FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 6542/07 Nikolay Borisov METODIEV against Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 11 September 2012 as a Committee composed of:

George Nicolaou , President, Ledi Bianku , Vincent A. D e Gaetano , judges, and Fatoş Aracı , Deputy Section Regi trar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 January 2007,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

1. The applicant, Mr Nikolay Borisov Metodiev , is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1986 and lives in Plovdiv . He was represented before the Court by Mr A. Atanasov , a lawyer practising in Plovdiv . The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms M. Kotseva , of the Ministry of Justice.

2. The applicant complained under Articles 5 § 5, 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention and under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 that a set of civil proceedings for damages that he had brought against the State had been unfair, that the compensation awarded to him had been too low, and that he had been required to pay excessive court fees.

3. On 16 January 2012 and 6 July 2012 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Bulgaria in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay him 1,000 euros to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and be free of any taxes that may be applicable. That sum would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court ’ s decision to strike out the application. In the event of failure to pay that 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 would 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 Arti cle 39 of the Convention.

Fatoş Aracı George Nicolaou Deputy Registrar President