THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 47401/15 Myslym NELA against Albania

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 7 October 2021 as a Committee composed of:

Dmitry Dedov, President, Peeter Roosma, Andreas Zünd, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 21 September 2015,

Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.

The applicant’s complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of terminated civil proceedings and lack of an effective domestic remedy in that regard were communicated to the Albanian Government (“the Government”).

THE LAW

After unsuccessful attempts to reach a friendly settlement, the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by the application.

In the declaration, the Government acknowledged the excessive length of terminated civil proceedings and lack of an effective domestic remedy in that regard. They submitted that, as of November 2017, a new preventive and compensatory remedy regarding the excessive length of proceedings had entered into force. They offered to pay the applicant the amount detailed in the appended table, which would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay that amount within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. In view of the above, the Government invited the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

The applicant did not accept the terms of the Government’s unilateral declaration, complaining that the proposed amount was too small.

The Court observes that Article 37 § 1 (c) enables it to strike a case out of its list if “... for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”. Thus, it may strike out applications under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicant wishes the examination of the case to be continued (see, in particular, the Tahsin Acar v. Turkey judgment (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75 ‑ 77, ECHR 2003-VI). The Court has further established clear and extensive case-law concerning complaints relating to the excessive length of civil proceedings (see, among other authorities, Scordino v. Italy (no. 1) [GC], no. 36813/97, § 134-227, ECHR 2006 ‑ V, and Luli and Others v. Albania , nos. 64480/09 and 5 others, § 88-92, 1 April 2014).

Noting the admissions contained in the Government’s declaration as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 (c)). Furthermore, the Court takes note of the new remedy introduced in the Albanian legislation in respect of the unreasonable length of proceedings. It is thus satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine ).

Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declaration, the application may be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (see Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declaration and of the arrangements for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein.

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 28 October 2021.

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Viktoriya Maradudina Dmitry Dedov Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention

(excessive length of civil proceedings)

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses

per applicant

(in euros) [1]

47401/15

21/09/2015

Myslym NELA

1951

02/07/2021

2,300

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant