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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> KURILENKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 18369/18 (Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Second Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 859 (02 November 2023) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/859.html Cite as: [2023] ECHR 859 |
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SECOND SECTION
CASE OF KURILENKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 18369/18 and 50 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
2 November 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kurilenko and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Lorraine Schembri Orland, President,
Frédéric Krenc,
Davor Derenčinović, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 12 October 2023,
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 about their confinement in a metal cage in the courtroom during criminal proceedings against them. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
6. The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68-73, 17 January 2023).
7. The applicants complained principally about their confinement in a metal cage in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Some applicants also complained that they had not been afforded an effective domestic remedy in respect of their grievances under Article 3, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention, reading as follows:
"Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity."
8. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in a metal cage in the courtroom in the context of their trial. In the leading cases of Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts) and Vorontsov and Others v. Russia, nos. 59655/14 and 2 others, 31 January 2017, the Court already dealt with the issue of the use of metal cages in courtrooms and found that such a practice constituted in itself an affront to human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention.
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. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants' confinement in a metal cage before the court during the criminal proceedings against them amounted to degrading treatment.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
11. Having regard to the above finding, the Court does not consider it necessary to deal separately with the applicants' complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (see Valyuzhenich v. Russia, no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).
12. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see the 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 well-established case-law (see Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103-08, 22 May 2012, concerning conditions of detention during transport; Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, regarding the lack of an effective remedy in respect of the complaint about conditions of detention during transport; and Chaldayev v. Russia, no. 33172/16, § 66-83, 28 May 2019, concerning restrictions in connection with family visits for prisoners detained on remand and differential treatment in that respect).
13. 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."
14. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Vorontsov and Others, cited above), the Court considers that the finding of a violation in application no. 18369/18 will constitute in itself sufficient just satisfaction (see Ivanov and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 44363/14 and 2 others, § 12, 4 June 2020, and Puzanov v. Russia [Committee], nos. 26895/14 and 2 other applications, § 13, 15 September 2022). It further finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table to the remaining applicants.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the remaining 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 November 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Lorraine Schembri Orland
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant's name Year of birth
| Representative's name and location | Name of the court Date of the relevant judgment | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
13/03/2018 | Anatoliy Yuryevich KURILENKO 1989 |
| Sverdlovsk Regional Court 29/09/2017 |
| The finding of a violation constitutes sufficient just satisfaction | |
27/05/2018 | Timur Narimanovich UZBEKOV 1990 | Sholokhov Igor Nikolayevich Kazan | Privolzhskiy Circuit Garrison Court of Tatarstan 08/12/2017 |
| 5,500 | |
20/05/2018 | Yevgeniy Valentinovich CHAYKA 1967 | Laptev Aleksey Nikolayevich Moscow | Meshchanskiy District Court of Moscow 29/12/2017 |
| 5,000 | |
14/12/2018 | Vitaliy Romanovich MIKITIN 1978 |
| Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 27/06/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
10/09/2018 | Sergey Vladimirovich MISHIN 1970 |
| Justice of the Peace of Syktyvkar 13/06/2018 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - train on 27/10/2018 - 28/10/2018, involving overnight stay without an allocated individual sleeping place (see Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, § 127, § 133, 9 April 2019), overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water. | 8,500 | |
21/02/2019 | Denis Mikhaylovich SIDORENKOV 1972 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 17/01/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - in convoy cells of the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, from 17/01/2018 to 26/08/2019 (overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 8,500 | |
04/10/2018 | Boris Vladimirovich KUNITSYN 1989 | Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich Syktyvkar | Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic 11/05/2018 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - numerous occasions of transport by prison van (overcrowding) since 29/06/2015 and until the applicant's release on 11/05/2018;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 6,200 | |
04/10/2018 | Yevgeniy Grigoryevich KAYDO 1986 | Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich Syktyvkar | Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic 09/04/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
07/11/2018 | Aleksey Viktorovich LICHUTIN 1979 | Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich Syktyvkar | Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic 11/05/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
29/10/2018 | Galina Nikolayevna AFANASYEVA 1993 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Surgut Town Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region 09/06/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
26/11/2018 | Dmitriy Sergeyevich ILYUKHIN 1992 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen
| Verkhneuslonskiy District Court of the Tatarstan Republic 10/07/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
20/04/2019 | Andrey Aleksandrovich MENSHIKOV 1994 |
| Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen 27/11/2018 | Art. 8 (1) - restrictions on family visits in pre-trial facilities - SIZO-1 Tyumen, limitation on the frequency of short-term family visits, physical separation and supervision during short-term family visits, refusal of long-term family visits. The applicant was detained in SIZO between 15/03/2017 and 09/04/2019.
