FOURTH SECTION

CASE OF SOLDATOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 10881/21 and 37 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

23 November 2023

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

In the case of Soldatov and Others v. Russia,

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

Branko Lubarda , President , Armen Harutyunyan, Ana Maria Guerra Martins , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 2 November 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 about their confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. 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 about their confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.

Some applicants also complained that they had not been afforded an effective domestic remedy in respect of their grievances under Article 3, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention.

8. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in a metal cage in the courtroom in the context of their trial. In the leading cases of Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), and Vorontsov and Others v. Russia, nos. 59655/14 and 2 others, 31 January 2017, the Court already dealt with the issue of the use of metal cages in courtrooms and found that such a practice constituted in itself an affront to human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention. Similar finding was reached by the Court in respect of the practice of confinement of defendants in metal cages at remand prisons for the purposes of their participation in court hearings carried out via a video link (see Karachentsev v. Russia , no. 23229/11, §§ 50-54, 17 April 2018).

9. The Court has also dealt with the issue of the use of glass cabins in courtrooms and found that under certain circumstances such a practice could also disclose a violation of Article 3 of the Convention (see Yaroslav Belousov v. Russia , nos. 2653/13 and 60980/14, §§ 123-28, 4 October 2016, where extreme overcrowding inside the glass cabin led the Court to the conclusion of a violation of Article 3 of the Convention, and Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia , no. 38004/12, §§ 144-50, 17 July 2018, where similar conclusion was reached by the Court against the background of the glass dock having been constantly surrounded by armed police officers and court ushers and a guard dog having been present next to it in the courtroom).

10. 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’ confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin before the court during the criminal proceedings against them amounted to degrading treatment.

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

12. Having regard to its finding above, the Court does not consider it necessary to deal separately with the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (see Valyuzhenich v. Russia , no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).

13. 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.

14. 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 N.T. v. Russia , no. 14727/11, §§ 32-57, 2 June 2020, concerning inadequate conditions of detention under strict imprisonment regime; Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103-08, 22 May 2012, and Tomov and Others v. Russia , nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, concerning inadequate conditions of transport and lack of an effective remedy in that respect; Dirdizov v. Russia , no. 41461/10, §§ 108-11, 27 November 2012, as regards unreasonably long detention on remand; Idalov , cited above, §§ 154 ‑ 58, as regards lengthy review of detention matters; Nakhmanovich v. Russia , no. 55669/00, §§ 85-98, 2 March 2006, as regards unreasonable duration of the criminal proceedings; and Gorlov and Others v. Russia , nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, §§ 58-110, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees and lack of an effective remedy in that respect.

15. 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.”

16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Vorontsov and Others, cited above), the Court considers that the finding of a violation in applications nos. 4935/22 and 44999/22 will constitute in itself sufficient just satisfaction (see Ivanov and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 44363/14 and 2 others, § 12, 4 June 2020, and Puzanov v. Russia [Committee], nos. 26895/14 and 2 other applications, § 13, 15 September 2022). It further finds reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table to the remaining applicants.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

(a) that the respondent State is to pay the remaining 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 23 November 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Viktoriya Maradudina Branko Lubarda Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Name of the court

Date of the relevant judgment

Other complaints under well-established case-law

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

10881/21

28/05/2021

Anton Borisovich SOLDATOV

1987Dunayeva Alla Igorevna

Chelyabinsk

Fourth Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction

30/11/2020

7,500

35403/21

06/07/2021

Anna Tamazovna KVASHINA

1990Sokolskiy District Court of the Vologda Region

03/02/2021

7,500

3399/22

20/12/2021

Yuriy Vitalyevich ADRIANOV

1975Polonskiy Aleksandr Viktorovich

Volgograd

Kirovskiy District Court of Volgograd

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

7,500

4077/22

12/12/2021

Mikhail Yevgenyevich KOTLYAROV

1990Tosno Town Court of the Leningrad Region, Leningrad Regional Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - from 28/02/2020 – pending as of 16/09/2022; Tosno Town Court of the Leningrad Region, Leningrad Regional Court; last extension of pre-trial detention - 13/07/2021, upheld by the Leningrad Regional Court on appeal on 19/08/2021; fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; collective detention orders;

Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - decision of 13/07/2021 extending the applicant’s detention on remand was upheld on appeal on 19/08/2021

