THIRD SECTION

FINAL DECISION

Application no. 42831/98 by Dürdane DOĞAN and Others against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 23 October 2003 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr G. Ress , President , Mr I. Cabral Barreto , Mr L. Caflisch , Mr R. Türmen , Mr B. Zupančič , Mrs H.S. Greve , Mr K. Traja , judges , and Mr V. Berger , Section Registrar ,

Having regard [Note1] to the above application lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 24 July 1998,

Having regard to Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, by which the competence to examine the application was transferred to the Court,

Having regard to the partial decision of 23 November 1999,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case submitted by the applicants and the Government on 9 September 2002 and 15 July 2003 respectively,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Dürdane Doğan , Hasan Akdağ , Duran Sarı , Sadık Oğuz and Mehmet Erdoğan , are Turkish nationals. They are represented before the Court by Mr A. Akıllıoğlu and Mr A. Aktay , lawyers practising in Ankara.

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

The General Directorate of National Roads and Highways expropriated plots of land belonging to the applicants in İçel in order to build the Tarsus - İçel - Çukurova - İskenderun Motorway. A committee of experts assessed the value of the plots of land belonging to the applicants and these amounts were paid to them when the expropriation took place.

Following the applicants’ requests for increased compensation, the national courts awarded them additional compensation plus an interest at the statutory rate of 30 % per annum. The applicants appealed and the Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the first instance court. In the beginning of 1998 the due amounts were paid to the applicants respectively.

Details are indicated in the table below:

NAMES OF THE APPLICANTS

DATE OF TRANSFER OF TITLE DEED TO THE LAND

DATE OF FINAL DECISION BY COURT OF CASSATION AS REGARDS ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION

AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION

(interests and legal costs are not included)

(in turkish liras)

DATE OF PAYMENT

1.Dürdane DOĞAN

25.03.1992

01.12.1993

    133.168.750

11.02.1998

2.Hasan AKDAÄž

15.11.1992

24.11.1994

      82.159.110

11.02.1998

3.Duran SARI

18.08.1993

10.11.1994

      89.075.000

11.02.1998

4.Sadık OĞUZ

18.08.1993

18.05.1994

      40.000.000

11.02.1998

5.Mehmet ERDOÄžAN

15.10.1992

25.04.1994

      30.000.000

11.02.1998

COMPLAINTS

The applicants allege that the rate of interest applied in the calculation of the additional compensation for expropriation was too low. They also complain of the delays in obtaining their compensation. In this regard they invoke Article 1 of Protocol No 1 and Article 6 of the Convention.

THE LAW

Following informal contacts between the applicants’ and the Government’s representatives, the Section Registrar was asked to assist the parties in reaching a solution to the matter. As a result, the Registrar addressed draft declarations to the parties.

The Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I declare that the Government of Turkey offer to pay 16,960 (sixteen thousand nine hundred and sixty) euros to Ms Dürdane Doğan , Mr Hasan Akdağ , Mr Duran Sarı , Mr Sadık Oğuz and Mr Mehmet Erdoğan with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the application registered under no. 42831/98. This sum shall cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and will be divided up as follows:

Ms Dürdane Doğan 9,500 EUR

Mr Hasan AkdaÄŸ 2,500 EUR

Mr Duran Sarı 2,400 EUR

Mr Sadık Oğuz 1,160 EUR

Mr Mehmet ErdoÄŸan 1,400 EUR

This sum will be payable within three months from the date of the decision by the Court ... This sum shall be paid in euros to a bank account named by the applicants, free of any taxes and charges that may be applicable. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”

The Court received the following declaration from one of the representatives of the applicants:

“I note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay the sum of 16,960 (sixteen thousand nine hundred and sixty) euros covering pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs to Ms Dürdane Doğan , Mr Hasan Akdağ , Mr Duran Sarı , Mr Sadık Oğuz and Mr Mehmet Erdoğan with a view to securing a friendly settlement of application no. 42831/98 pending before the Court. This sum will be divided up as follows:

Ms Dürdane Doğan 9,500 EUR

Mr Hasan AkdaÄŸ 2,500 EUR

Mr Duran Sarı 2,400 EUR

Mr Sadık Oğuz 1,160 EUR

Mr Mehmet ErdoÄŸan 1,400 EUR

I also note that this sum will be payable within three months from the date of the decision by the Court ... This sum shall be paid in euros to a bank account named by the applicants, free of any taxes and charges that may be applicable.

I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts of this application. I declare that this constitutes a final settlement of the case. This declaration is made in the context of a friendly settlement which the Government and the applicants have reached.”

The Court takes note of the agreement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols and considers that there is no reason which would justify the continuation of the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention and Rule 62 § 3 of the Rules of the Court).

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to disjoin the applications;

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

Vincent Berger Georg Ress Registrar President

[Note1] Other possible paragraphs are (can be copied here and pasted directly into text):

Having regard to the comments submitted by [the [Click and type Third-State Nationality] Government] [ [Click and type Other Third Party] ],

Having regard to the [parties’] oral submissions [of the parties and of [Click and type Third-Party Name] ] at the hearing on [Click and type Date] ,