THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 41114/02 by X. and Y. against Latvia

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 19 January 2010 as a Chamber composed of:

Josep Casadevall , President, Elisabet Fura , Corneliu Bîrsan , Alvina Gyulumyan , Egbert Myjer , Ineta Ziemele , Ann Power , judges,

and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 14 November 2002,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants are both Latvian nationals . The first applicant was born in 1984. The second applicant, who was born in 1960, is the first applicant ’ s mother. Both applicants live in the Ventspils District ( Latvia ). The President of the Chamber has granted the applicant ’ s request that her identity should not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 3). The Latvian Government (“the Government”) are represented by their Agent, Mrs I. Reine .

The applicants ’ complaints concerning the effectiveness of investigation of alleged ill-treatment of the first applicant and the fairness of criminal proceedings against him were communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant s , who w ere invited to submit t he i r own observations. No reply was received to the Registry ’ s letter.

By letters dated 9 August and 8 October 2009 , sent by registered post, the applicant s w ere notified that the period allowed for submission of the applicants ’ observations had expired on 11 June 2009 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicants ’ 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. The applicant s received th e two letter s on 25 August and 18 October 2009 . However, no response has been received.

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant s may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue t he i r 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.

Santiago Quesada Josep Casadevall Registrar President