011.

On 22 March 2011 the applicant confirmed that he had secured legal representation. However, he failed to return a completed form of authority.

By letter dated 30 March 2011 the Registrar of the Fourth Section requested that the completed form of authority be returned to the Court by 13 April 2011.

No further correspondence was received.

By letters dated 3 May 2011 and 7 July 2011, sent by registered post, 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. The applicant received the letter dated 7 July 2011 on 15 July 2011. However, no response has been received.

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.

Lawrence Early Lech Garlicki
Registrar President