FIFTH SECTION

Application no. 23265/05 Denis Valeryevich GERBEY against Ukraine lodged on 30 May 2005

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Denis Valeryevich Gerbey , is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1983 and currently lives in the Odesa region .

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 13 October 2003 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of robbery.

During the pre-trial investigation and the trial the applicant was detained at the pre-trial detention facility (“the SIZO”) in Odesa . In 2006 he was transferred first to the Pivdenna Correctional Colony and then to the Shyryayevska Correctional Colony to serve a prison sentence imposed in earlier proceedings. In March 2007 the applicant was released from serving his prison sentence.

The applicant was tried by the Prymorskyy District Court in Odesa , which on 25 March 2005 convicted him together with three other persons of robbery. The applicant ’ s conviction was based principally on his and his accomplices ’ statements and the statements of the victim made during court hearings. The applicant was sentenced to five years ’ imprisonment with confiscation of all his property.

The applicant appealed against his conviction, disagreeing essentially with the legal qualification of his actions. He also alleged that the trial judge had been biased.

On 12 July 2005 the Odesa Regional Court of Appeal rejected the applicant ’ s appeal as unsubstantiated. On 14 March 2006 the Supreme Court changed the legal qualification of the applicant ’ s criminal actions, having upheld, on the whole, the findings of the lower courts and the applicant ’ s sentence.

In 2005, following the lodging of the present application, the Court invited the applicant to submit copies of various documents from his domestic case file, including court decisions and his appeals. The applicant, while detained, made a number of unsuccessful attempts to obtain copies of the required documents. In December 2007 and in February 2008, being at liberty, the applicant obtained some of the documents, except his cassation appeal, and submitted their copies to the Court. The applicant states that his requests for copies of other documents were ignored by the Prymorskyy District Court , which kept his case file.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 34 of the Convention that the authorities have refused, for a considerable period of time, to provide him with the possibility to obtain copies of documents for substantiation of the application.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

Has there been any hindrance by the State in the present case with the effe ctive exercise of the applicant ’ s right of petition, as guaranteed by Article 34 of the Convention? In particular, did the applicant have the opportunity to obtain copies of the documents from his case file and to send them to the Court in order to pursue the application ?