FIRST SECTION

FINAL DECISION

Application no. 9573/02 by Krunoslav IVANOVIĆ against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 11 March 2004 as a Chamber composed of

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mr G. Bonello , Mrs F. Tulkens , Mrs N. Vajić , Mr E. Levits , Mrs S. Botoucharova, Mr V. Zagrebelsky , judges , and Mr S. Quesada , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 27 December 2001,

Having regard to the partial decision of 21 November 2002 and the decision to apply the procedure under Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and to examine the admissibility and merits of the case together,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Krunoslav Ivanović was born in 1943 and lives in Pitomača, Croatia. He is represented before the Court by Ms Tatjana Burjačenko Grubiša, a lawyer practising in Zagreb. The respondent Government are represented by their Agent Ms Lidija Lukina-Karajković.

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

On 19 July 1992 the applicant's house in Pitomača was destroyed by a mine laid by unknown perpetrators.

On 6 July 1994 the applicant instituted civil proceedings before the Virovitica Municipal Court ( Općinski sud u Virovitici ) , seeking compensation from the Republic of Croatia.

On 16 January 1996 the court gave a judgment awarding the applicant's claim.

On 17 January 1996 the Croatian Parliament introduced an amendment to the Civil Obligations Act which provided that all proceedings concerning actions for damages resulting from terrorist acts were to be stayed pending the enactment of new legislation on the subject and that before the enactment of such new legislation damages for terrorist acts could not be sought.

After that the Republic of Croatia appealed against the first instance judgment.

On 11 April 1996 the Bjelovar County Court ( Županijski sud u Bjelovaru ) as the appellate court stayed the proceedings.

The applicant then filed a request for revision arguing that the decision to stay the proceedings was unfounded because his claim for compensation was awarded by the first instance court before the enactment of the new legislation.

On 26 January 2000 the Supreme Court ( Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske ) rejected the request for revision as inadmissible.

On 14 July 2003 Parliament passed the Act on Liability for Damage Resulting from Terrorist Acts and Public Demonstrations ( Zakon o odgovornosti za štetu nastalu uslijed terorističkih akata i javnih demonstracija , Official Gazette no. 117/2003 of 23 July 2003).

COMPLAINT

The applicant maintained that Parliament's enactment of the 1996 legislation interfered with his right of access to court within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

THE LAW

By letter of 15 January 2004 the applicant's representative informed the Court that the applicant accepted the proposal for a friendly settlement and waived any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts of the present application.

On 20 January 2004 the Government informed the Court that the parties had reached a settlement whereby the Government would pay the applicant 6,000 euros in full and final settlement of the applicant's 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, cf. 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) and it considers that the case should be struck out of the list. Accordingly, the application to the case of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should be discontinued and the case struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

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

Santiago Quesada Christos R OZAKIS              Deputy Registrar President