FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 34675/04 by Dimitar Nikolov GENOV against Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 2 March 2010 as a Chamber composed of:

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

Having regard to the above application lodged on 15 September 2004,

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 Dimitar Nikolov Genov, a Bulgarian national who was born in 1928 and lives in the village of Graf Ignatievo . He was represented before the Court by Ms E. Nedeva, a lawyer practising in Plovdiv . The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms M. Dimova , of the Ministry of Justice .

The applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the criminal proceedings against him had lasted unreasonably long and under Article 13 of the Convention that he did not have effective remedies in that respect.

On 14 January 2009 the Court decided to communicate the application to the Government. On 18 February 2009 and 25 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 his application in return for an undertaking by the Government to pay him 4 , 9 00 (four thousand nine hundred) euros in respect of any pecuniary and non ‑ pecuniary damage , as well as costs and expenses . That sum would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and free of any taxes that may be applicable. The entirety of that sum would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court under Article 37 § 1 of the Convention. In the event of failure to pay that 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 would constitute the final resolution of the case.

THE LAW

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement between the parties. It is satisfied that it is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols , and finds no reasons justify ing the continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).

It therefore considers it appropriate to strike the case out of its list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

             Claudia Westerdiek Peer Lorenzen Registrar President