THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 18580/19 Gunnlaugur BRIEM against Iceland

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 2 June 2022 as a Committee composed of:

Darian Pavli, President, Andreas Zünd, Mikhail Lobov, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 29 March 2019,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.

The applicant was represented by Mr Geir Gestsson, a lawyer practising in Reykjavik.

The applicant’s complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the right to a tribunal established by law were communicated to the Icelandic Government (“the Government”).

The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Iceland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an acknowledgement by the Government, with reference to the Court’s judgment in the case of Guðmundur Andri Ástráðsson v. Iceland [GC], no. 26374/18, 1 December 2020, that the applicant’s right to be heard by a tribunal established by law, guaranteed by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, had been violated and an undertaking by the Government to pay him the amount detailed in the appended table in respect of costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings before the Court.

The friendly settlement declarations furthermore noted the possibility for the applicant to apply to the Court on Reopening of Judicial Proceedings for the reopening of the case against him, pursuant to Chapter XXXV of the Criminal Procedure Act No. 88/2008, as amended by Act No. 47/2020.

The amount in the appended table will be converted into Icelandic krónur at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay this amount within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake 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 will constitute the final resolution of the case.

THE LAW

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. The Court reiterates the general principles established by it in Guðmundur Andri Ástráðsson [GC], cited above, concerning complaints about the violation of the right to a fair trial by a tribunal established by law in the context of irregularities in the appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal, and refers to its decisions in the cases of Friðjón Björgvin Gunnarsson v. Iceland (dec.), no. 48281/18, 2 June 2022, and Haukur Sigurbjörn Magnússon v. Iceland (dec.), no. 6696/19, 2 June 2022. In the light of its case-law, the Court is satisfied that the friendly settlement between the parties in the present case is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application in the part covered by the friendly settlement.

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list as regards the complaints concerning the right to a tribunal established by law.

The applicant also raised a complaint under Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention. The Court has examined that complaint and considers, in the light of all the material in its possession, that it is inadmissible due to the applicant’s failure to exhaust domestic remedies in this respect, in accordance with Article 35 § 1 of the Convention (see Jón Ingi Gíslason v. Iceland (dec.) [Committee], no. 59258/18, 12 October 2021).

It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

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 as regards the complaints concerning the right to a tribunal established by law;

Declares the remainder of the application inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 23 June 2022.

Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention

(Tribunal established by law)

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration

Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application

(in euros) [1]

18580/19

29/03/2019

Gunnlaugur BRIEM

1960Geir Gestsson

Reykjavik

16/11/2021

16/11/2021

4,000

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.