SECOND SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 5924/09 Nesrin ÖZSOY against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 14 March 2017 as a Committee composed of:

Nebojša Vučinić , President, Valeriu Griţco , Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström , judges,

and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 20 January 2009,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant, Ms Nesrin Özsoy , is a Turkish national, who was born in 1965 and lives in Ankara. She was represented before the Court by Mr A Çatak , a lawyer practising in Ankara.

The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

The applicant complained that the national authorities ’ refusal to allow her to bear only her maiden name after her marriage amounted to a breach of Article 8 of the Convention. She further claimed that the fact that the Turkish law allows married men to bear their own surname after marriage, but not married women, constitutes discrimination on grounds of sex and is incompatible with Article 14 of the Convention.

The applicant ’ s complaints were communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant, who was invited to submit her own observations. No reply was received to the Registry ’ s letter.

By letter dated 25 May 2016, sent by registered post, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of her observations had expired on 15 March 2016 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant ’ s attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. The applicant received this letter on 2 June 2016. However, no response has been received.

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue her application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine , the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.

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.

Done in English and notified in writing on 6 April 2017 .

Hasan Bakırcı NebojÅ¡a Vučinić              Deputy Registrar President