European Court of Human Rights

 

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF KONDRATYUK AND CHAYKA v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 33857/17 and 69430/17)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

STRASBOURG

2 July 2020

 

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Kondratyuk and Chayka 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 11 June 2020,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

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 of the deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention and also raised other complaints under various provisions of the Convention.

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 5 § 4 of the Convention

6.  The applicants complained principally of the deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 5 § 4

“4.  Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful.”

7.  The Court reiterates that where an individual’s personal liberty is at stake, the Court has set up very strict standards concerning the State’s compliance with the requirement of speedy review of the lawfulness of detention (Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154-164, 22 May 2012; Khodorkovskiy v. Russia, no. 5829/04, §§ 219-248, 31 May 2011; and Lebedev v. Russia, no. 4493/04, §§ 75-115, 25  October  2007). The Court further notes that it has already found a violation of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention in a number of cases against Russia, where, for instance, the proceedings by which the lawfulness of applicants’ detention was decided lasted 27 days (see Pichugin v. Russia, no. 38623/03, §§ 154-56, 23 October 2012), 20 days (see Butusov v. Russia, no. 7923/04, §§ 32-35, 22 December 2009) or 26 days (see Mamedova v. Russia, no. 7064/05, § 96, 1 June 2006), and stressing that their entire duration was attributable to the authorities.

8.  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 the present complaints.

9.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention.

III. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW

10.  The applicant in application no. 69430/17 submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings, in particular, in Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, 22 May 2012, insofar as they relate to the applicant’s complaints about poor conditions of transport; Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, 27 November 2012 for the complaint under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention; and Korshunov v. Russia, no. 38971/06, 25 October 2007, related to an enforceable right to compensation for a violation of the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial.

IV. REMAINING COMPLAINTS

11.  In application no. 33857/17, the applicant also raised a complaint under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.

12.  The Court has examined the complaint and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, this complaint either does not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or does not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

13.  It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

V. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

14.  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.”

15.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Oravec v. Croatia, no. 51249/11, §§ 78-80, 11 July 2017; Ayboğa and Others v. Turkey, no. 35302/08, §§ 28-30, 21 June 2016; Doherty v. the United Kingdom, no. 76874/11, §§ 113-115, 18 February 2016; Albrechtas v. Lithuania, no. 1886/06, §§ 87-89, 19 January 2016; and Karaosmanoglu and Özden v. Turkey, no. 4807/08, §§ 89-91, 17 June 2014), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

16.  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 complaints concerning the deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible and the remainder of application no. 33857/17 inadmissible;

3.      Holds that the complaints concerning the deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention disclose a breach of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention;

4.      Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court in application no. 69430/17 (see appended table);

5.      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 period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 2 July 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 5 § 4 of the Convention

(deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention)