FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 4160/10 by Urszula and Henryk HAPKA against Poland

The European Court of Human Rights ( Fourth Section ) , sitting on 6 September 2011 as a Committee composed of:

Ljiljana Mijović , President, Lech Garlicki , Nebojša Vučinić , judges, and Fatoş Aracı , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 11 January 2010,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

PROCEDURE

The applicants , Ms Urszula Hapka and Mr Henryk Hapka , are Polish nationals who were born in 1938 and 1940 respectively and live in Bytów . The Polish Government (“the Government ” ) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 9 November 2010 the President of the Fourth Section of the Court decided to communicate the applicants ’ complaint under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the length of the civil proceedings which commenced o n 1 October 2002 and are still pending before the first ‑ instance court.

THE LAW

On 16 June 2011 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant s :

“ We , Urszula Hapka and Henryk Hapka, note that the Government of Poland are prepared to pay us , with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above ‑ mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, the sum of PLN 17,000 (seventeen thousand Polish zlotys), plus any tax that may be chargeable .

This sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

We accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Poland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application . We declare that this co nstitutes a final resolution of the case . ”

On 27 June 2011 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“ I, Jakub Wołąsiewicz, Agent of the Polish Government, declare that the Government of Poland offer to pay Ms Urszula Hapka and Mr Henryk Hapka, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, PLN 17,000 (seventeen thousand Polish zlotys), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant s .

This sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision 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 undertake 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 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 Pr otocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination o f 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.

Fatoş Aracı Ljiljana Mijović Deputy Registrar President