FIRST SECTION

FINAL DECISION

Application no. 12867/02 by Josip GABUD against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 3 June 2004 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mr P. Lorenzen , Mr G. Bonello , Mrs F. Tulkens , Mrs N. Vajić , Mrs S. Botoucharova , Mr V. Zagrebelsky, judges , and Mr S. Nielsen , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 6 March 2002,

Having regard to the decision of 28 November 2002 to declare certain complaints inadmissible and to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention (examination of the admissibility and merits together) in respect of the remaining complaints,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Josip Gabud, is a Croatian national who was born in 1966 and lives in Donja Stubica, Croatia. He was represented before the Court by Mr Bruno Spiz, a lawyer practising in Zagreb.

The respondent Government were represented by their Agent, Ms Lidija Lukina- Karajković .

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

On 3 May 1996 the applicant sustained injuries in a traffic accident that was allegedly caused by a member of the Croatian Army who was driving a military truck.

On 19 June 1996 the applicant instituted civil proceedings before the Zagreb Municipal Court ( Općinski sud u Zagrebu ) seeking damages from the Republic of Croatia and from an insurance company.

On 19 January 1998 the Zagreb Municipal Court gave a judgment awarding his claim.

On 16 and 19 February 1998 the insurance company and the Republic of Croatia, respectively, appealed against the judgment.

Pursuant to the Civil Obligations (Amendments) Act 1999 ( Zakon o dopunama Zakona o obveznim odnosima , Official Gazette no. 112/1999, hereinafter “the 1999 Act”), the Zagreb Municipal Court stayed the part of the proceedings concerning the applicant's claim against the Republic of Croatia on 6 November 2000.

It would appear that the part of the proceedings concerning his claim against the insurance company is still pending.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complained that the enactment of the 1999 Act violated his right of access to court guaranteed by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

THE LAW

On 26 January 2004 and on 1 March 2004 the applicant and the Government, respectively, submitted formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case whereby the Government would pay the amount of 6,000 euros to the applicant and he would withdraw the application waiving any further claims against Croatia in that respect.

The Court takes note of the agreement reached between the parties (Article 39 of the Convention) and considers that the matter has been resolved (Article 37 § 1 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). Accordingly, the application to the case of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should be discontinued and the case struck out of its list of cases.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to discontinue the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention; and

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

Søren Nielsen Christos Rozakis Registrar President