THIRD SECTION

CASE OF KHLYNTSEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 9349/18 and 9 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

9 February 2023

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

In the case of Khlyntsev and Others v. Russia,

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

Darian Pavli , President , Ioannis Ktistakis, Andreas Zünd , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 19 January 2023,

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 their 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 Government submitted a unilateral declaration whereby they acknowledged, in respect of application no. 9349/18, that the conditions of the applicant’s detention in correctional colony no. IK-9, Volgograd Region, from 6 October 2014 to 20 November 2017, had not complied with the requirements of Article 3 of the Convention and that he had not had an effective remedy in respect of that complaint. The Government offered to pay the applicant 4,500 euros (EUR) and invited the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The said amount would be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment and would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay this amount within the above ‑ mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

7. The applicant accepted the Government’s proposal.

8. In the light of the applicant’s express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government, the parties may be considered to have reached a friendly settlement.

9. The Court takes note of the friendly settlement agreement. It is satisfied that it is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify the continued examination of application no. 9349/18 in that part.

10. It is hence appropriate to strike the case out of the Court’s list in the part covered by the friendly settlement.

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

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

12. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case ‑ law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Kud Å‚a v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90 ‑ 94, ECHR 2000 ‑ XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139 ‑ 65, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell 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, amongst many authorities, MurÅ¡ić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 122 ‑ 41, ECHR 2016, and Karalevičius v. Lithuania , no. 53254/99, §§ 36 ‑ 40, 7 April 2005).

13. In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, §§ 46 ‑ 58, 28 November 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

14. 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, as described in the appended table below, were inadequate.

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

16. Some applicants submitted other complaints under the Convention. Having regard to the facts of the cases, the submissions of the parties, and its findings above, the Court considers that it has examined the main legal question raised in the present applications and that there is no need to give a separate ruling on the remaining complaints (see Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 156, ECHR 2014).

17. 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.”

18. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014 and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, nos. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 2017), and taking into account the awards made by the Court in the previous cases to the applicants in applications nos. 29520/18 and 44684/18, as well as awards made to some of the applicants by domestic courts, the Court considers it reasonable to make the awards indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, save for the applicant in application no. 29520/18, 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 9 February 2023, 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 after conviction)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

Inmates per brigade

Sq. m per inmate

Number of toilets per brigade

Specific grievances

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

(in euros) [1]

9349/18

08/02/2018

Vladimir Yuryevich KHLYNTSEV

1983Butrimenko Marianna Dmitriyevna

Volgograd

IK-25 Volgograd Region

20/11/2017 - pending

More than 5 year(s) and 9 day(s)

1.2 m²

inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet

4,500

(under the Government’s unilateral declaration accepted by the applicant)

8,000 (in respect of the violation found by the Court)

29520/18

04/06/2018

Igor Yevgenyevich PUKHACHEV

1980IK-1 Republic of Komi

27/03/2017 - pending

More than 5 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 2 day(s)

1 m²

lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of toiletries, lack or insufficient quantity of food, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to shower

-

29928/18

30/05/2018

Aleksey Anatolyevich GORDIYENOK

1982Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich

Nizhniy Tagil

IK-14 and IK-12 Sverdlovsk Region

30/04/2009 -pending

More than 13 year(s) and

6 month(s) and 30 day(s)

130 inmate(s)

2 m²

3 toilet(s)

lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of requisite medical assistance, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food

10,800

40594/18

08/08/2018

Andrey Aleksandrovich KOPYLOV

1978IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region

03/11/2016 - pending

More than 6 year(s) and 26 day(s)

134 inmate(s)

1.5 m²

lack of fresh air, overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of food

12,500

41341/18

13/12/2018

Gennadiy Vladislavovich BAGRETSOV

1987IK-1 Komi Republic

23/03/2018 to

03/09/2018

5 month(s) and 12 day(s)

IK-1 Komi Republic

01/03/2019 - pending

More than 3 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 28 day(s)

2.25 m²

<3 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents,

no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food

12,500

44684/18

31/08/2018

Aleksey Anatolyevich PANOV

1980IK-1 Komi Republic

05/06/2017 - pending

More than 5 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 24 day(s)

1.25 m²

inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to toilet, stench, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food, lack of requisite medical assistance

4,500

52916/18

10/10/2018

Anton Nikolayevich NEKRASOV

1975Bayanova Olga Sergeyevna

Severouralsk

IK-3 Sverdlovsk Region

14/01/2013 - pending

More than 9 year(s) and

10 month(s) and 15 day(s)

135 inmate(s)

1.2-1.3 m²

2 toilet(s)

overcrowding, insufficient number of toilets and wash basins, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, high humidity level in the brigade’s building, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light

11,300

1058/19

25/02/2019

Aleksey Anatolyevich PETUKHOV

1977IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region

20/11/2017 - pending

More than 5 year(s) and 9 day(s)

120 inmate(s)

<2 m²

7 toilet(s)

infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water

12,500

2977/19

04/12/2018

Nikolay Ivanovich RUSINOV

1980Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich

Nizhniy Tagil

IK-19 Sverdlovsk Region

28/12/2010 - pending

More than 11 year(s) and

11 month(s) and 1 day(s)

no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air

10,800

24122/19

18/03/2019

Oleg Gennadyevich YEGOROV

1986IK-8 Komi Republic

31/07/2016 - pending

More than 6 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 29 day(s)

1.9 m²

overcrowding, forced nudity during recorded personal check upon arrival to colony, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower

11,900

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