Lexploria

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF VASILYEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

( Application s no s . 19289/17 and 22 others –

see appended list )

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

29 April 2021

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

In the case of Vasilyev and Others v. Russia ,

The European Court of Human Rights ( Third Section ), sitting as a Committee composed of:

Darian Pavli, President, Dmitry Dedov , Peeter Roosma , judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina , Acting Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having deliberated in private on 8 April 2021 ,

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 applicant s and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

4 . The applicant s complained of the permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities and lack of an effective remedy in this respect . In some applications complaints stemming from the same set of facts were also communicated to the Government.

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 applicants complained about detention under permanent video surveillance in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities and about the lack of an effective remedy in that respect . They relied on Articles 8 and 13 of the Convention , which read, in so far as relevant, as follows:

Article 8

“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private ... life ... .

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”

Article 13

“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.”

7 . The Court has already established, in an earlier case against Russia, that the national legal framework governing the placement of detainees under permanent video surveillance in penal institutions falls short of the standards set out in Article 8 of the Convention (see Gorlov and Others v. Russia (nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019). In Gorlov and Others , the Court summed up the general principles concerning the detainees ’ right to respect for private life reiterating that placing a person under permanent video surveillance whilst in detention was to be regarded as a serious interference with the individual ’ s right to respect for his or her privacy (ibid., §§ 81-82). It has further concluded that the national law (1) cannot be regarded as being sufficiently clear, precise or detailed to have afforded appropriate protection against arbitrary interference by the authorities with the detainees ’ right to respect of their private life (ibid., §§ 97-98) and (2) does not presuppose any balancing exercise or enable an individual to obtain a judicial review of the proportionality of his or her placement under permanent video surveillance to the vested interests in securing his or her privacy (ibid., § 108).

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 these complaints. It considers, regard being had to the case-law cited above, that in the instant case the placement of the applicants under permanent video surveillance when confined to their cells in pre-trial and post-conviction detention facilities was not “in accordance with law” and that they did not have at their disposal an effective remedy for their complaints in that respect.

9 . These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 8 and 13 of the Convention .

10 . In applications nos. 19289/17, 32608/17, 34285/19 and 56069/19, the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

11 . The Court has examined the applications 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, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

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

12 . 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.”

13 . Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Gorlov and Others , cited above, with further references, § 120, which imposed on the respondent State a legal obligation, under Article 46 of the Convention, to implement, under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers, such measures as they consider appropriate to secure the right of the applicants and other persons in their position to respect of their private life), the Court considers that the finding of a violation constitutes a sufficient just satisfaction in the present case.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT , UNANIMOUSLY,

Done in English, and notified in writing on 29 April 2021 , pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

{signature_p_2}

Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli

Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Articles 8 and 13 of the Convention

( permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities and lack of an effective remedy in that respect )

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant ’ s name

Year of birth

Representative ’ s name and location

Detention facility

Period of detention

Specific circumstances

19289/17

17/02/2017

Nikita Anatolyevich VASILYEV

1981Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region

21/10/2015 - 06/12/2018

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators

32608/17

18/04/2017

Roman Anzorovich LENGAMO

1986Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region

07/12/2015 - 02/06/2017

opposite-sex operators

62419/17

09/08/2017

Yuriy Nikolayevich KRIVONOGOV

1982Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

IK-15 Krasnoyarsk Region

12/04/2011 - 12/04/2017

opposite-sex operators

68898/17

10/08/2017

Aleksey Viktorovich POPOV

1989Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

IK-15 Krasnoyarsk Region

22/06/2012 - 16/02/2017

opposite-sex operators

69015/17

29/08/2017

Aleksandr Andreyevich MUKHIN

1990Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

Transit Detention Facility IK-6 Krasnoyarsk;

SIZO-6 and SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk

23/08/2016 - 06/03/2017

detention in different cells with video surveillance

3703/18

29/12/2017

Shota Ivanovich TATRISHVILI

1981Gavrilitsa Irina Aleksandrovna

Krasnoyarsk

IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

March 2012 - 06/08/2017

video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room, detention in different cells with video surveillance

3707/18

29/12/2017

Viktor Aleksandrovich YANKE

1978Gavrilitsa Irina Aleksandrovna

Krasnoyarsk

IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region

01/05/2012 - 04/08/2017

opposite-sex operators, video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room

41929/18

20/08/2018

Petr Petrovich VOLKOV

1986Miller Irina Vladimirovna

Kansk

IK-15 Krasnoyarsk Region

31/05/2016 - 21/03/2018

opposite-sex operators

4885/19

09/01/2019

Nikolay Anatolyevich KUZNETSOV

1972IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

11/10/2018 - pending

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators

5573/19

22/12/2018

Kurbonali Amindzhonovich SAIDOV

1978Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

IK-15 Krasnoyarsk Region

01/04/2016 - 28/06/2018

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators

8876/19

24/04/2019

Aleksey Olegovich BALCHIY

1985IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

27/02/2018 - 16/12/2019

opposite-sex operators

24473/19

26/04/2019

Yevgeniy Andreyevich KOLESOV

1999Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna

Strasbourg

IK-2 Vladimir Region

18/01/2017 - 26/10/2018

opposite-sex operators

34074/19

20/08/2018

Kallistrat Aleksandrovich YEMANAKOV

1985IZ-75/1 Chita,

Zabaykalskiy Region

14/08/2016 - 21/02/2018

opposite-sex operators, detention in different cells with video surveillance

34285/19

15/06/2019

Yevgeniy Sergeyevich KOSOLAPOV

1985Golub Olga Viktorovna

Suzemka

IVS Buynaksk

17/12/2018 - 29/12/2018

detention in different cells with video surveillance

50289/19

05/09/2019

Viktor Yegorovich MERZLYAKOV

1962IK-6 Orenburg Region

22/01/2001 - 15/03/2019

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators, video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room

52292/19

20/09/2019

Sergey Sergeyevich KOZLOVSKIY

1992IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

05/11/18 - pending

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators

56069/19

13/10/2019

Dzhon Surenovich ZIRAKYAN

1985SIZO-1 Noginsk ,

Moscow Region

15/01/2018 - 24/05/2019

opposite-sex operators, detention in different cells with video surveillance

60610/19

09/11/2019

Yuliana Nikolayevna PARAMONOVA

1982Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich

Syktyvkar

IZ-1, IK-31, Komi Republic

16/04/2019 - 16/08/2019

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators

3214/20

18/12/2019

Georgiy Alekseyevich POZDNYSHEV

1980IK-31 Komi Republic

10/07/2017 - 18/10/2019

detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators

5776/20

13/12/2019

Aleksey Sergeyevich FEOKTISTOV

1979IZ-1 Komi Republic

01/05/2019 - 15/01/2020

opposite-sex operators, detention in different cells with video surveillance

8468/20

22/01/2020

Sergey Sergeyevich KOZLOV

1981LIU-37 Krasnoyarsk Region

11/12/2018 - 26/08/2019

opposite-sex operators, detention in different cells with video surveillance

11742/20

18/02/2020

Denis Nikolayevich PETROV

1974Settlement colony-51 Krasnoyarsk Region

06/11/2019 -15/11/2019

opposite-sex operators

20981/20

09/04/2020

Vasiliy Arkadyevich BOGATYREV

1959IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

since 2011 and pending

opposite-sex operators