BAILII is celebrating 24 years of free online access to the law! Would you consider making a contribution?
No donation is too small. If every visitor before 31 December gives just £1, it will have a significant impact on BAILII's ability to continue providing free access to the law.
Thank you very much for your support!
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback] | ||
European Court of Human Rights |
||
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> IVANOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 44363/14 (Judgment : Right to a fair trial : Third Section Committee) [2020] ECHR 397 (04 June 2020) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2020/397.html Cite as: [2020] ECHR 397, CE:ECHR:2020:0604JUD004436314, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2020:0604JUD004436314 |
[New search] [Contents list] [Help]
THIRD SECTION
CASE OF IVANOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 44363/14 and 2 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
4 June 2020
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Ivanov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Gilberto Felici, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 14 May 2020,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
1. The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
4. The applicants complained that they had been denied an opportunity to appear in person before the court in the civil proceedings to which they were parties.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained that their right to a fair hearing had been breached on account of the domestic courts’ refusal of their requests to appear in court. They relied on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 6 § 1
“In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ... everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by [a] ... tribunal ...”
7. The Court reiterates that the applicants, detainees at the time of the events, were not afforded an opportunity to attend hearings in civil proceedings to which they were parties. The details of those domestic proceedings are indicated in the appended table. The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to present one’s case effectively before the court and to enjoy equality of arms with the opposing side, as guaranteed by Article 6 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Steel and Morris v. the United Kingdom, no. 68416/01, §§ 59-60, ECHR 2005-II). The Court’s analysis of an alleged violation of the right to a fair trial in respect of cases where incarcerated applicants complain about their absence from hearings in civil proceedings includes the following elements: examination of the manner in which domestic courts assessed the question whether the nature of the dispute required the applicants’ personal presence and determination whether domestic courts put in place any procedural arrangements aiming at guaranteeing their effective participation in the proceedings (see Yevdokimov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27236/05 and 10 others, § 48, 16 February 2016).
8. In the leading case of Yevdokimov and Others (cited above), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
9. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. It rejects the Government’s objection in application no. 36040/17 concerning the applicant’s alleged failure to comply with the six-month requirement, as the applicant lodged his application to the Court on 28 April 2017, that is within six months after the final judgment of the Supreme Court of Russia of 15 December 2016. Thus, having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the domestic courts deprived the applicants of the opportunity to present their cases effectively and failed to meet their obligation to ensure respect for the principle of a fair trial.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.
III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
11. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
12. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Igranov and Others v. Russia, nos. 42933/13 and 8 others, § 40, 20 March 2018), as well to the previous awards the Court has made, in particular in application no. 39315/16 to the applicant Mr Resin (see, for instance, Resin v. Russia, no. 9348/14, § 50, 18 December 2018; Yevdokimov and Others, cited above, § 58; Igranov and Others, cited above, § 40; Resin and Others v. Russia [Committee], no. 30428/14 and 8 others, § 15 and appended table, 30 November 2017; and Gromovoy and Others v. Russia [Committee], no. 59591/12 and 2 others, § 20 and appended table, 9 November 2017), the Court considers it reasonable not to make any award to Mr Resin and to award the sums indicated in the appended table to the two remaining applicants. While taking this decision, the Court reiterates its findings made in the cases of Yevdokimov and Others (cited above) and Igranov and Others (cited above) concerning the adoption of general measures by the respondent State to eliminate the deficiency of the Russian legal system which makes no provision for detainees’ participation in civil proceedings.
13. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the applications admissible;
3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the applicant’s absence from civil proceedings;
4. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 4 June 2020, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv Tigerstedt Alena Poláčková
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(applicant’s absence from civil proceedings)
Application no. Date of introduction |
Applicant’s name Date of birth
|
Representative’s name and location |
Nature of the dispute Final decision |
First-instance hearing date Court |
Appeal hearing date Court |
Final decision date Court |
Amount awarded for non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1] | |
|
44363/14 01/09/2014 |
Viktor Vasilyevich IVANOV 19/05/1958 |
|
Compensation for the alleged lack of medical assistance in remand prison |
14/01/2014
Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk |
07/05/2014
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court |
07/05/2014
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court |
1,500 |
|
39315/16 21/06/2016 |
Andrey Igorevich RESIN 29/07/1974 |
Gaynutdinova Yuliya Sergeyevna Kazan |
Civil proceedings, contesting the prohibition of remand prison authorities to use the applicant’s TV set. |
27/11/2014
Kirovskiy District Court of Khabarovsk |
24/06/2015
Khabarovsk Regional Court |
12/04//2016
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation |
0 |
|
36040/17 28/04/2017 |
Yuriy Viktorovich ROMANENKO 07/02/1966 |
Romanenko Lyudmila Viktorovna Tulun |
Compensation of non-pecuniary damages for the conditions of detention in a temporary detention centre |
20/09/2015
Tulun Town Court of the Irkutsk Region |
07/06/2016
Irkutsk Regional Court |
15/12/2016
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation |
1,500 |