SECOND SECTION

CASE OF ABLYAKIMOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 75530/17 and 9 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

7 September 2023

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

In the case of Ablyakimov and Others v. Russia,

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

Lorraine Schembri Orland , President , Frédéric Krenc, Davor Derenčinović , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 6 July 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 lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in their administrative-offence proceedings. 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 Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68 ‑ 73, 17 January 2023).

7. The applicants complained principally of the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative ‑ offence proceedings. They relied on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

8. The relevant principles of the Court’s case-law concerning the requirement of impartiality under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention can be found in the leading case of Karelin v. Russia (no. 926/08, 20 September 2016). In that case the Court assessed the national rules of administrative procedure and concluded that the statutory requirements allowing for the national judicial authorities to consider an administrative offence case which falls within the ambit of Article 6 of the Convention under its criminal limb, in the absence of a prosecuting authority, was incompatible with the principle of objective impartiality set out in Article 6 of the Convention.

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.

10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

11. Some applicants 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.

12. 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 Butkevich v. Russia , no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018; Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia , nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018; and Korneyeva v. Russia , no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; and Martynyuk v. Russia , no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, and Tsvetkova and Others , cited above, §§ 178-88, concerning the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention.

13. As regards other complaints under Article 6 of the Convention about the fairness of the administrative-offence proceedings, submitted by some of the applicants, the Court, having reached the conclusion about the lack of impartiality of the tribunal under Article 6 of the Convention (see paragraph 10 above), does not consider it necessary to examine them separately.

14. 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.”

15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Zaytseva and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 41136/17 and 10 others, 2 March 2023), 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 7 September 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Viktoriya Maradudina Lorraine Schembri Orland

Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention

(lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Penalty

Date of final domestic decision

Name of court

Other complaints under well-established case-law

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

75530/17

19/10/2017

Ruslan Yakubovich ABLYAKIMOV

1990Terekhov Konstantin Ilyich

Moscow

administrative detention of 7 days

20/04/2017, Moscow City Court

Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant by the court of first instance was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the Code of the Administrative Offences

2,000

83056/17

07/12/2017

Yelena Yevgenyevna CHERNETSKAYA

1974Vakhitov

Ilyas Salimovich

Vniissok

administrative fine of RUB 10,000

14/06/2017,

Moscow City Court

1,000

44769/18

11/09/2018

Andrey Viktorovich

OREL

1977Terekhov Konstantin Ilyich

Moscow

administrative detention of 15 days

14/03/2018, Moscow City Court

Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant by the court of first instance was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the Code of the Administrative Offences

2,000

44847/18

08/09/2018

Oleg Yuryevich

MAZIN

1969Vologin

Aleksey Borisovich

Volsk

administrative fine of RUB 30,000,

suspension of the driving licence

06/09/2018,

Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region

1,000

45836/18

19/09/2018

Anzhela Valeryevna DYATLOVA

1980administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence

22/03/2018, Orenburgskiy District Court of the Orenburg Region

1,000

49737/18

13/10/2018

Dmitriy Vladimirovich ISAYEV

1979Vologin

Aleksey Borisovich

Volsk

administrative fine of RUB 30,000,

suspension of the driving licence

25/09/2018, Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court

1,000

57712/18

12/11/2018

Vasiliy Alekseyevich ZRYUYEV

1997Zhdanov

Ivan Yuryevich

Vilnius

administrative fine of RUB 10,000

14/06/2018, Voronezh Regional Court

1,000

56128/22

19/11/2022

Olga Viktorovna ANDREYEVA

1979administrative fine of RUB 10,000

19/07/2022, Moscow City Court

1,000

325/23

02/12/2022

Rim Faridovich GUBAYEV

1993Filatchev

Oleg Vladimirovich

Moscow

administrative fine of RUB 20,000

03/08/2022, Moscow City Court

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation

of liberty: escorting to a police station for the purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence; detention in excess of 3 hours and without “exceptional circumstances”, from 7.40 p.m. on 27/02/2022 to 01.00 a.m. on 28/02/2022

3,500

906/23

01/11/2022

Konstantin Vladimirovich SIDELNIKOV

2000Shindyapin

Arkadiy Vitalyevich

Moscow

administrative fine of RUB 20,000

15/08/2022, Moscow City Court

1,000

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