The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), Sitting on 3May2007 As a Chamber Composed

MEDARIĆ v. CROATIA DECISION 3

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 11492/04
by Marko MEDARIĆ and Mario MEDARIĆ
against Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 3May2007 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr C.L. Rozakis, President,
Mr L. Loucaides,
Mrs N. Vajić,
Mr A. Kovler,
Mr D. Spielmann,
Mr S.E. Jebens,
Mr G. Malinverni, judges,
and Mr S. Nielsen, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 12 January 2004,

Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together.

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, Mr Marko Medarić and Mr Mario Medarić, are Croatian citizens who live in Sisak. They are represented before the Court by Mr Z. Kostanjšek, a lawyer practising in Sisak. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Štefica Stažnik.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

Following the blowing up of their summer house in Voloder, Croatia, by unknown perpetrators, the applicants instituted civil proceedings against the State on 23 June 1992 in the Kutina Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Kutini) seeking damages under section 180 of the Civil Obligations Act.

Since the 1996 amendment to the Civil Obligations Act provided that all proceedings concerning actions for damages resulting from terrorist acts were to be stayed, the Municipal Court stayed the proceedings on 22 February 1999.

After the enactment of the 2003 Liability Act the proceedings were resumed and the first instance judgment was adopted on 31 May 2004. It was upheld by the Sisak County Court (Županijski sud u Sisku) on 6 March 2006.

Meanwhile, the applicants filed a constitutional complaint about the length of the proceedings and their right of access to a court. On 20September 2006 the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) accepted the complaint and awarded each applicant 18,400 Croatian Kunas (HRK) as just satisfaction.

COMPLAINT

The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about their right of access to a court and of the length of the proceedings.

THE LAW

The Court recalls that notice of the application was given to the Government on 2 October 2006. The Government submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits of the applicants’ complaint on 29 November 2006. The applicants, who were represented by a lawyer, have failed to submit observations in reply. Moreover, they have failed to respond to the communications from the Court, the last of which was a registered letter dated 19 February 2006 warning the applicants of the possibility that their case might be struck out of the Court’s list if they failed to respond.

Having regard to Article 37§1(a) of the Convention, the Court concludes that the applicants do not intend to pursue the application. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the further examination of this case. Accordingly, the application of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention to the case should be discontinued and the application struck off the list of cases.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

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

Søren Nielsen Christos Rozakis
Registrar President