Art. 14 - in conjunction with Art. 8 - discriminatory treatment compared with convicted prisoners as regards duration of short-term family visits and absence of long-term family visits | 9,750 | |
26/11/2018 | Igor Olegovich BEREZOVSKIY 1991 |
| Verkhneuslonskiy District Court of the Tatarstan Republic 07/08/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
08/12/2018 | Ruslan Anatolyevich GAZDAROV 1990 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Justice of the Peace of Tobolsk 31/07/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
07/12/2018 | Aleksandr Andreyevich YEFREMOV 1997 |
| Tobolskiy District Court of the Tyumen Region 16/08/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
08/12/2018 | Vladimir Vladimirovich BOGATYREV 1983 |
| Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region 29/08/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
04/01/2019 | Yevgeniy Vladislavovich ZHELTOVSKIY 1994
| Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region 23/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
23/11/2018 | Andrey Sergeyevich IGUSHEV 1979 |
| Ukhta Town Court of Komi Republic 31/07/2020
Ukhta Town Court of the Komi Republic; Supreme Court of the Komi Republic 18/09/2020
Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic 22/04/2021 | Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - on 23/11/2018, by train - insufficient number of sleeping places, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light; on 23/11/2018, by van - 0.6 sq. m., overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light; on 24/11/2019, by van - overcrowding | 8,500 | |
08/01/2019 | Anatoliy Vyacheslavovich TSINKALOV 1997 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Tyumen Regional Court 12/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
08/01/2019 | Vitaliy Vitalyevich VOYTSEKHOV 1991 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Tyumen Regional Court 12/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
14/01/2019 | Azat Rifatovich TIMERZYANOV 1993 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Tsentralnyy District Court of Tyumen; Tyumen Regional Court 24/07/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
24/12/2018 | Nina Fedorovna TRAPSH 1944 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen 31/10/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
06/01/2019 | Ilsur Inzilovich IDIYATULIN 1970 | Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tyumen | Bavly Town Court of the Tatarstan Republic 20/07/2018;
Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic 02/10/2018
|
| 7,500 | |
14/01/2019 | Gennadiy Olegovich ISTOMIN 1998 | Sarmasin Damir Fazylzhanovich Orsk | Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Orenburg 20/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
22/01/2019 | Rinaz Azatovich KHASHIMOV 1988 |
| Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region 20/09/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
22/01/2019 | Georgiy Nikolayevich BORCHA 1992 |
| Yarkovskiy District Court of the Tyumen Region 01/08/2018;
Tyumen Regional Court 27/09/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
04/02/2019 | Ruslan Lyufizovich SAYAFAROV 1992 |
| Surgut Town Court the Khanty-Mansy Region 05/10/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
28/01/2019 | Aleksandr Anatolyevich PUYSHIS 1991 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Neman Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region 06/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
28/01/2019 | Vasiliy Borisovich KOLGANOV 1958 | Berdiyev Artem Artykovich Samara | Samarskiy District Court of Samara 04/09/2018 | Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - by van, 22/09/2016 - 04/09/2018, 0.2 sq. m., lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, numerous occasions of transport from the detention facility to the courthouse | 8,500 | |
28/01/2019 | Mikhail Viktorovich NASENNIK 1983 |
| Surgut Town Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region 27/08/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
28/01/2019 | Nikolay Sergeyevich NIKITENKO 1986 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Neman Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region 06/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
28/02/2019 | Maksim Viktorovich NIKITIN 1994 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Neman Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region 06/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
