THIRD SECTION

CASE OF KOLBAYA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 75645/14 and 7 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

13 October 2022

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

In the case of Kolbaya 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 15 September 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 inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. 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 Government submitted a unilateral declaration in case no. 2512/18 which did not offer a sufficient basis for finding that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention does not require the Court to continue its examination of the cases (Article 37 § 1 in fine). The Court rejects the Government’s request to strike the applications out and will accordingly pursue its examination of the case (see Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no.26307/95, § 75, ECHR 2003‑VI).

7. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 3

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

8. The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions during transport. The details of the applicants’ transport are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case ‑ law regarding cramped and defective conditions in the detention and transit of prisoners (see, for instance, Khudoyorov v. Russia , no. 6847/02, §§ 118 ‑ 120, ECHR 2005 X (extracts), and Starokadomskiy v. Russia , no. 42239/02, §§ 53 ‑ 60, 31 July 2008). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see MurÅ¡ić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 122 ‑ 41, ECHR 2016, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149 ‑ 59, 10 January 2012).

9. In the leading cases of Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103-08, 22 May 2012, and Tomov and Others v. Russia , nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, 9 April 2019, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

10. 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’ conditions of detention during their transport were inadequate.

11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.

12. Some applicants submitted additional 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 Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154-58, 22 May 2012, concerning the lack of a speedy review of the detention matters; Tomov and Others , cited above, §§ 92-156, concerning lack of an effective remedy in respect of the complaint about the conditions of transport; and Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, §§ 122-39, ECHR 2014 (extracts), concerning placement in a metal cage in the courtroom).

13. In applications nos. 75645/14, 54075/16, 31994/17, 81336/17, 1825/19, 33226/19 and 26231/20, the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

14. 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.

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, Pukhachev and Zaretskiy v. Russia, nos. 17494/16 and 29203/16, 16 November 2017, and Svinarenko and Slyadnev , cited above) the Court considers 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 during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 13 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 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention during transport)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Means of transport

Start and end date

Sq. m per inmate

Specific grievances

Other complaints under well-established case-law

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

(in euros) [1]

75645/14

20/10/2014

Aleksandr Dzhoniyevich KOLBAYA

1985Marina Aleksandrovna Belinskaya

St Petersburg

van

22/09/2014 to

22/09/2014

lack of fresh air, transportation time

4 hours, inadequate temperature, 40 detainees in a van, overcrowding

1,000

54075/16

30/08/2016

Marina Vladimirovna GERASIMOVA

1962Konstantin Yuryevich Yeliseyev

Samara

van, train

20/02/2016 to

11/06/2016

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking, inadequate temperature

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - Confinement in a metal cage in the court room of the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Samara during the hearings concerning the restraint measure and in a video link room in SIZO during the appeal hearings before the Samara Regional Court (6 occasions between 20/02/ and 24/06/2016).

8,500

31994/17

02/05/2017

Dmitriy Mikhaylovich RYNYAK

1972Roza Saidovna Magomedova

Moscow

van

03/08/2016 to

22/02/2017

lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities

Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - Detention order of 22 December 2016 was reviewed by the appeal court 32 days later. The violation of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention was acknowledged by the Government;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport.

1,500

81336/17

18/11/2017

Nikolay Vladimirovich KHOVANSKIY

1968Yevgeniy Sergeyevich Yezhov

Velikiy Novgorod

van, transit cell

28/06/2017 to

28/06/2017

van, transit cell

26/09/2017 to

26/09/2017

0.3-1 m²

0.3-1 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water, lack or insufficient quantity of food

inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, overcrowding

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - Detention hearings in the Chertanovskiy District Court of Moscow, 28/06/2017, 26/09/2017,

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport.

8,500

2512/18

14/12/2017

Vladimir Grigoryevich MALYARCHUK

1966van, transit cell, between SIZO-1 and/or SIZO-4 and the temporary detention facility in St Petersburg and St Petersburg City Court

19/03/2015 to

27/07/2017

overcrowding

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - placement of the applicant in a metal cage in the courthouse during the extension of his detention, with the most recent hearing on 27/07/2017.

8,500

1825/19

21/12/2018

Dmitriy Robertovich BIKBULATOV

1968Valentina Aleksandrovna Bokareva

Moscow

transit cell, van

10/06/2016 to

31/07/2018

0,2- 0,3 m²

applicant transported on numerous occasions, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, constant electric light

1,000

33226/19

05/06/2019

Svetlana Zhambulatovna CHEREPOVSKAYA

1984Nellya Arturovna

Pokrov Shishova

van

29/01/2019 to

15/02/2019

1,000

26231/20

28/03/2020

Aleksey Sergeyevich KOROVIN

1983van

06/11/2017 to 04/02/2020

0.3 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport.

1,000

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