SECOND SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 21988/10 Ä°brahim FIRAT against Turkey

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 6 July 2021 as a Committee composed of:

Carlo Ranzoni, President, Valeriu Griţco, Marko Bošnjak, judges,

and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 March 2010,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

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

The applicant was represented by Mr A. Çakan, a lawyer practising in Batman.

The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Co-Agents, Mr Hacı Ali Açıkgül and Ms Çağla Pınar Tansu Seçkin.

The present application mainly concerns the property damage sustained by the applicant following a large underground explosion that took place in Batman on 3 May 2004. The applicant’s complaint under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, concerning his inability to access the civil courts to claim damages on account of the allegedly erroneous application of the time-limit rules, and under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, regarding the alleged violation of his property rights as a result of the explosion, were communicated to the Turkish Government (“the Government”).

On 24 November 2020 the Government informed the Court of the death of the applicant Mr İbrahim Fırat on 3 July 2020.

By a letter dated 26 November 2020 the applicant’s representative was requested to indicate by 7 January 2021 whether the applicant had any heirs who wished to pursue the proceedings before the Court and to provide by the same date, inter alia , a duly completed and signed authority form in respect of any heirs concerned.

On 4 January 2021 the applicant’s representative informed the Court of the wish of the heirs to pursue the application in the applicant’s stead and submitted the certificate of inheritance and the duly signed and completed authority forms for sixteen heirs, whose names are indicated in the appended table.

The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant’s heirs agreed to waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts giving rise to this application, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay the applicant’s heirs the amount indicated in the appended table. This amount will be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay this amount within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake 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.

The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.

THE LAW

The Court takes note of the death of the applicant Mr İbrahim Fırat and of the wish of his heirs who have submitted signed authority forms on 4 January 2021 to pursue the proceedings that he had initiated. It finds that Mr İbrahim Fırat’s heirs (whose names are indicated in the table attached below) have standing to continue the present proceedings in the applicant’s stead.

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.

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

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Holds that Mr İbrahim Fırat’s heirs (as indicated in the table attached below) have standing to pursue the proceedings in his stead;

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 9 September 2021.

{signature_p_2}

Hasan Bakırcı Carlo Ranzoni Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses

(in euros) [1]

21988/10

30/03/2010

Ä°brahim FIRAT

1933Date of decease

03/07/2020

Heirs

Cemile FIRAT

Recep FIRAT

Hazal GÖRİ

Rahime FIRAT

Abdulfaysal FIRAT

Azize EROL

Asiye KESEN

Zozan BAKIR

Nurhan Ä°NCÄ°

Abdulkadir FIRAT

Abdulaziz FIRAT

Abdurrahman FIRAT

Seyfettin FIRAT

Åžemsettin FIRAT

Halit FIRAT

Mehmet Arif FIRAT

11/03/2021

10/06/2021

10,000

jointly to the heirs

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