THIRD SECTION

FINAL DECISION

Application no. 42905/98 by Gülsüm SARKIN 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 to the above application lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 21 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, Gülsüm Sarkın , Hadika Tekin , Zeynep Ergen , Duran Mehmet Kaplan and Hanife Kurtoğlu , are Turkish nationals. They were 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 Tarsus 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:

APPLICATION NUMBERS AND 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. Gülsüm SARKIN

14.07.1992

18.10.1993

   38.649.800

18.02.1998

2. Hadika TEKÄ°N

20.07.1993

05.05.1994

   133.571.612

06.02.1998

3. Zeynep ERGEN

14.09.1994

28.11.1996

   777.565.091

28.01.1998

4. Duran Mehmet KAPLAN

Hanife KURTOÄžLU

15.10.1992

17.01.1994

  158.070.944

26.01.1998

5. Gülsüm SARKIN

13.07.1993

05.05.1994

     137.696.000

06.02.1998

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 applicant’s 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 27,300 (twenty-seven thousand three hundred) euros to Ms Gülsüm Sarkın , Ms Hadika Tekin , Ms Zeynep Ergen , Mr Duran Mehmet Kaplan and Ms Hanife Kurtoğlu with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the application registered under no. 42905/98. This sum shall cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and will be divided up as follows:

Ms Gülsüm Sarkın 10,000 EUR

Ms Hadika Tekin   5,300 EUR

Ms Zeynep Ergen   4,000 EUR

Mr Duran Mehmet Kaplan and Ms Hanife Kurtoğlu   8,000 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 27,300 (twenty-seven thousand three hundred) euros covering pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs to Ms Gülsüm Sarkın , Ms Hadika Tekin , Ms Zeynep Ergen , Mr Duran Mehmet Kaplan and Ms Hanife Kurtoğlu with a view to securing a friendly settlement of application no. 42905/98 pending before the Court. This sum will be divided up as follows:

Ms Gülsüm Sarkın 10,000 EUR

Ms Hadika Tekin   5,300 EUR

Ms Zeynep Ergen   4,000 EUR

Mr Duran Mehmet Kaplan and Ms Hanife Kurtoğlu   8,000 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