FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 33095/15 Eljwer RAMADANOVIC against Germany

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 7 June 2016 as a Committee composed of:

Khanlar Hajiyev, President, Faris Vehabović, Carlo Ranzoni, judges,

and Milan Blaško, Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 26 June 2015,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant, Mr Eljwer Ramadanovic, is a Serbian national, who was born in 1970 and lives in Gütersloh. He was represented before the Court by Mr P. Oberwetter, a lawyer practising in Gütersloh.

The German Government (“the Government”) were represented by one of their Agents, Mr H.-J. Behrens, of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. The Serbian Government, having been informed of their right to intervene in the proceedings (Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 of the Rules of Court), did not indicate that they wished to exercise that right.

T he applicant complained under Article 6 §§ 1, 3 (c) of the Convention that his right to defend himself through legal assistance of his own choosing had been violated by the Duisburg Regional Court ’ s refusal, in its judgment of 24 October 2014, to deal with his appeal on the merits due to his failure to attend the trial hearing, despite the fact that his counsel was present and ready to defend him. He relied on the Court ’ s judgment in the case of Neziraj v. Germany (no. 30804/07 , 8 November 2012) to support his view.

On 10 March 2016 and 17 March 2016 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Germany in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 7,000 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant. This sum 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 30 June 2016 .

Milan BlaÅ¡ko Khanlar Hajiyev              Deputy Registrar President