FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 33663/18 Branko BRDAR against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 26 November 2019 as a Committee composed of:

Krzysztof Wojtyczek , President, Pere Pastor Vilanova, Pauliine Koskelo, judges, and Renata Degener , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 13 July 2018,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant, Mr Branko Brdar , is a Cr oatian national who was born in 1941 and lives in Vojnić . He was repres ented before the Court by Ms S. Čanković , a lawyer practising in Zagreb.

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

The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention that the disappearance of his father, who had been taken by the Croatian soldiers in August 1995 and whose fate remained unknown, had caused him profound mental suffering, and under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the domestic courts ’ conclusion in the civil proceedings for damages against the State was arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable.

On 26 June and 10 October 2019 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 him 23,125 (twenty-three thousand one hundred and twenty five) euros to cover any and all non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be converted into Croatian kunas at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be chargeable to the applicant. It 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 19 December 2019 .

Renata Degener Krzysztof Wojtyczek Deputy Registrar President