FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 40585/02 by Sergey Yuryevich YEGOROV against Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 20 September 2007 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mr A. Kovler , Mrs E. Steiner , Mr K. Hajiyev , Mr D. Spielmann , Mr S.E. Jebens , Mr G. Malinverni, judges , and Mr A. Wampach , Deputy Section Registrar

Having regard to the above application lodged on 21 September 2002,

Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together.

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Sergey Yuryevich Yegorov, is a Russian national who was born in 1959 and live d in the village of Neryuktyay in the Sakha (Yakutiya) Republic . The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr P. Laptev, the former Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights, and subsequently by their new Representative, Mrs V. Milinchuk.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

In August 1998 the applicant was arrested and placed into custody.

By judgment of 9 July 1999 the Olekminskiy District Court of the Sakha (Yakutiya) Republic convicted the applicant of several offences and sentenced him to the twelve years ’ imprisonment. On 31 August 1999 the Supreme Court of the Sakha (Yakutiya ) Republic upheld the judgment.

The applicant applied for a supervisory review of the judgment of 9 July 1999 and sought a permission to be present at the hearing. On 23 August 2002 the Presidium of the Supreme Court quashed this judgment in part.

By letter of 6 September 2002 , the Supreme Court informed the applicant that his request for taking part in the hearing had been received belatedly.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention about the conditions of his pre-trial detention .

The applicant complained under Article 6 that he had been wrongly convicted and that he had not been apprised of the supervisory-review hearing .

THE LAW

On 24 November 2006 the Court communicated the case to the respondent Government under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court.

On 29 March 2007 the Government informed the Court that the applicant had died, and asked to strike the application out of the list of cases.

The Court sent the Government ’ s letter to the applicant ’ s home address on 4 April 2007. As there was no reply, and no acknowledgment that the Court ’ s letter had been delivered, on 14 June 2007 the Court sent another letter to the same address. As it follows from the acknowledgment-of-receipt card, the Court ’ s letter could not be delivered to the applicant because he had died.

The Court takes note of the applicant ’ s death . It also observes that no request has been submitted by the applicant ’ s heirs to pursue the examination of the case. In these circumstances the Court concludes that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (c) 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 examination of the application to be continued.

In these circumstances it considers that Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should no longer apply to the case and it should be struck out of the list .

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and to strike the application out of its list of cases.

André Wampach Christos R ozakis Deputy Registrar President