FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 30123/18 Michael Joseph BARRY and Breda BARRY

against Ireland

(see appended table)

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

Lətif Hüseynov, President, Lado Chanturia, Arnfinn Bårdsen, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 11 June 2018,

Having regard to 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 list of applicants is set out in the appended table.

The applicants were represented by Mr Dermot McClean of Lavelle Partners LLP, a lawyer practising in Dublin.

The applicants’ complaints concerning the length of the civil proceedings were communicated to the Irish Government (“the Government”).

THE LAW

The Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They further requested the Court to strike out the application in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.

The Government acknowledged that there has been a violation of the Convention in the above entitled case, in circumstances where the length of the domestic proceedings was in breach of the reasonable time requirement under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, and the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy in this regard, as required by Article 13 of the Convention. They offered to pay the applicants the amounts detailed in the appended table and invited the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above ‑ mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, 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 applicants were sent the terms of the Government’s unilateral declaration several months before the date of this decision. They rejected its terms.

The Court observes that Article 37 § 1 (c) enables it 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 applications under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicants wish 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 has established clear and extensive case-law concerning complaints relating to Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and the excessive length of proceedings in Ireland (see, for example, Keaney v. Ireland , no. 72060/17, 30 April 2020).

Noting the admissions contained 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 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 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 referred to therein;

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.

{signature_p_2}

Viktoriya Maradudina Lətif Hüseynov Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention

(length of civil proceedings)

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 comments,

if any

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses

per applicant

(in euros) [1]

30123/18

11/06/2018

Michael Joseph BARRY

1956Breda BARRY

1955Dermot McClean Lavelle Partners LLP

Dublin

18/06/2021

20/07/2021

7,300

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