FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 20377/06 by Pavel Anatolyevich NIKULIN against Russia

The European Court of Human Rights ( First Section ), sitting on 4 October 2011 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 1 August 2005,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Pavel Anatolyevich Nikulin, is a Russian national who was born in 1981 and lives in Nizhniy Tagil , Sverdlovskaya Region . He is represented before the Court by Mr R.R. Kalapov , a lawyer practising in Nizhniy Tagil . The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.

The applicant complained of a violation of Article 6 § 3 (c) of the Convention in conjunction with Article 6 § 1, on account of the lack of legal assistance during the appeal hearing on his criminal case.

This application was communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applic ant, who was invited to submit his own observations. No reply was received to the Registry ’ s letter.

By letter s dated 7 October and 23 November 2010 , sent by registered post, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of the his observations had expired on 6 April 2010 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant ’ s attent ion 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. No response followed.

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