CASE OF FEDOTOVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIAJOINT PARTLY DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGES LEMMENS AND ZÃœND
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Document date: July 13, 2021
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JOINT PARTLY DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGES LEMMENS AND ZÃœND
We fully agree with the main conclusions of the judgment.
To our regret, however, we are unable to join the majority insofar as they reject the applicants’ claim for reimbursement of costs and expenses (see paragraph 64 of the judgment and operative point 6).
In our opinion, the invoices submitted by the Geneva lawyers (see paragraph 62 of the judgment) constitute a sufficient “basis on which to accept that the costs and expenses claimed have actually been incurred” (see paragraph 64 of the judgment). It may well be that under Russian law, for an invoice to be enforceable, there must be a legal-service contract between a lawyer and his or her client. However, the Court is not bound by rules of domestic law. In particular in the present case, where the applicants had sought the services of lawyers practising in a country other than Russia, we find it inappropriate to reject their claim on the basis of reasoning consonant with a procedure which is common in Russia, but not necessarily in other countries.
We are aware that the majority in this case follow the approach adopted by the Court in Alekseyev and Others v. Russia (nos. 14988/09 and 50 others, § 32, 27 November 2018), with regard to the same lawyers. With all due respect to the Court, we believe that the approach in that case was not justified either.
Appendix
No.
Application no.
Case name
Lodged on
Applicant, Year of Birth Place of Residence
1.
40792/10
Fedotova and Shipitko v. Russia
20/07/2010
Irina Borisovna FEDOTOVA
1978 Schifflange, Luxembourg
Irina Vladimirovna SHIPITKO
1977 Sochi, Russia
2.
30538/14
Chunosov and Yevtushenko v. Russia
05/04/2014
Dmitriy Nikolayevich CHUNOSOV
1984 Lüneburg, Germany
Yaroslav Nikolayevich YEVTUSHENKO
1994 Sonchino, Russia
3.
43439/14
Shaykhraznova and Yakovleva v. Russia
17/05/2014
Ilmira Mansurovna SHAYKHRAZNOVA
1991 Wetzlar, Germany
Yelena Mikhaylovna YAKOVLEVA
1990 Gryazi, Russia