9,750

4477/22

30/12/2021

Artur Ilyasovich ABDULMUTALIBOV

1987Finashkin Andrey Yuryevich

Kursk

Kurskiy District Court of the Kursk Region

01/07/2021

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - the applicant was transported on numerous occasions between the remand prison and the courthouse in a single-prisoner cubicle measuring 0.5 sq. m. Due to the absence of free convoy cells at the courthouse the applicant was held in the prison van until the start of the hearings and during court breaks. There was no toilet in the van, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air. It appears that the most recent occasion of transport was on 30/12/2021

8,500

4755/22

20/12/2021

Ilnur Amirovich FAYZULIN

1995Alekseyeva Natalya Vasilyevna

Krasnoyarsk

Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk

16/11/2021

7,500

4935/22

02/04/2022

Vadim Valeryevich ANIKEYEV

1982Arkhangelsk Regional Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - by van between the remand prison and the Arkhangelsk Regional Court on 456 occasions between 25/01/2017 and ongoing as of 16/09/2022, 0.32 sq. m of personal space, van ceiling height 1.5 m, handcuffing, absence of safety belts, inadequate temperatures, transport took 50 minutes one way, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric and natural light, overcrowding, passive smoking;

Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - Proceedings pending since 14/11/2014 and at least until 16/09/2022; the applicant challenged the length of the proceedings before the domestic courts and was awarded RUB 70,300 (approximately EUR 800), final decision 15/09/2022;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport

-

5234/22

03/04/2022

Pavel Petrovich PETROVSKIY

1964Kirovskiy District Court of St Petersburg, Kuybyshevskiy District Court of St Petersburg, St Petersburg City Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - Transport on multiple occasions between 24/01/2019 and 31/03/2022, between 0.2 and 0.25 sq. m. of personal space, transport time - 2 hours per one-way trip, absence of toilet; poor conditions in assembly cells on the days of transport (20 to 30 inmates confined in the cell measuring 15 sq. m, no ventilation in the cell, the window could not be opened, no hot food on the days of transport, poor sanitary conditions).

8,500

5737/22

26/12/2021

Vitaliy Vyacheslavovich KOREPANOV

1992Severodvinsk Town Court of the Arkhangelsk Region

17/01/2022

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - by van and train, 06/05/2021 - 17/12/2021, overcrowding (0.49 sq. m per person in the van and 0.29 sq. m per person on the train), absence of toilet on a 20-hour train ride, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, passive smoking;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport

8,500

5808/22

14/01/2022

Aleksandr Borisovich OZEL

1991Krikun Leonid Leonidovich

St Petersburg

Tver Regional Court

14/07/2021

7,500

5880/22

30/05/2022

Roman Alekseyevich MOKRUSHNIKOV

1992Norilsk Town Court

23/05/2022

7,500

10838/22

19/02/2022

Vladimir Valeryevich ZAVALIY

1975Golubenko Andrey Yevgenyevich

Nea Skiony

Murmansk Regional Court

10/12/2021

Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - SIZO-1 Murmansk, 21/05/2021 - 29/01/2022, opposite-sex operators, detention in different cells with video surveillance, video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of permanent video surveillance in detention facilities

7,500

11410/22

31/01/2022

Ivan Sergeyevich LISICHNIKOV

1978Tsarenkov Mikhail Maisovich

Molodezhnyy

Tsentralniy District Court of Chita, Zabaykalskiy Regional Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - detention on remand, 14/10/2020 – pending as of 16/09/2022, Tsentralniy District Court of Chita, Zabaykalskiy Regional Court: fragility of the reasons employed by the courts, use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice, failure to examine the possibility, as the case progressed, of applying other measures to secure attendance at the trial

9,750

11775/22

16/02/2022

Aynur Azatovich YAKUPOV

1989Abdrashitov Elik Yevgenyevich

Orel

Vakhitovskiy District Court of Kazan, Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan

22/12/2021

Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - 07/04/2020 -22/12/2021; Vakhitovskiy District Court of Kazan, Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan, Fourth Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction:

fragility of the reasons employed by the courts, failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding, fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed, failure to examine the possibility, as the case progressed, of applying other measures to secure attendance at the trial, collective detention orders

9,750

12538/22

26/04/2022

Aleksandr Ivanovich BURAVENKO

1994Ezhvinskiy District Court of Syktyvkar

31/01/2022

7,500

13837/22

10/02/2022

Yuriy Vladimirovich GRUDININ

1959Kiryanov Aleksandr Vladimirovich

Taganrog

Leninskiy District Court of Rostov ‑ on ‑ Don

24/12/2021

7,500

14047/22

04/02/2022

Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich DEMCHENKO

1980Sysolskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi, Priluzskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi

