FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 34877/05 by Andon Kostadinov ANDONOV against Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 23 March 2010 as a Chamber composed of:

Peer Lorenzen , President, Renate Jaeger , Karel Jungwiert , Rait Maruste , Mark Villiger , Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre , Zdravka Kalaydjieva , judges, and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 17 September 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 Andon Kostadinov Andonov, a Bulgarian national who was born in 1956 and lives in Sandanski. He was represented before the Court by Mr A. Mahleliev, a lawyer practising in Sofia . The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs S. Atanasova of the Ministry of Justice.

The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention of the length of criminal proceedings against him, which continued from November 1997 to May 2005, and under Article 13 that he had no effective remedies in that respect. He also complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the fairness and outcome of the proceedings.

On 23 March 2009 the Court communicated the application to the Government.

On 28 April 2009 and 20 January 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 him 1,200 euros to cover any non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses. The parties agreed that the sum above would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and free of any taxes that may be applicable. It 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 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 parties agreed that 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 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