Serdenis v. Greece

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 36294/19 Apostolos SERDENIS against Greece

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 2 July 2026 as a Committee composed of:

Úna Ní Raifeartaigh , President , Canòlic Mingorance Cairat, Vasilka Sancin , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application against the Hellenic Republic lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 1 July 2019,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant, Mr Apostolos Serdenis, was born in 1979. He was represented by Ms E.-L. Koutra, a lawyer practising in Athens.

The applicant’s complaints under Articles 2, 3 and 5 and Articles 13 and 14 in conjunction with Article 3 of the Convention concerning the conditions of detention in Korydallos Prison Hospital were communicated to the Greek Government (“the Government”), who submitted observations on the admissibility and merits.

By a letter sent through the Court’s Electronic Communication Service (eComms) on 3 October 2025, the applicant was asked to inform the Court about further developments in his case. Following the representative’s extension request, on 19 December 2025 the applicant’s representative was asked to confirm that she was still in contact with the applicant. Her attention was drawn to the fact that if the requested information was not received within the above time-limit, the Court may conclude that the applicant no longer wished to pursue the application and may decide to strike it from its list of cases. On 23 January 2026 the applicant’s representative notified the Registry of the applicant’s death, without specifying the date of death, and confirmed that no heirs or close family members of the applicant had expressed an interest to pursue the application. Nevertheless, she urged the Court to continue its examination in the interest of human rights, referring to the significance of the case and requesting that she be allowed to pursue the application on the deceased applicant’s behalf.

THE LAW

It has been the Court’s practice to strike applications out of the list of cases under Article 37 § 1 of the Convention in the absence of any heir or close relative who has expressed the wish to pursue an application (see Léger v. France (striking out) [GC], no. 19324/02, § 44, 30 March 2009, with further references). Turning to the circumstances of the present case, the Court notes that the applicant died in the course of the proceedings. No heirs or close relatives have expressed the wish to pursue the applications on his behalf. As the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights which require the continued examination of the applications, it considers it appropriate to strike the applications out of its list of cases under Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

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

Done in English and notified in writing on 27 August 2026.

Viktoriya Maradudina Úna Ní Raifeartaigh Acting Deputy Registrar President