FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 19671/05 by Nikolay Kolev NIKOLOV against Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 8 June 2010 as a Chamber composed of:

Peer Lorenzen , President, Renate Jaeger , Karel Jungwiert , Rait Maruste , Mark Villiger , Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska , Zdravka Kalaydjieva , judges, and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 19 May 2005,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The application was lodged by Mr Nikolay Kolev Nikolov , a Bulgarian national who was born in 1947 and lived in Ta rgovishte . On 2 February 2009 the applicant died. On 7 May 2009 his wife, Ms Snezhana Yordanova Nikolova , and his sons, Mr Kalin Nikolaev Nikolov and Mr Yordan Nikolaev Nikolov , expressed their wish to pursue the proceedings in his stead. The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms R. Nikolova , of the Ministry of Justice .

The applicant complained about the length of the civil proceedings to which he had been a party ( Article 6 § 1 of the Convention ) . The proceedings, which had been brought by the Targovishte Municipality against the applicant, began on 18 October 1996 and according to the latest information by the applicant are still pending .

On 1 5 June 2009 the President of the Fifth Section communicated the application to the Government.

On 17 August 2009 and 25 February 2010 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Bulgaria in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay 3,000 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and w ould be free of any taxes that may be chargeable . It w ould 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 this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, 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 will 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 public policy 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.

             Claudia Westerdiek Peer Lorenzen Registrar President