FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 20357/06
by Aleksey Leonidovich NIKOLAYEV
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 2 December 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
	Christos Rozakis, President,
	Nina Vajić,
	Anatoly Kovler,
	Elisabeth Steiner,
	Khanlar Hajiyev,
	Dean Spielmann,
	Sverre Erik Jebens, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 April 2006,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The application was lodged by Mr Aleksey Leonidovich Nikolayev, a Russian national who was born in 1973 and lives in Kirillov. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, the Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.
The applicant complained about the decision of the Vologda Regional Court of 28 October 2005 which determined his access rights in respect of his minor daughter.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 8 of the Convention were communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant, who was invited to submit his own observations. No reply was received to the Registry’s letter.
By letter dated 24 July 2009, sent by registered post, the applicant was notified that the period allowed for submission of his observations had expired on 3 March 2009 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicant’s attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. In the absence of a response from the applicant, on 29 April 2010 the Court re-sent the letter by registered post. However, no response was received from the applicant.
THE LAW
The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.
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.
	Søren Nielsen	Christos Rozakis
	Registrar	President