Last Updated on April 24, 2019 by LawEuro
THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 8423/17
Maria Stella and John AZZOPARDI VELLA
against Malta
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 29 January 2019 as a Committee composed of:
Branko Lubarda, President,
Vincent A. De Gaetano,
Alena Poláčková, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 23 January 2017,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicants, Ms Maria Stella Azzopardi Vella and Mr John Azzopardi Vella, are Maltese nationals, who were born in 1942 and 1938 respectively and live in Sliema. They were represented before the Court by Dr M. Camilleri and Dr E. Debono, lawyers practising in Valletta.
The Maltese Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Dr P. Grech, Attorney General.
The applicants complained that they were still victims of the violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 upheld by the Constitutional Court given the low amount of compensation awarded.
On 26 September 2018 and 17 October 2018 the Court received friendly settlement declarations signed by the parties under which the applicants agreed to waive any further claims against Malta in respect of the facts giving rise to this application against an undertaking by the Government to pay them 17,000 euros, jointly, to cover any pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, which will be free of any taxes that may be applicable and will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said 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 will constitute the final resolution of the case.
THE LAW
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 21 February 2019.
Fatoş AracıBranko Lubarda
Deputy RegistrarPresident
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