16/02/2019 | Yevgeniy Sergeyevich DUBROVIN 1992 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region 02/10/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
19/02/2019 | Sergey Sergeyevich POPOV 1998 |
| Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen 18/09/2018;
Tyumen Regional Court 01/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
07/03/2019 | Mikhail Andreyevich VAGANOV 1987 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen 18/12/2018;
Zavodoukovskiy District Court of Tyumen 16/01/2019
|
| 7,500 | |
22/04/2019 | Aleksey Vladislavovich NECHAYEV 1993 | Balog Natalya Andreyevna Krasnoyarsk | Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 27/06/2018 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport on numerous occasions from the detention facility to the courthouse during the period between 24/08/2016 and 24/10/2018; by van and detention in a transit cell, severe overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, no access to potable water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, passive smoking;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 8,500 | |
12/03/2019 | Aleksey Aleksandrovich KUKUSHKIN 1979 |
| Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 21/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
12/03/2019 | Sergey Aleksandrovich STIKHARNYY 1973 |
| Supreme Court of the Komi Republic 26/04/2019 | Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport by train and detention in transit cells from transport by train and detention in transit cells from 02/02/2019 to 23/02/2019; 0.3 sq. m. of personal space; overcrowding, passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet | 8,500 | |
22/03/2019 | Vitaliy Fedorovich KARPOV 1985 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Tsentralnyy District Court of Tyumen 10/01/2019;
Tyumen Regional Court 26/02/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
27/03/2019 | Aleksandr Lazarevich ARTYUSHKIN 1986 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Surgut Town Court the Khanty-Mansy Region 11/10/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
27/03/2019 | Aleksey Sergeyevich KOZHARIN 1974 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Cherepovets Town Court, Vologda Regional Court 10/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
29/03/2019 | Aleksandr Aleksandrovich SEMENOV 1984 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 10/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
29/03/2019 | Anastasiya Andreyevna KORNEVA 1998 | Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna Khanty-Mansiysk | Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen 18/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
05/04/2019 | Dmitriy Maksimovich KARAPATS 1979 |
| Smolninskiy District Court of St Petersburg 15/02/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
02/04/2019 | Sergey Aleksandrovich MITSKEVICH 1991 | Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich Nizhniy Tagil | Ordzhonikidzevskiy District Court of Yekaterinburg; Sverdlovsk Regional Court 18/01/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
18/04/2019 | Aleksandr Sergeyevich BYRKA 1986
| Koneva Nina Filippovna Khanty-Mansiysk | Leninskiy District Court of Tyumen 26/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
22/04/2019 | Vitaliy Sergeyevich SIPYAGIN 1987 |
| Inta Town Court of the Komi Republic 02/04/2018 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport by train and van from the pre-trial detention facility to the temporary police ward in another town to take part in the investigative actions; proceedings are still pending; transport on-going; insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light, passive smoking | 8,500 | |
15/04/2019 | Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich KORYTKO 1986 |
| Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Orenburg 30/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
21/04/2019 | Roman Yevgenyevich NOVITSKIY 1992 |
| Nefteyuganskiy District Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region 13/11/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
18/04/2019 | Yevgeniy TABAK 1995 | Koneva Nina Filippovna Khanty-Mansiysk | Nefteyuganskiy District Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region 16/01/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
18/04/2019 | Rustam Sultanovich GORBAKOV 1987 | Magomadov Andarbek Sharanovich Moscow | Gagarinskiy District Court of Moscow 08/04/2019 |
| 7,500 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
