THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Applications nos. 31163/18 and 40060/18

Aneta Ivanova MARKOVA v. Bulgaria and

Petar Dimitrov STOYANOV and Others v. Bulgaria

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 17 May 2023 as a Committee composed of:

Darian Pavli , President , Ioannis Ktistakis, Oddný Mjöll Arnardóttir , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the dates indicated in the appended table,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.

One of the applicants passed away (see appended table) and his heirs stated that they wished to pursue the proceedings. The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) have not contested the heirs’ locus standi .

The complaints raised under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 concerning delays in the enforcement of final court judgments in the applicants’ favour and the excessive length of the process of restitution of agricultural land were communicated to the Bulgarian Government (“the Government”).

The Court received friendly-settlement declarations signed by the parties, under which the applicants (respectively, the heirs) agreed to waive any further claims against Bulgaria in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay them the amounts indicated in the appended table, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants. These amounts will be converted into the currency of the respondent State 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 these amounts within the above ‑ mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake 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 parties agreed that such payment would constitute the final resolution of the cases.

THE LAW

Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.

The Court also takes note of the information regarding the death of one of the applicants and the wish of his heirs to continue the proceedings in his stead, as well as the absence of an objection on the Government’s part to their standing. Therefore, the Court considers that the heirs of Mr Petar Dimitrov Stoyanov have a legitimate interest in pursuing the application.

The Court finally 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 the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the applications.

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Decides that the heirs of Mr Petar Dimitrov Stoyanov have locus standi in the proceedings;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 8 June 2023.

Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1and Article 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1

(delayed enforcement of court judgments and delays in the restitution of agricultural land)

No.

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 applicants’ declaration

Amount awarded for pecuniary

and non-pecuniary damage

and costs and expenses

(in euros)

31163/18

17/06/2018

Aneta Ivanova MARKOVA

1931Nikolay Tsenkov KARAGYOZOV

Sofia

07/04/2023

02/10/2022

5,000

40060/18

16/08/2018

(4 applicants)

Petar Dimitrov STOYANOV

1928(passed away in 2022,

heirs: Plamen Petrov Stoyanov and Elisaveta Petrova Dimitrova

(also applicants) who stated that

they wished to pursue the proceedings

in his stead)

Stefan Todorov FAMPARSKI

1962Plamen Petrov STOYANOV

1958Elisaveta Petrova DIMITROVA

1952Mihail Tiholov EKIMDZHIEV

Plovdiv

07/04/2023

04/10/2022

8,000,

jointly to all applicants/heirs