THIRD SECTION

CASE OF FROLOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 15394/19 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 Frolov and Others 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 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 excessive length of their pre-trial detention. 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 principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 5 § 3

“3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”

7. The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, KudÅ‚a v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000 ‑ XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006 ‑ X, with further references).

8. In the leading case of Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, 27 November 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 length of the applicants’ pre-trial detention was excessive.

10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.

11. In application no. 17026/21, the applicant 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 Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154-58, 22 May 2012, as regards lengthy review of detention matters; Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts) and Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia , no. 38004/12, §§ 144-50, 17 July 2018, concerning detention in a metal cage or a glass cabin during court hearings; and Tomov and Others v. Russia , nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92 ‑ 156, 9 April 2019, related to inadequate conditions of transport.

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, Pastukhov and Yelagin v. Russia, no. 55299/07, 19 December 2013), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

14. 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 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 5 § 3 of the Convention

(excessive length of pre-trial detention)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Period of detention

Court which issued detention order/examined appeal

Length of detention

Specific defects

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1]

15394/19

09/03/2019

Dmitriy Alekseyevich FROLOV

1993

06/03/2017 to

13/07/2020

Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic

3 year(s) and

4 month(s) and 8 day(s)

fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint;

failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding;

use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice;

failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention

3,500

28865/20

11/09/2020

Andrey Leonidovich KOLODA

1988

01/10/2019 to

15/04/2021

Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

1 year(s) and

6 month(s) and 15 day(s)

fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint;

failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding;

use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice;

failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention

1,700

17026/21

10/03/2021

Kirill Valentinovich KUCHINSKIY

1986

26/05/2015

pending

Arkhangelsk Regional Court, Second Appeal Court of general jurisdiction

More than

7 year(s) and

1 month(s) and 2 day(s)

failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - Arkhangelsk Regional Court, inadequate conditions of detention during transport - 442 episodes of transportation 25/01/2017-01/03/2021, the trial is pending

overcrowding, inadequate temperature;

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - On the dates of the court hearings (the proceedings are pending) the applicant is detained in a glass cabin measuring 4.8 sq. m with

9 other defendants;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of placement in a metal cage during court hearings and inadequate conditions of detention during transport;

Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - Arkhangelsk Regional Court, 28/12/2020, Second Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction, 04/02/2021.

9,750

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