Lexploria

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF ZOKIROV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

( Application s no s . 3494/17 and 24 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 Zokirov 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 having been subjected to permanent video surveillance in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities and about unavailability of an effective domestic remedy in this respect .

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 application no. 19886/19, the applicant also raised complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention about conditions of his detention in a correctional colony.

11 . The Court has examined the application 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.

Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli

Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article s 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

3494/17

25/11/2016

Rustam Shamsidinovich ZOKIROV

1977Gavrilitsa Irina Aleksandrovna

Krasnoyarsk

IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region

04/03/2010 - 19/07/2016

surveillance by female operators

33666/17

29/09/2017

Aleksandr Viktorovich YURCHENKO

1969IK-34 OIK-36 Krasnoyarsk Region

1/06/2015 - pending

opposite-sex operators

73556/17

01/10/2017

Vadim Viktorovich KOTOV

1977Golub Olga Viktorovna

Suzemka

IK-1 Bryansk Region

14/10/2015 - 12/07/2017

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

491/18

20/12/2017

Sergey Aleksandrovich BENEDYCHUK

1962IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region,

LIU-37 Krasnoyarsk Region,

LIU-32 Krasnoyarsk Region

17/10/2013 - 20/06/2017

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

4915/18

28/12/2017

Mikhail Andreyevich POPOV

1987IK-42 Krasnoyarsk Region

29/11/2016 - 02/08/2017

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

14240/18

13/03/2018

Bulat Insanbekovich TATAYEV

1974IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region

07/11/2016 - 27/09/2017

opposite-sex operators

16198/18

17/03/2018

Stanislav Vasilyevich CHERNOV

1984IK-17 and IK-15 Krasnoyarsk Region

06/03/2012 - 18/09/2017

opposite-sex operators

17877/18

28/03/2018

Ivan Anatolyevich ALEMPIADIN

1984Prison no. 2 Krasnoyarsk Region

07/07/2017 - 28/11/2017

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

30314/18

07/06/2018

Pavel Leonidovich GONCHAROV

1988Egle Denis Sergeyevich

Krasnoyarsk

SIZO-1 Chita and PFRSI in IK-5 Chita Zabaykalskiy Region

29/05/2014 - 21/12/2017

31/07/2018 - 22/02/2019

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

30718/18

18/09/2018

Oleg Timofeyevich LUKYANOV

1965IK-34 Krasnoyarsk Region

14/02/2013 - 31/08/2018

opposite-sex operators

33974/18

08/02/2018

Maksim Vladimirovich GURYANOV

1986IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region

23/10/2008 - 11/08/2017

opposite-sex operators

43162/18

13/08/2018

Nurbiy Skhatbiyevich NAGOYEV

1979IZ-1 Krasnoyarsk Region,

IK-6 Krasnoyarsk Region

01/12/2006 - 23/11/2018

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

50749/18

08/10/2018

Viktor Pavlovich TENYATNIKOV

1965IZ-5 Krasnoyarsk Region,

IK-6 Krasnoyarsk Region

05/06/2017 - 09/04/2018

09/04/2018 - 26/04/2018

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

51976/18

25/01/2019

Andrey Anatolyevich SHESTAKOV

1968IZ-2 Murmansk Region

27/07/2018 - 10/12/2018

detention in different cells with video surveillance

52014/18

12/10/2018

Vladimir Yuryevich NEMCHENKO

1989IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

16/03/2018 - 16/06/2018

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

12252/19

28/01/2019

Aleksey Aleksandrovich FEDOTOV

1988Prison Krasnoyarsk Region

19/05/2016 - pending

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

13556/19

28/08/2019

Aleksey Vladimirovich PRISHVA

1984IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region

15/01/2019 - pending

opposite-sex operators

14336/19

15/02/2019

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich KIRYUKHIN

1984IZ-24/1 Krasnoyarsk Region

11/01/2016 - 05/09/2018

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

16966/19

12/04/2019

Vladislav Nikolayevich RUZHOVICH

1975IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region brigade no. 7,

IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region assembly cell and cell no. 9 SHIZO

18/01/2019 - pending

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

19886/19

25/10/2017

Vyacheslav Anatolyevich CHERNYAYEV

1966IK-34 Krasnoyarsk Region

14/02/2013 - 09/08/2017

opposite-sex operators

37974/19

13/09/2019

Sergey Sergeyevich KHUSAINOV

1998IK-31 Krasnoyarsk Region,

IK-43 Krasnoyarsk Region

28/03/2019 - 28/09/2019

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

38535/19

19/06/2019

Vladimir Mikhaylovich MARKIN

1972OIK-40 KP-39 Krasnoyarsk Region

08/06/2018 - 26/02/2019

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

2084/20

15/12/2019

Eduard Petrovich PYATKEVICH

1972Settlement colony no. 6 Adygeya Republic

25/10/2018 - 06/02/2020

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

14478/20

03/03/2020

Anna Dmitriyevna KHARITONOVA

1982Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich

Syktyvkar

IK-31 Komi Republic

10/10/2019-25/10/2019

opposite-sex operators

27964/20

08/04/2020

Vsevolod Sergeyevich LOSEV

1987Tretyak Tatyana Aleksandrovna

Gelendzhik

IVS Gelendzhik

more than 210 days between 23/11/2016 and 01/11/2019 (the applicant was regularly transferred to IVS)

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