THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 13420/03 Coman RUSEN against Romania

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 17 September 2013 as a Committee composed of:

Alvina Gyulumyan, President, Kristina Pardalos, Johannes Silvis, judges, and Marialena Tsirli , Deputy S ection Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 10 March 2003,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant is a Romanian national born in 1933 and living in Lumina (Constanţa county).

He was represented before the Court by Mrs Ioana Stoica from Tulcea Bar. The Romanian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Catrinel Brumar, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The application concerns the alleged infringement of the applicant ’ s right of access to court in respect of a claim for title to a piece of land. The action was dismissed by Constanţa Court of Appeal on 27 May 2002 due to the failure by the applicant to pay stamp duty.

The applicant relied on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

On 14 January and 1 st February 2013 respectively, the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Romania in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him the amount of 3,600 euros (EUR) to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which would be converted into Romanian lei at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. The amount will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 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 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.

Marialena Tsirli Alvina Gyulumyan Deputy Registrar President