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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> MIKHAYLOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 27315/19 (Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Second Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 92 (01 February 2024) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2024/92.html Cite as: [2024] ECHR 92 |
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SECOND SECTION
CASE OF MIKHAYLOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 27315/19 and 50 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
1 February 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Mikhaylov 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 11 January 2024,
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 the 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 had an effective domestic remedy in respect of their grievance under Article 3, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention, which reads 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 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. In view of the above findings under Article 3 of the Convention, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with the applicants' complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (for similar approach see Valyuzhenich v. Russia, no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).
122. 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 Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, concerning inadequate conditions of post-conviction detention; Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103-08, 22 May 2012, and Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, concerning inadequate conditions of transport and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect).
13. 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 it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
(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 1 February 2024, 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 | Start date | End date | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
20/06/2019 | Vladimir Aleksandrovich MIKHAYLOV 1976 |
| Ingodinskiy District Court of Chita 08/02/2019 | 07/10/2018 | 08/02/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - single-prisoner cubicles in police vans between 07/10/2018 and 08/02/2019, 0.6 sq. m per person, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, passive smoking | 8,500 | |
06/11/2019 | Nikita Vitalyevich TURKIN 1990 |
| Abakan Town Court of the Khakassia Republic 12/07/2019 | 04/06/2019 | 12/07/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transit cell, from 04/06/2019 to 12/07/2019, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 8,500 | |
18/05/2019 | Eldar Igorevich PENKO 1991 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Odintsovo Town Court 28/11/2018
Moscow Regional Court 22/01/2019 | 18/12/2017
22/01/2019 | 28/11/2018
22/01/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
16/05/2019 | Roman Yevgenyevich DORMIDONTOV 1990 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Kanavinskiy District Court of Nizhniy Novgorod 25/03/2019 | 06/03/2019 | 25/03/2019 | 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 - van, transit cell, on a number of occasions from 10/08/2018 to 25/03/2019, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient natural light, uncomfortable position during transfers in view of a small size of transport "glass"/ bio-toilet, no or restricted access to toilet | 8,500 | |
24/08/2019 | Andrey Aleksandrovich MARTUS 1986 |
| Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 04/04/2019 | 12/12/2018 | 04/04/2019 | 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 - van, multiple roundtrips from SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk to the Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, between11/12/2018 and 29/10/2019, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light | 8,500 | |
13/05/2019 | Vitaliy Gennadyevich USKOV 1972 |
| Volgograd Regional Court 17/04/2019 | 17/04/2019 | 17/04/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
23/05/2019 | Sergey Aleksandrovich KUPAVTSEV 1989 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Barnaul Rubtsovsk Town Court 11/01/2019 | 26/10/2017 | 11/01/2019 | 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 - transport by van from the detention facility to take part in investigative actions or to attend court hearings; numerous occasions of transport, overcrowding, inadequate temperature; from 26/10/2017 to 11/01/2019 | 8,500 | |
27/05/2019 | Roman Petrovich PAVLENKO 1989 |
| Vizinga District Court
| 19/02/2019 | 22/02/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - numerous occasions of transport from SIZO-1 Syktyvkar to Vizinga District Court, van; from 15/06/2018 to 22/02/2019; single-occupancy cubicle, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet | 8,500 | |
04/06/2019 | Aleksandr Aleksandrovich SRIBNYY 1987 | Koneva Nina Filippovna Khanty-Mansiysk | Nizhnevartovsk Town Court of Khanty-Mansy Autonomous Region - Yugra 21/03/2019 | 29/07/2018 | 21/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
03/06/2019 | German Romayevich SHOKUYEV 1993 | Egle Denis Sergeyevich Krasnoyarsk | Zheleznodorozhnyy District Court of Chita; Zabaykalskiy Regional Court
| 22/07/2015 | 31/01/2019 | 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 - transport by van on a number of occasions between the detention facility and the courthouse from 22/07/2015 to 31/01/2019; 0.25 sq. m of personal space; restricted access to toilet | 8,500 | |
