HAJIYEVA proti Ázerbajdžánu

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 64650/16
Zohra Haji gizi HAJIYEVA
against Azerbaijan

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 19 January 2023 as a Committee composed of:

Alena Poláčková, President,
Gilberto Felici,
Raffaele Sabato, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 October 2016,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.

The applicant was represented by Ms S. Aliyeva, a lawyer based in Azerbaijan.

The applicant’s complaint under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention was communicated to the Azerbaijani Government (“the Government”).

The applicant died on 8 February 2017. On 29 July 2022 the applicant’s daughter, Ms Aliya Gurbanova, expressed her wish to continue the proceedings before the Court in the applicant’s stead. The Court notes that in various cases in which an applicant has died in the course of the Convention proceedings, it has taken into account the statements of the applicant’s heirs or of close family members expressing the wish to pursue the proceedings before the Court (see, among other authorities, Jėčius v. Lithuania, no. 34578/97, § 41, ECHR 2000-IX; Pisarkiewicz v. Poland, no. 18967/02, §§ 30-33, 22 January 2008; and Ergezen v. Turkey, no. 73359/10, §§ 27-30, 8 April 2014). The Court has accepted that the next-of-kin or heir may in principle pursue the application, provided that he or she has sufficient interest in the case (see Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 97, ECHR 2014, and Ksenz and Others v. Russia, nos. 45044/06 and 5 others, § 86, 12 December 2017). In view of the above and having regard to the circumstances of the case, the Court holds that Ms Aliya Gurbanova has standing to continue the present proceedings in her late mother’s stead.

The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant’s heir agreed to waive any further claims against Azerbaijan in respect of the facts giving rise to this application, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay her the amounts detailed in the appended table. 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 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 the Protocols thereto 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 9 February 2023.

Viktoriya Maradudina Alena Poláčková
Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention

(non-payment of statutory additional compensation for expropriated property)

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant’s heir.

[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant’s heir.