Last Updated on May 11, 2019 by LawEuro
SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 9879/10
Mehmet Mustafa EKİNCİ and others
against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 20 November 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Ledi Bianku, President,
Jon Fridrik Kjølbro,
Ivana Jelić, judges,
and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 8 January 2010,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.
2. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
3. The applicants complained under, inter alia, Article 2 of the Convention that the authorities of the respondent Government had failed to take steps to protect the right to life of their relative who committed suicide in a psychiatric hospital ward reserved for remand prisoners.
4. On 18 June 2018 the Court received the following friendly settlement declaration signed by the Government:
“The Government regret the occurrence of individual cases of death caused by failures to protect life, as in the circumstances of the present case, notwithstanding existing Turkish legislation and the resolve of the Government to prevent such failures.
The Government admit that applicants’ relative’s death resulting from the failure to provide protective measures and the investigation conducted into the death did not meet the standards enshrined in Article 2 of the Convention. The Government undertake to adopt all necessary measures to ensure that the right to life – including the obligation to carry out effective investigations – is respected in the future.
The Government of Turkey declare that they offer to pay jointly to the applicants Mehmet Mustafa Ekinci, YıldızEkinci, VeyselEkinci, GülistanEkinci, RezanEkinci, NevinAltun, ÇekdarEkinci, HülyaYeğin and NesimeTekin, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, EUR 20,000 (twenty thousand euros) to cover any non-pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable and EUR 2,000 (two thousand euros) to cover any and all costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
These sums will be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases. In the event of failure to pay these sums within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, from 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.”
5. On 18 October 2018 the Court received the following declaration from the applicants:
“I, KadirTunç, note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay jointly to the applicants Mehmet Mustafa Ekinci, YıldızEkinci, VeyselEkinci, GülistanEkinci, RezanEkinci, NevinAltun, ÇekdarEkinci, HülyaYeğin and NesimeTekin, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, EUR 20,000 (twenty thousand euros) to cover any non-pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable and EUR 2,000 (two thousand euros) to cover any and all costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
These sums will be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Having consulted the applicants, I would inform you that they accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. They declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.”
THE LAW
6. The Court 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 its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
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.
Done in English and notified in writing on 13 December 2018.
Hasan Bakırcı Ledi Bianku
Deputy Registrar President
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Appendix
| No. | Firstname LASTNAME | Birth year | Place of residence | Representative |
| 1. | Mehmet Mustafa EKİNCİ | 1948 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 2. | Nevin ALTUN | 1974 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 3. | Çekdar EKİNCİ | 1994 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 4. | Gülistan EKİNCİ | 1989 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 5. | Rezan EKİNCİ | 1986 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 6. | Veysel EKİNCİ | 1986 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 7. | Yıldız EKİNCİ | 1950 | İSTANBUL | K. Tunç |
| 8. | Nesime TEKİN | 1980 | DİYARBAKIR | K. Tunç |
| 9. | Hülya YEĞİN | 1979 | DİYARBAKIR | K. Tunç |
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