FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 56048/19 Atanas Lachezarov TANEV against Bulgaria

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 10 November 2021 as a Committee composed of:

Armen Harutyunyan, President, Jolien Schukking, Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to:

the above application lodged on 17 October 2019, and

the declaration submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

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

The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applicant’s complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning poor conditions of his detention and lack of an effective remedy in that respect.

THE LAW

The Government submitted a unilateral declaration in which they acknowledged the violations under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention and offered to pay the applicant the amount set out in the appended table. On that basis, they invited the Court to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amount would be converted into Bulgarian levs at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and would 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 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.

A copy of that declaration was sent to the applicant on 27 July 2021. The applicant did not accept the terms of the declaration.

Article 37 § 1 (c) enables the Court to strike a case out of its list if:

“... for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.

Thus, it may strike out an application under that provision on the basis of a unilateral declaration by the respondent Government even if the applicant wishes the examination of the case to be continued (see, in particular, the Tahsin Acar v. Turkey judgment (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75 ‑ 77, ECHR 2003-VI).

The Court already has clear and extensive case-law under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention in relation to allegedly inhuman and degrading conditions of detention and the domestic remedies required in that respect (see, for example, Neshkov and Others v. Bulgaria, nos. 36925/10 and 5 others, 27 January 2015).

Noting the admissions in the Government’s declaration, as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 (c)).

In the light of the above considerations, the Court is also satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine ).

Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declaration, the application may be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (see Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the Court’s list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declaration and of the arrangements for ensuring compliance with the undertakings to which it refers;

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 2 December 2021.

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Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention)

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Date of receipt of applicant’s comments

Amount offered for non-pecuniary damage per applicant

(in euros) [1]

56048/19

17/10/2019

Atanas Lachezarov TANEV

1973

12/07/2021

09/08/2021

2,400

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