ISUFI v. SERBIA DECISION
the applicant’s birth was not registered and he remained without identity
documents for a total of 21 years, his mother having only applied for
registration when he was 12 years old. Also, the applicant’s birth was
registered approximately seven years after the authorities became aware that
his mother could not be summoned and four years after it became obvious
that no further documents could be provided by her in the relevant domestic
proceedings. In the Court’s view, once it had become clear that no further
documents could be provided, a positive obligation under Article 8 of the
Convention had arisen for the respondent State to assist the applicant (who
had been a vulnerable minor) in securing the registration of his birth (ibid.,
§ 124). It is further noted that the applicant in G.T.B. v. Spain had, inter alia,
a record of psychological issues. As a consequence of not having identity
documents, he also encountered difficulties in pursuing academic studies and
training programmes and could not secure stable employment, all of which
adversely affected his private and family life (ibid., § 126). There are thus no
relevantly comparable circumstances to the present case.
24. Lastly, the Court observes that the time taken to complete the birth
registration procedure in the specific circumstances of the present case cannot
be deemed excessive.
25. In view of the foregoing, the Court concludes that it is no longer
justified to continue with the examination of the present application, within
the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. It is clear from this
provision that the Court enjoys a wide discretion in identifying grounds
capable of being relied upon in striking out an application on this basis. Such
grounds must reside in the particular circumstances of each case (see
Association SOS Attentats and de Boery v. France [GC], (dec.), no. 76642/01,
§ 37, ECHR 2006‑XIV, and Kirov and Others v. Bulgaria (dec.),
no. 57214/09, § 40, 9 January 2018; see also, for example, Mik and Jovanović
v. Serbia (dec.), nos. 9291/14 and 63798/14, § 52, 23 March 2021, and,
mutatis mutandis, Sisojeva and Others v. Latvia (striking out) [GC],
no. 60654/00, §§ 102-104, ECHR 2007-I). There are also no particular
reasons regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention
which would require the Court to continue its examination of the case under
Article 37 § 1 in fine. Accordingly, the application should be struck out of the
Court’s list of cases.
26. It is, of course, understood in this connection that any issues which
could arise in the wider context of the present case but are not directly related
to the applicant’s situation at the material time cannot be considered in
abstracto but rather in the particular circumstances of a possible future
application (see, mutatis mutandis, Mik and Jovanović, cited above, § 52,
with further references).
27. It is also not necessary for the Court to examine separately the
inadmissibility objections raised by the Government in paragraph 15 above
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