CASE OF PANKRATOV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
Doc ref: 45358/20;53153/20;9916/21;25401/21;33469/21;36713/21;37881/21;41048/21;43045/21 • ECHR ID: 001-220159
Document date: October 27, 2022
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FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF PANKRATOV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 45358/20 and 8 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 Pankratov and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström , President,
Ivana Jelić ,
Kateřina Šimáčková , 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 Ukraine 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 Ukrainian 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 excessive length of criminal proceedings and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. In application no. 53153/20 the applicant 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 principally that the length of the criminal proceedings in question had been incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention, which read as follows:
Article 6 § 1
“In the determination of ... any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by [a] ... tribunal...”
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 reiterates that the reasonableness of the length of proceedings must be assessed in the light of the circumstances of the case and with reference to the following criteria: the complexity of the case, the conduct of the applicants and the relevant authorities and what was at stake for the applicants in the dispute (see, among many other authorities, Pélissier and Sassi v. France [GC], no. 25444/94, § 67, ECHR 1999 ‑ II, and Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000 ‑ VII).
8. In the leading case of Nechay v. Ukraine (no. 15360/10, 1 July 2021) 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 justifying the overall length of the proceedings at the national level. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the length of the proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement.
10. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 and of Article 13 of the Convention.
12. In application no. 53153/20, the applicant submitted another complaint under Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention which also raised issues, 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 Ivanov v. Ukraine , (no. 15007/02, 7 December 2006).
13. In application no. 53153/20, the applicant raised further complaints under various Articles of the Convention.
14. The Court 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 application no. 53153/20 must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
15. 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.”
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Bevz v. Ukraine, no. 7307/05, § 52, 18 June 2009), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
17. 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 Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention
(excessive length of criminal proceedings and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Start of proceedings
End of proceedings
Total length
Levels of jurisdiction
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage per applicant
(in euros) [1]
45358/20
08/10/2020
Igor Sergiyovych PANKRATOV
1967Kulbach Sergiy Oleksandrovych
Limoges
14/04/2017
pending
More than 5 years and 5 months and 2 days 2 levels of jurisdiction
800
53153/20
27/11/2020
Iryna Nazarivna MUZYKA
1959Bem Markiyan Volodymyrovych
Kyiv
29/04/2010
pending
More than 12 years and 4 months and 18 days
1 level of jurisdiction
Prot. 4 Art. 2 (1) - excessive length of obligation not to abscond
- the applicant has been under the undertaking not to abscond as of 13/07/2010, for more than 10 years and 3 months
7,000
9916/21
03/02/2021
Roman Myronovych LEVYTSKYY
1967Mytsyk Oleg Volodymyrovych
Lviv
23/08/2006
pending
More than 16 years and 24 days
1 level of jurisdiction
7,800
25401/21
29/04/2021
Volodymyr Stanislavovych SHYNDERUK
1970Sobyna Pavlo Mykolayovych
Okhtyrka
31/12/2014
pending
More than 7 years and 8 months and 16 days
2 levels of jurisdiction
2,100
33469/21
18/06/2021
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych PETRENKO
1980
02/07/2007
pending
More than 15 years and 2 months and 14 days
3 levels of jurisdiction
5,400
36713/21
10/07/2021
Grygoriy Sergiyovych SAVCHENKO
1987Sobyna Pavlo Mykolayovych
Okhtyrka
25/05/2013
pending
More than 9 years and 3 months and 22 days
2 levels of jurisdiction
2,400
37881/21
19/07/2021
Yuriy Vyacheslavovych SEMIOSHKO
1985Ulyanov Oleg Vitaliyovych
Kyiv
09/02/2018
pending
More than 4 years and 7 months and 7 days
1 level of jurisdiction
1,500
41048/21
04/08/2021
Igor Viktorovych BLOSHKO
1969Sulyma Vadym Volodymyrovych
Mykolayiv
20/05/2011
pending
More than 11 years and 3 months and 27 days
2 levels of jurisdiction
3,600
43045/21
18/08/2021
Vyacheslav Vasylyovych SHETELYA
1981
27/01/2009
pending
More than 13 years and 7 months and 20 days
2 levels of jurisdiction
5,400
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.