GÖK and OTHERS proti Turecku

THIRD SECTION

FINAL DECISION

Application no. 42834/98
by Ayşe GÖK and Others
against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 23 October 2003 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr G. Ress, President,
Mr I. Cabral Barreto,
Mr L. Caflisch,
Mr R. Türmen,
Mr B. Zupančič,
Mrs H.S. Greve,
Mr K. Traja, judges,
and Mr V. Berger, Section Registrar,

Having regard[Note1] to the above application lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 24 July 1998,

Having regard to Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, by which the competence to examine the application was transferred to the Court,

Having regard to the partial decision of 23 November 1999,

Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case submitted by the applicants and the Government on 9 September 2002 and 15 July 2003 respectively,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants, whose names are listed in the appendix, are Turkish nationals. By a letter dated 27 August 2001 the applicants’ representatives informed the Court that the applicant Elife Civelek had died on 7 December 1998 and that her heirs, Ramazan Civelek, Fetiye Kuru, Seher Kuru (Civelek), wished to pursue her application. The applicants are represented before the Court by Mr A. Akıllıoğlu and Mr A. Aktay, lawyers practising in Ankara.

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

The General Directorate of National Roads and Highways expropriated plots of land belonging to the applicants in Tarsus in order to build the Tarsus -İçel - Çukurova - İskenderun Motorway. A committee of experts assessed the value of the plots of land belonging to the applicants and these amounts were paid to them when the expropriation took place.

Following the applicants’ requests for increased compensation, the national courts awarded them additional compensation plus an interest at the statutory rate of 30 % per annum. The applicants appealed and the Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the first instance court. In the beginning of 1998 the due amounts were paid to the applicants respectively.

Details are indicated in the table below:

COMPLAINTS

The applicants allege that the rate of interest applied in the calculation of the additional compensation for expropriation was too low. They also complain of the delays in obtaining their compensation. In this regard they invoke Article 1 of Protocol No 1 and Article 6 of the Convention.

THE LAW

Following informal contacts between the applicants’ and the Government’s representatives, the Section Registrar was asked to assist the parties in reaching a solution to the matter. As a result, the Registrar addressed draft declarations to the parties.

The Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I declare that the Government of Turkey offer to pay 22,800 (twenty-two thousand eight hundred) euros to Ms Ayşe Gök, Ms Emine Çalışkan, Ms Meryem Şimşek, Mr Reşit Aydemir, Mr Muzaffer Aydemir, Mr İsmet Aydemir, Mr İbrahim Aydemir, Mr Ömer Nazmi Kara, Mr Mehmet Kaplan, Mr Abdil Kaplan, Mr Mahmut Kaplan, Mr Süleyman Kaplan, Mr Mustafa Kaplan, Mr Ramazan Civelek and the heirs of Ms Elife Civelek (Ramazan Civelek, Fetiye Kuru, Seher Kuru (Civelek))[1] with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the application registered under no. 42834/98. This sum shall cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and will be divided up as follows:

Ms Ayşe Gök 1,700 EUR

Ms Emine Çalışkan, Ms Meryem Şimşek, Mr Reşit Aydemir, Mr Muzaffer Aydemir, Mr İsmet Aydemir, Mr İbrahim Aydemir                            10,500 EUR

Mr Ömer Nazmi Kara 2,400 EUR

Mr Mehmet Kaplan, Mr Abdil Kaplan, Mr Mahmut Kaplan,

Mr Süleyman Kaplan, Mr Mustafa Kaplan 2,000 EUR

Mr Ramazan Civelek, the heirs of Ms Elife Civelek (Ramazan Civelek, Fetiye Kuru, Seher Kuru (Civelek))                                                                      6,200 EUR

This sum will be payable within three months from the date of the decision by the Court ... This sum shall be paid in euros to a bank account named by the applicants, free of any taxes and charges that may be applicable. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”

The Court received the following declaration from one of the representatives of the applicants:

“I note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay the sum of 22,800 (twenty-two thousand eight hundred) euros covering pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs to Ms Ayşe Gök, Ms Emine Çalışkan, Ms Meryem Şimşek, Mr Reşit Aydemir, Mr Muzaffer Aydemir, Mr İsmet Aydemir, Mr İbrahim Aydemir, Mr Ömer Nazmi Kara, Mr Mehmet Kaplan, Mr Abdil Kaplan, Mr Mahmut Kaplan, Mr Süleyman Kaplan, Mr Mustafa Kaplan, Mr Ramazan Civelek and the heirs of Ms Elife Civelek (Ramazan Civelek, Fetiye Kuru, Seher Kuru (Civelek)) with a view to securing a friendly settlement of application no. 42834/98 pending before the Court. This sum will be divided up as follows:

Ms Ayşe Gök 1,700 EUR

Ms Emine Çalışkan, Ms Meryem Şimşek, Mr Reşit Aydemir, Mr Muzaffer Aydemir, Mr İsmet Aydemir, Mr İbrahim Aydemir                             10,500 EUR

Mr Ömer Nazmi Kara 2,400 EUR

Mr Mehmet Kaplan, Mr Abdil Kaplan, Mr Mahmut Kaplan,Mr Süleyman Kaplan, Mr Mustafa Kaplan                                                                                    2,000 EUR

Mr Ramazan Civelek, the heirs of Ms Elife Civelek (Ramazan Civelek, Fetiye Kuru, Seher Kuru (Civelek))                                                                      6,200 EUR

I also note that this sum will be payable within three months from the date of the decision by the Court ... This sum shall be paid in euros to a bank account named by the applicants, free of any taxes and charges that may be applicable.

I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts of this application. I declare that this constitutes a final settlement of the case. This declaration is made in the context of a friendly settlement which the Government and the applicants have reached.”

After informing the Government, the Court took into consideration the applicant’s representative’s request of 9 September 2002 to add the names of the heirs of the deceased applicant in the above declarations.

The Court takes note of the agreement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention or its Protocols and considers that there is no reason which would justify the continuation of the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention and Rule 62 § 3 of the Rules of the Court).

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to disjoin the applications;

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

Vincent Berger Georg Ress
Registrar President

List of Applicants

1. Ayşe Gök
2. Emine Çalışkan
3. Meryem Şimşek
4. Reşit Aydemir
5. Muzaffer Aydemir
6. İsmet Aydemir
7. İbrahim Aydemir
8. Ömer Nazmi Kara
9. Mehmet Kaplan
10. Abdil Kaplan
11. Mahmut Kaplan
12. Süleyman Kaplan
13. Mustafa Kaplan
14. Ramazan Civelek
15. Fetiye Kuru
16. Seher Kuru (Civelek)

[1] Taking into consideration the letter sent by the applicant’s representative on 9 September 2002, the names of the heirs of the deceased applicant, Ms Elife Civelek have been added.

[Note1] Other possible paragraphs are (can be copied here and pasted directly into text):

Having regard to the comments submitted by [the [Click and type Third-State Nationality] Government] [[Click and type Other Third Party]],

Having regard to the [parties’] oral submissions [of the parties and of [Click and type Third-Party Name]] at the hearing on [Click and type Date],