31/05/2019 | Ivan Vladimirovich MAKARENKO 2000 |
| Surgut Town Court 31/01/2019 | 24/10/2018 | 31/01/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
08/06/2019 | Sergey Nikolayevich KOZIN 1983 |
| Kolomna Town Court of the Moscow Region 11/12/2018 | 07/08/2017 | 11/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
06/06/2019 | Sergey Andreyevich KANEV 1993 |
| Ezhvinskiy District Court of Syktyvkar of the Komi Republic 10/12/2018 | 19/07/2018 | 10/12/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
17/06/2019 | Mikhail Yevgenyevich NIKONOV 1976 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Moskovskiy District Court of Nizhniy Novgorod, Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 20/03/2019 | 16/10/2018 | 20/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
08/07/2019 | Yevgeniy Anatolyevich VERESOV 1982 |
| Petrozavodsk Town Court
Segezha Town Court of the Karelia Republic
| 17/06/2019
26/06/2019 | 17/06/2019
02/07/2019 | 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 - train, on a number of occasions between 13/05/2019 and 12/06/2019; overcrowding; passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to toilet | 8,500 | |
27/06/2019 | Sergey Vladimirovich KONOVALOV 1995 | Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich Nizhniy Tagil | Novouralsk Town Court of Sverdlovsk Region, Sverdlovsk Regional Court 22/03/2019 | 18/12/2018 | 22/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
08/07/2019 | Andrey Andreyevich TYUKAVKIN 1984 |
| Priargunsk District Court of the Zabaykalskiy Region 14/02/2019 | 11/10/2018 | 14/02/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
08/07/2019 | Alina Sergeyevna KONDRASHOVA 1997 |
| Ezhvinskiy District Court of Syktyvkar 29/05/2019 | 09/02/2018 | 29/05/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
20/11/2019 | Pavel Andreyevich BAKSHEYEV 1990 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 29/08/2019 | 27/12/2018 | 29/08/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
14/07/2019 | Nikita Valeryevich YARMOLENKO 1998 | Sergeyeva Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tyumen | Surgut Town Court 22/04/2019 | 14/09/2018 | 22/04/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
14/07/2019 | Ilya Stanislavovich KALINOV 1996 | Sergeyeva Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tyumen | Surgut Town Court 22/04/2019 | 14/09/2018 | 22/04/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
18/07/2019 | Ramis Zinatullovich ALLAGULOV 1988 | Sergeyeva Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tyumen | Tobolsk District Court of the Tyumen Region 25/03/2019 | 30/10/2018 | 25/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
09/07/2019 | Aris Nugzariyevich BARATOV 1988 |
| Tsentralnyy District Court of Tyumen 26/02/2019
| 30/11/2018 | 26/02/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
22/07/2019 | Vladislav Vitalyevich SUGAKO 1995 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Tsentralnyy District Court of Samara 19/03/2019 | 05/12/2018 | 19/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
11/10/2019 | Yevgeniy Borisovich YEROFEYEV 1988 |
| Pokhvistnevskiy District Court 19/07/2019 | 19/07/2019 | 19/07/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
15/01/2020 | Aleksey Igorevich BUSHKOVSKIY 1972 | Belinskaya Marina Aleksandrovna St Petersburg | Gatchina Town Cout of the Leningrad Region; Leningrad Regional Court; St Petersburg City Court | 10/11/2016 | 03/10/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
26/07/2019 | Oleg Vladimirovich MAYEV 1964 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Prikubanskiy District Court of Krasnodar 31/01/2019 | 21/09/2017 | 31/01/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
06/08/2019 | Aleksandr Sergeyevich ZHARIKOV 1989 |
| Vorkuta Town Court 18/07/2019 | 07/12/2018 | 18/07/2019 | 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 - train, from 29/05/2019 to 13/07/2019, 0.4 sq. m of personal space, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, not provided with warm meals, passive smoking, no ventilation, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to toilet | 8,500 | |
13/08/2019 | Svetlana Yevgenyevna MORAVSKAYA 1973 | Sapov Yevgeniy Yuryevich Samara | Oktyabrskiy District Court of Samara
| 15/11/2018 | 17/08/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
15/08/2019 | Aleksandr Gennadyevich MAKARUSHKIN 1972 | Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich Nizhniy Tagil | Verkhnesaldinskiy District Court of Verkhnyaya Salda; Sverdlovsk Regional Court 19/02/2019 | 23/08/2018 | 19/02/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
20/08/2019 | Vladimir Vladimirovich KATKOV 1992 | Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich Nizhniy Tagil | Serovskiy District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region; Sverdlovsk Regional Court 18/06/2019 | 22/11/2018 | 18/06/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
20/08/2019 | Vitaliy Vladimirovich KATKOV 1989 | Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich Nizhniy Tagil | Serovskiy District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region; Sverdlovsk Regional Court (by way of videoconference) 18/06/2019 | 12/10/2018 | 18/06/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
07/08/2019 | Viktor Nikolayevich RADOV 1980 |
| Ezhvinskiy District Court of Syktyvkar 29/04/2019 | 29/04/2019 | 29/04/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - train, from 07/05/2019 to 08/05/2019, overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places,
