FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 39963/16 L.A . against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 29 September 2020 as a Committee composed of:

Pere Pastor Vilanova, President, Jovan Ilievski, Raffaele Sabato, judges, and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 6 July 2016,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant, Ms L.A., is a Croatian national who was born in 1963 and lives in Novigrad . The President decided that the applicant ’ s identity should not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4). The applicant was represented before the Court by Ms S. Bezbradica Jelavić , a lawyer practising in Zagreb.

The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Š. Stažnik .

The applicant complained, under the procedural aspect of Articles 2, 3, 5 and 14 of the Convention, of the lack of an effective, prompt and impartial investigation into the unlawful arrest, alleged torture and disappearance of her brother. She also complained, under Article 3, that the uncertainty about her brother ’ s fate had caused her suffering. Lastly, she complained, under Article 13 of the Convention, that she had no effective remedy at her disposal in this connection.

On 29 May and 3 July 2020 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Croatia in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay her 34,000 euros to cover any and all non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to her, which will be converted into the national currency at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said 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. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.

THE LAW

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 its Protocols 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,

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 22 October 2020 .

Renata Degener Pere Pastor Vilanova Deputy Registrar President