THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 15160/19 Bakhtiyer Urazkulovich MATMUSAYEV and

Rakhatkhan Osmonzhanovna ABDURASULOVA against Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 6 October 2022 as a Committee composed of:

Darian Pavli , President,

Andreas Zünd ,

Frédéric Krenc , judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 February 2019,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicants, Mr Bakhtiyer Urazkulovich Matmusayev and Ms Rakhatkhan Osmonzhanovna Abdurasulova, are nationals of Tajikistan and Russia, respectively. The first applicant was born in 1971 and the second applicant in 1970. They live in Perm.

The applicants were represented by Mr B.I. Ponosov, living in Ocher.

The applicants’ complaint under Article 8 of the Convention concerning the first applicant’s expulsion from Russia with ensuing five-year re ‑ entry ban for an administrative offence were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”), who submitted observations on the admissibility and merits. On 6 September 2021 the observations were forwarded to the applicants’ representative through the Court’s electronic communication service (eComms) inviting him to submit the observations on behalf of the applicants. No reply was received to the Registry’s letter although both the letter and its annexes on the eComms platform were read.

By letter dated 28 February 2022, sent through eComms, the applicants’ representative was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations on behalf of the applicants had expired on 18 October 2021 and that no extension of time had been requested. The attention of the applicants’ representative was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicants do not intend to pursue the application. The applicants’ representative read this letter on the eComms platform on 3 April 2022. However, no response has followed.

THE LAW

In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention and the Protocols thereto, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application.

Accordingly, the case should be struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Done in English and notified in writing on 27 October 2022.

Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli Acting Deputy Registrar President