European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 7513/07
Ivanka Blagova IVANOVA
against Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 17 April 2012 as a Committee composed of:

Päivi Hirvelä, President,
Ledi Bianku,
Zdravka Kalaydjieva, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 18 January 2007,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The applicant, Ms Ivanka Blagova Ivanova, was a Bulgarian national who was born in 1947 and lived in Veliko Tarnovo. She passed away in July 2011. The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs M. Dimova, of the Ministry of Justice.

On 8 August 2011 notice of the applicant’s complaint under Article 6 § 1 about the length of civil proceedings was given to the Government and the parties were invited to secure a friendly settlement. The applicant did not reply to the Registry’s letter.

By letter dated 3 November 2011, sent by registered post, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of her position regarding the friendly-settlement proposal expired on 3 October 2011 and that no extension of the time-limit 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.

In a letter dated 22 November 2011 the applicant’s son informed the Registry that the applicant had passed away in July 2011. He requested extension of the time-limit for submission of his position regarding the friendly-settlement proposal and informed the Registry of his mailing address.

By letter dated 5 December 2011 the Registry informed the applicant’s son that the President of the Section had agreed to grant the extension requested. The applicant’s son did not reply to the Registry’s letter.

By letter dated 6 February 2012, sent by registered post, the applicant’s son was notified that the period allowed for submission of his position regarding the friendly-settlement proposal expired on 5 January 2012 and that no further extension of the time-limit had been requested. His attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 of the Convention.

The letter, which had been received in Sofia on 13 February 2012, was returned to the Court, unopened, on 8 March 2012.

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant’s son may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his mother’s application and therefore in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application. 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 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.

Fatoş Aracı Päivi Hirvelä
Deputy Registrar President