FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 829/03 by Johann WIMMER against Austria

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 1 April 2004 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mr P. Lorenzen , Mr G. Bonello , Mrs F. Tulkens , Mrs N. Vajić , Mrs E. Steiner , Mr K. Hajiyev, judges , and Mr S. Nielsen , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 23 December 2002,

Having regard to the decision to apply the procedure under 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 Johann Wimmer, is an Austrian national who was born in 1934 and lives in Vienna. He was represented before the Court by Mr F. Rifaat, a lawyer practising in Vienna. The respondent Government were represented by their agent, Ambassador H. Winkler, Head of the International Law Department at the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

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

On 30 January 1988 the Vienna Regional Criminal Court ( Landesgericht für Strafsachen ), in the context of preliminary investigations concerning offences under the Act on Fiscal Offences, issued an arrest warrant against the applicant. From 11 July 1988 on the applicant was repeatedly questioned by the Vienna Customs Office.

On 25 June 1993 the preliminary investigations were closed and the file was sent to the Public Prosecutor.

On 8 April 2000 the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office ( Staatsanwaltschaft ) preferred an indictment against the applicant. He was charged with tax evasion, forgery and handling of goods which had not been properly declared to the customs authorities.

On 4 April 2001 the Vienna Regional Criminal Court convicted the applicant of the indicted offences and sentenced him to a fine and to nineteen months' imprisonment, nine of which were suspended on probation.

On 3 October 2002 the Supreme Court partly granted the applicant's plea of nullity and dismissed the applicant's appeal. This decision was served on the applicant's counsel on 5 December 2002.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention about the length of the criminal proceedings.

THE LAW

By letter of 25 February 2004 the applicant informed the Court that he wished to withdraw his application.

The Court, therefore, notes that the applicant does not intend to pursue his application within the meaning of Article 37 of the Convention, which so far as material, reads as follows:

“1. The Court may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that

(a) the applicant does not intend to pursue his application; ..

...

However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto so requires.”

The Court considers that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols does not require continuing the examination of the case.

Accordingly, the application to the case of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should be discontinued and the case struck out of the list pursuant to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention.

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.

Søren Nielsen Christos R ozakis Registrar President