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 8,500 | |
22/10/2019 | Vitaliy Vladimirovich SERBAYEV 1971 |
| Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Leninskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
| 09/10/2017 | 23/04/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
29/08/2019 | Roman Sergeyevich RUSSKIKH 1992 |
| Lesosibirsk Town Court of the Krasnoyarsk Region 26/03/2019
| 11/10/2018 | 26/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
26/08/2019 | Dmitriy Aleksandrovich LOGUNOV 1984 |
| Ezhvinskiy District Court of Syktyvkar, Komi Republic 05/06/2019 | 05/06/2019 | 05/06/2019 | 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 - single-occupancy compartment in a van from 05/06/2019 to 16/09/2019; lack of space; 0.35 sq. m of personal space | 8,500 | |
04/08/2019 | Vladimir Vladimirovich GORAK 2000 | Sergeyeva Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tyumen | Surgut Town Court 04/03/2019 | 28/12/2018 | 04/03/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
30/09/2019 | Artem Yuryevich ALEKSANDROV 1987 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk
| 07/03/2019 | 29/07/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
09/09/2019 | Yelena Nikolayevna VOLKOVA 1989 |
| Perm Regional Court (by means of video link from settlement colony no. 26 Perm Region) 17/09/2019 | 21/03/2019 | 17/09/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
12/09/2019 | Sergey Aleksandrovich PURGIN 1986 |
| Berezovskiy District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Region 12/07/2019 | 27/04/2018 | 12/07/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
28/01/2020 | Ruslan Nikolayevich SHATKO 1988 |
| Zheleznodorozhnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Regional Court (by way of video conference from a metal cage in the detention facility) 12/11/2019 | 08/01/2019 | 12/11/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
19/09/2019 | Sergey Aleksandrovich PISHCHUK 1968 |
| Novosibirsk District Court of the Novosibirsk Region, Novosibirsk Regional Court, Tsentralnyy District Court of Novosibirsk 21/08/2019 | 26/05/2017 | 21/08/2019 | 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 - inhuman conditions in vans in single-occupancy compartments of 0.3 sq. m and in convoy cells between 26/05/2017 -16/09/2019, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no ventilation, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking | 8,500 | |
02/10/2019 | Artem Viktorovich SALTANOV 1975 | Matytsin Igor Viktorovich Krasnoyarsk | Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 26/04/2019 | 25/02/2019 | 26/04/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
02/10/2019 | Yuriy Aleksandrovich ANDREYEV 1976 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 13/06/2019 | 23/01/2019 | 13/06/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
07/10/2019 | Dmitriy Yuryevich ZEMLYANUKHIN 1973 |
| Justice of the Peace, Gornyatskiy District, Vorkuta 20/05/2019 | 17/04/2019 | 20/05/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - train, from 29/07/2019 to 31/07/2019, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, overcrowding, poor quality of potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of ventilation;
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 after conviction - in IK-19 Komi Republic, 31/07/2019, pending as of 16/09/2022; 2 sq. m. of personal space; lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, constant electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, poor quality of potable water, overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower
| 15,100 | |
12/10/2019 | Igor Vladimirovich MAZHARA 1990 | Sergeyeva Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tyumen | Surgut Town Court 15/04/2019 | 29/08/2018 | 15/04/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
08/10/2019 | Pavel Alekseyevich YEREMEYEV 1992 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Moscovskiy District Court of Cheboksary; Video link from SIZO-1, Chuvashia Republic 21/05/2019
Supreme Court of the Chuvashia Republic; Video link from SIZO-1, Chuvashia Republic 30/07/2019 | 01/04/2019
30/07/2019 | 21/05/2019
30/07/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
12/10/2019 | Aleksey Igorevich NASTALSKIY 1989 |
| Megion Town Court of the Khanty-Many Autonomous Region - Yugra 01/07/2019 | 06/07/2018 | 01/07/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
21/10/2019 | Ilya Dmitriyevich SOLOVAROV 1994 | Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich Nizhniy Tagil | Serovskiy District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region, Sverdlovsk Regional Court 21/05/2019 | 04/05/2018 | 21/05/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
06/02/2020 | Vyacheslav Vyacheslavovich KUZNETSOV 1997 | Isayev Ayndi Khamzatovich Krasnoyarsk | Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 07/10/2019 | 06/08/2019 | 07/10/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - van and detention in a convoy cell at the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court between 06/08/2019 and 17/12/2019 with 0.2 sq. m per inmate, inadequate temperature, overcrowding, no ventilation, mouldy or dirty cell, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food
| 8,500 | |
02/12/2019 | Anton Valeryevich VNUKOV 1998 |
| Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk; Zheleznodorozhnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk | 21/09/2018 | 06/09/2019 |
| 7,500 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
