FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 3176/21
Margaret FARRUGIA
against Malta

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 21 November 2024 as a Committee composed of:

Anne Louise Bormann, President,
Sebastian Răduleţu,
András Jakab, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 6 January 2021,

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 Dr N. DeBono, a lawyer practising in Valletta.

The applicant’s complaint under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention concerning a unilaterally imposed lease under Act XXIII of 1979, amending Chapter 158 of the Laws of Malta, affecting the applicant’s property in Birkirkara was communicated to the Maltese Government (“the Government”). Complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention.

The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Malta in respect of the facts giving rise to this application, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay her the amount detailed in the appended table. This amount will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay this amount within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake 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 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 12 December 2024.

Viktoriya Maradudina Anne Louise Bormann
Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

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

Application no. Date of introduction	Applicant’s name Year of birth	Representative’s name and location	Other complaints under well-established case-law	Date of receipt of Government’s declaration	Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration	Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses (in euros)[1]
3176/21 06/01/2021	Margaret FARRUGIA 1962	DeBono Nicholas Valletta	Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law	05/09/2024	28/06/2024	17,000

Application no.
Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses

(in euros)[1]

3176/21

06/01/2021

Margaret FARRUGIA

1962

DeBono Nicholas

Valletta

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law

05/09/2024

28/06/2024

17,000

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