FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 9161/04 by Antun and Milka ROSI Ć against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 24 November 2005 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mrs F. Tulkens , Mr P. Lorenzen , Mrs N. Vajić , Mrs E. Steiner, Mr D. Spielmann , Mr S.E. Jebens, judges , and Mr S. Nielsen , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 20 February 2004 ,

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, Mr Antun Rosi ć and Ms Milka Rosić , are Croatian nationals who were born in 1926 and 1931, respectively , and live in Nova Gradiška, Croatia . They are represented before the Court by Ms D. Kaplan, a lawyer practising in Nova Gradiška .

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

On 27 March 1991 the applicants filed a civil action for damages against the Nova Gradiška Municipality in the Nova Gradiška Municipal Court ( Općinski sud u Novoj Gradiški ).

The court held several hearings. However, it appears that between 29 April 1996 and 23 April 2003 no hearings took place.

In 2002 the applicants lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court ( Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske ) concerning the length of the proceedings.

On 19 September 2003 the Nova Gradiška Municipal Court gave judgment in the applicants ’ case, awarding them the damages sought.

Subsequently, on 14 November 2003 the Constitutional Court declared the applicants ’ complaint inadmissible since the competent court had meanwhile given its decision in their case.

Following an appeal, the applicants ’ proceedings are still pending before the Slavonski Brod County Court ( Županijski sud u Slavonskom Brodu ) as the second-instance court.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the length of the proceedings.

THE LAW

On 7 October 2005 the applicant s ’ representative informed the Court that the parties had reached a settlement whereby the applicants waived any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts of the present application.

By letter of 19 October 200 5 the Government informed the Court that they accepted the proposal for a friendly settlement and that the Government would pay the applicant s jointly 4 , 5 00 euros in full and final settlement of the applicants ’ claim under the Convention, costs and expenses included.

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties (Article 39 of the Convention) and considers that the matter has been resolved within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (b) of the Convention. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention Rule 62 § 3 of the Rules of Court ). Accordingly, the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention to the case should be discontinued and the case struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention .

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

Søren Nielsen Christos Rozakis Registrar President