THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 1406/02 by Vesna and Miroslav RIST against Slovenia

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 5 January 2006 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr L. Caflisch , President , Mr B.M. Zupančič , Mr C. Bîrsan , Mrs M. Tsatsa-Nikolovska , Mr V. Zagrebelsky , Mr David Thór Björgvinsson , Ms I. Ziemele , judges , and Mr V. Berger , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 October 2001 ,

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

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Ms Vesna Rist and Mr Milorad Rist , are Croatian nationals who were born in 1955 and 1941 respectively and live in Krk , Croatia . They are represented before the Court by Mr Robert Rist , a lawyer practising in Krk . The Croatian Government di d not make use of their right to intervene under Article 36 of the Convention .

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

On 12 December 1995 the applicants instituted civil proceedings with the Koper District Court ( Okrožno sodišče v Kopru ) against the companies named World Holiday Club International and World Holiday Investments seeking the quashing of a contract made between the applicants and the said companies and payment of 263,900 Slovenian tolars .

On 14 February 1996 the court declared the case out of its jurisdiction and decided to transfer the case, once the decision became final, to the Piran Local Court ( Okrajno sodišče v Piranu ).

The case is still pending.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain ed under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that their right to a fair trial was violated by an excessive length of proceedings. In substance, they also complain ed about the lack of an effective domestic remedy in respect of the excessive length of the proceedings (Article 13).

THE LAW

On 25 November 2005 the Court received from the Slovenian Government the following declaration:

“ I, Lucijan BEMBIČ , Agent of the Government of Slovenia , declare that the Government of Slovenia offer to pay 3,116 euros to Vesna and Miroslav RIST with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

This sum is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses and it will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision b y the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. ... The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case. ”

On 30 November 2005 the applicants informed the Court in the Croatian language that they accept ed the friendly settlement proposal made by the Slovenian Government.

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). Accordingly, 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 strike the application out of its list of cases.

Vincent Berger Lucius Caflisch Registrar President