THIRD SECTION

CASE OF PUZANOV v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 26895/14 and 2 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

15 September 2022

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

In the case of Puzanov v. Russia,

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

Darian Pavli, President, Andreas Zünd, Mikhail Lobov, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 25 August 2022,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1. The case originated in applications (nos. 26895/14, 7836/15 and 25574/17) against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 5 May 2014, 19 January 2015 and 31 January 2017, respectively, by a Russian national, Igor Fridrikhovich Puzanov, born in 1975 and currently in detention.

2. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS

3. The list of applications and their relevant details are set out in the appended table.

4. The applicant complained of different aspects relating to his detention and, in particular, about permanent video surveillance of detainees in post-conviction detention facility.

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 applicant complained of the permanent video surveillance in post-conviction detention facilities. He relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 8 § 1 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 8 § 1

“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

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.”

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 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).

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 this complaint. It considers, regard being had to the case-law cited above, that in the instant case the placement of the applicant under permanent video surveillance when confined to his cell in post-conviction detention facilities was not “in accordance with law”.

9. This complaint is therefore admissible and discloses a breach of Article 8 § 1 of the Convention.

10. The applicant further complained under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention about poor conditions of his transportation on multiple occasions since 2016, as well as about his placement in a metal cage (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 well-established case-law (see Tomov and Others v. Russia , nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, concerning conditions of transport and lack of an effective remedy in this regard, and Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, § 79, ECHR 2014 (extracts), related to placement in a metal cage in court hearings).

11. Finally, the applicant complained under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention about another aspect of his detention, that is his ineligibility to vote in or stand for elections to the State Duma, as well as under Article 3 of the Convention about his past stays in poor conditions of detention in different pre-trial detention centres. Having regard to its findings above, the Court considers that there is no need to examine neither the admissibility nor the merits of the remaining complaints (see, among many others, Zhirkova and others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 16203/13 and 4 others, § 48, 30 March 2021, with further references).

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.”

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

Done in English, and notified in writing on 15 September 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 8 § 1 of the Convention

(permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or

post-conviction detention facilities)

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Detention facility

Period of detention

Other complaints under well-established case-law

26895/14

05/05/2014

and

7836/15

19/01/2015

and

25574/17

31/01/2017

Igor Fridrikhovich PUZANOV

1975IK-27 Kirov Region

02/12/2019 - 24/01/2020

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - during the trial proceedings, in a number of hearings, before the Tsentralnyy District Court of Sochi (conviction on 17/12/2013);

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transport on multiple occasions between 2016 and 2021 by van, train, and placement in transit cells; lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, overcrowding, no or restricted access to potable water; no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of food;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law to complain about poor conditions of transport.