CASE OF SHVETS AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
Doc ref: 50415/21;52787/21;52790/21;56552/21;56555/21;56557/21;61072/21;7516/22;7519/22 • ECHR ID: 001-225898
Document date: July 20, 2023
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FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF SHVETS AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 50415/21 and 8 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
20 July 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Shvets and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Carlo Ranzoni, President , Lado Chanturia, MarÃa Elósegui , judges ,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 29 June 2023,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Conventionâ€) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Ukrainian Government (“the Governmentâ€) 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 and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law.
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 of the inadequate conditions of their detention and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
7. 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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96 ‑ 101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading†from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić , cited above, §§ 122-41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149 ‑ 59, 10 January 2012).
8. In the leading cases of Melnik v. Ukraine, no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006 and Sukachov v. Ukraine, no. 14057/17, 30 January 2020, 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 applicants’ conditions of detention were inadequate.
10. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
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.â€
13. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Sukachov, cited above, §§ 165 and 167), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
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 20 July 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Carlo Ranzoni
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name
and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Sq. m
per inmate
Specific grievances
Amount awarded
for pecuniary and
non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1]
50415/21
03/10/2021
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych SHVETS
1982Zakutniy Volodymyr Ivanovych
Dnipro
Dnipro Detention Facility no. 4
30/05/2011
pending
More than 12 years and
9 days
2.2-3.2 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower
7,500
52787/21
03/10/2021
Ruslan Volodymyrovych BONDARENKO
1985Zakutniy Volodymyr Ivanovych
Dnipro
Dnipro Detention Facility no. 4
26/05/2011
pending
More than 12 years and
13 days
2.8-3.7 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to potable water
7,500
52790/21
03/10/2021
Vitaliy Volodymyrovych ONYSHCHENKO
1992Zakutniy Volodymyr Ivanovych
Dnipro
Dnipro Detention Facility no. 4
14/11/2019 to
03/11/2021
1 year and 11 months and 21 days
2.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, passive smoking
4,900
56552/21
08/11/2021
Vitaliy Anatoliyovych SVISTUNOV
1977Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rig Detention Facility No. 3
04/03/2014
pending
More than 9 years and 3 months and 4 days
4 m²
lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of privacy for toilet
7,500
56555/21
08/11/2021
Anatoliy Oleksiyovych NYZHNYK
1994Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rig Detention Facility No. 3
14/02/2014
pending
More than 9 years and 3 months and 25 days
4 m²
lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water
7,500
56557/21
08/11/2021
Dmytro Viktorovych ZHALDAK
1980Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rig Detention Facility No. 3
19/01/2013
pending
More than 10 years and
4 months and 20 days
4 m²
lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet
7,500
61072/21
10/12/2021
Leonid Mikhaylovich ROVNYAGIN
1980Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rig Detention Facility No. 3
19/01/2013
pending
More than 10 years and
4 months and 20 days
4.33 m²
passive smoking, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of potable water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of toiletries
7,500
7516/22
28/01/2022
Oleksandr Mykolayovych KLYSHTA
1980Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Chernigiv Detention Facility
22/02/2018
pending
More than 5 years and 3 months and 17 days
2.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower
7,500
7519/22
28/01/2022
Oleksandr Anatoliyovych TARASYUK
1983Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Chernigiv Detention Facility
25/01/2018
pending
More than 5 years and 4 months and 14 days
2.8 m²
overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to shower
7,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.