FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 67799/09 Abolfazi AGHAI against Austria

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 18 September 2012 as a Committee composed of:

Peer Lorenzen , President, Elisabeth Steiner , Julia Laffranque , judges, and André Wampach , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 29 December 2009,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

1. The applicant, Mr Abolfazi Aghai , is an Iranian national, who was born in 1981 and lives in Attersee He was represented before the Court by Mr B. Rosenkranz , a lawyer practising in Salzburg.

2. The Austrian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ambassador H. Tichy , Head of the International Law Department at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

3. The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention that his expulsion to Greece subjected him to treatment contrary to that provision on account of the lack of access to asylum proceedings and to subsistence in Greece and because of a real risk of refoulement .

4. On 23 May 2012 and 15 June 2012 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Austria in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 10,214.06 euros (EUR) to cover any and all pecuniary and non ‑ pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax 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 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

5. 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 also has regard to its case-law, so in particular M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece [GC], no. 30696/09, ECHR 2011, and therefore finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).

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.

André Wampach Peer Lorenzen Deputy Registrar President