Lexploria

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF GULAMOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 27425/19 and 10 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

27 October 2022

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

In the case of Gulamov and Others v. Russia,

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

Darian Pavli , President,

Andreas Zünd ,

Frédéric Krenc , judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having deliberated in private on 6 October 2022,

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 under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention. 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 applicants complained 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

“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 Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, in guaranteeing to detained persons a right to institute proceedings to challenge the lawfulness of their detention, also proclaims their right, following the institution of such proceedings, to a speedy judicial decision concerning the lawfulness of detention and the ordering of its termination if it proves unlawful (see Baranowski v. Poland , no. 28358/95, § 68, ECHR 2000-III). Where an individual’s personal liberty is at stake, the Court has very strict standards concerning the State’s compliance with the requirement of speedy review of the lawfulness of detention (see, for example, Mamedova v. Russia , no. 7064/05, § 96, 1 June 2006, where the length of appeal proceedings lasting, inter alia , twenty-six days, was found to be in breach of the “speediness” requirement of Article 5 § 4).

8. In the leading case of Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154 ‑ 58, 22 May 2012, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

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 appeal proceedings for the review of the lawfulness of the applicants’ detention, as set out in the table appended below, cannot be considered compatible with the requirements set out in Article 5 § 4 of the Convention.

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

11. In applications nos. 27425/19, 20474/20, 9447/21 and 35116/21, the applicants 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 Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), concerning detention in a metal cage during court hearings; Dirdizov v. Russia , no. 41461/10, §§ 101-11, 27 November 2012, as regards lengthy and unjustified pre-trial detention; and Tomov and Others v. Russia , nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, related to inadequate conditions of transport.

12. In applications nos. 44783/20, 45602/20 and 9447/21, the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

13. 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.

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), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

16. The Court further 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,

(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 27 October 2022, 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 5 § 4 of the Convention

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

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

First-instance court and date of detention order

Appeal instance court and date of decision

Procedural deficiencies

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros) [1]

27425/19

07/05/2019

Denis Bakhodirzhonovich GULAMOV

1986Urychev Aleksandr Vitalyevich

Chelyabinsk

Metalurgicheskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk:

detention order of 19/12/2018;

detention order of 07/05/2019;

detention order of 13/11/2019

Chelyabinsk Regional Court:

appeal on 31/01/2019;

appeal on 21/06/2019;

appeal on 26/12/2019

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - numerous occasions of transport by van between the detention facilities and the courthouse between 19/12/2018 and 21/02/2020; 0.3 sq. m of personal space; lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light

1,500

44446/19

31/07/2019

Ilnar Ilyasovich ZYALILOV

1980Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court

04/04/2019

Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court

17/05/2019

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

47575/19

26/08/2019

Farid Shavkatovich KRYYEV

1965Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court

04/04/2019

Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court

17/05/2019

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

20474/20

28/03/2020

Dmitriy Igorevich DEDOVICH

1986Golub Olga Viktorovna

Suzemka

Moscow City Court

04/10/2019

Chertanovskiy District Court of Moscow 30/10/2019

First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction

07/11/2019

Moscow City Court 19/12/2019

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - Chertanovo District Court of Moscow

from 30/10/2019 to 09/12/2019

judgment date - 09/12/2019,

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of confinement in a metal cage.

8,000

44783/20

15/04/2021

Mikhail Yuryevich DUDOCHKIN

1984Timchenko Denis Aleksandrovich

Moscow

Zheleznogorsk Town Court 10/12/2020

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 11/03/2021

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

45602/20

20/08/2020

Aleksey Leonidovich UDOVIK

1972Arkhangelsk Regional Court, 19/06/2020

Second Appeal Court, 04/08/2020

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

9447/21

26/01/2021

Artur Vaganovich AKOBYAN

1981Bezrukova Kseniya Yevgenyevna

Moscow

Moscow Regional Court, 11/08/2020

Moscow Regional Court, 14/12/2020

Moscow Regional Court, 05/04/2021

Moscow Regional Court, 07/06/2021

First Appeal Court, 09/12/2020

First Appeal Court, 17/03/2021

First Appeal Court, 02/06/2021

First Appeal Court, 26/07/2021

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - from 07/06/2019 – pending;

Krasnogorsk Town Court of Moscow Region, Moscow Regional Court, Basmannyy District Court of Moscow, Moscow City Court, First Appeal Court:

fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; collective detention orders; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint.

3,700

11144/21

29/01/2021

Kunay Avaz kyzy ABBASOVA

1982Zubitskiy Pavel Nikolayevich

Moscow

Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, 18/08/2020

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, 17/09/2020

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

15363/21

02/03/2021

Stanislav Mikhaylovich KULAGIN

1980Panferov Sergey Viktorovich

Moscow

Basmannyy District Court of Moscow, 10/12/2020

Moscow City Court, 03/02/2021

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

19494/21

17/03/2021

Yaroslav Vladimirovich SUMBAYEV

1990Shukhardin Valeriy Vladimirovich

Moscow

Moscow City Court, 19/08/2020

Moscow City Court, 22/10/2020

First Appellate Court, 13/10/2020

First Appellate Court, 26/11/2020

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-58,

22 May 2012)

500

35116/21

24/06/2021

Nikolay Nikolayevich PASMENKO

1976Krikun Leonid Leonidovich

St Petersburg

Toropetskiy District Court of the Tver Region, 12/01/2018

Toropetskiy District Court of the Tver Region, 25/12/2020

Toropetskiy District Court of the Tver Region, 27/01/2021

Tver Regional Court, 09/03/2021

Tver Regional Court, 22/03/2021

Tver Regional Court, 01/04/2021

lack of speediness of review of detention ( Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03,

§§ 154-158,

22 May 2012)

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - Toropetskiy District Court of the Tver Region - 25/12/2020 - 12/08/2021.

8,000

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.