13/08/2021

7,500

18252/22

17/03/2022

Aleksandr Sergeyevich ZAYCHENKO

1989Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk

24/01/2022

7,500

19962/22

28/03/2022

Pavel Vladimirovich GORINOV

1982Kanashskiy District Court of the Republic of Chuvashia

01/10/2021

7,500

20220/22

20/03/2022

Nurlan Vyacheslavovich USHAKOV

1988Belozerskiy District Court of the Vologda Region,

Oktyabrskiy District Court of Orsk, the Orenburg Region

24/02/2022

7,500

21519/22

28/03/2022

Vladimir Yuryevich CHEKULDAYEV

1977Ivdel Town Court, Sorskiy District Court of the Republic of Khakassia, Abakan Town Court

24/03/2022

2,100

21802/22

12/04/2022

Natalya Yuryevna TOMILOVA

1964Abdrashitov Elik Yevgenyevich

Orel

Kirovskiy District Court of Kazan

27/12/2021

7,500

21968/22

23/03/2022

Leonid Vasilyevich FILIPPOV

1990Petrov Roman Nikolayevich

Cheboksary

Shumerlinskiy District Court of the Republic of Chuvashia, Supreme Court of the Republic of Chuvashia

28/12/2021

7,500

24229/22

21/03/2022

Andrey Sergeyevich VELICHKO

1989Syktyvdinskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi

01/02/2022

7,500

24928/22

27/04/2022

Yevgeniya Igorevna MAKARENKO

1996Solntsevskiy District Court of Moscow

19/04/2022

7,500

25216/22

26/04/2022

Vasiliy Leonidovich GUZ

1985Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi

28/12/2021

7,500

25271/22

13/04/2022

Aleksandr Anatolyevich SOKOLYUK

1981Oktyabrskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk, Lomonosovskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk Regional Court

14/10/2021

7,500

25386/22

18/04/2022

Yevgeniy Gennadyevich GERASIMOV

1982Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk

17/03/2022

7,500

25461/22

22/04/2022

Denis Ruslanovich SULEYMANOV

1995Kanayev Valeriy Viktorovich

Diveyevo

Arzamas Town Court of the Nizhniy Novgorod Region

13/01/2022

7,500

26001/22

04/05/2022

Dmitriy Yuryevich ISAYEV

1974Perm Regional Court

18/01/2022

Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention under strict imprisonment regime – the applicant has been serving his life imprisonment under strict regime since 25/10/1999 – pending as of 16/09/2022: confined to his cell (along with one or two other inmates) for twenty-two-and-a-half hours a day, lack of purposeful activity, extremely limited outside exercise, isolation from the rest of the prison community. Brought proceedings in order to have the regime of his detention altered with a milder one, but the domestic courts held that the domestic law did not provide for the possibility for those sentenced to life imprisonment to have the regime of their detention reviewed;

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention

9,750

27548/22

03/03/2022

Mikhail Vsevolodovich SPIRIN

1995Justice of the Peace of the Dimitrovskiy Court Circuit of Syktyvkar

15/09/2021

7,500

28788/22

10/05/2022

Sergey Anatolyevich BROZYANSKIY

1982Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

7,500

32085/22

03/06/2022

Maksudbek Dilshadovich KHUSANBAYEV

2001Zubitskiy Pavel Nikolayevich

Moscow

Naro-Fominsk Town Court of Moscow Region, Moscow Regional Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention –

Naro-Fominsk Town Court of Moscow Region, 22/02/2022 - reviewed by Moscow Regional Court, 29/03/2022;

Naro-Fominsk Town Court of Moscow Region, 01/04/2022 - reviewed by Moscow Regional Court, 17/05/2022;

Art. 5 (3) - lack of relevant and sufficient reasons for detention - the applicant was arrested on suspicion of extortion on 12/01/2022 and detained on remand on 14/01/2022: fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint

9,750

33684/22

20/06/2022

Andrey Olegovich DUBROVIN

1986Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnodar, Krasnodar Regional Court

(Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)

7,500

34237/22

22/06/2022

Yevgeniy Igorevich AFANASIYEV

1983Ayrapetyan Narine Pavlovna

Stavropol

Kochyubeyevskiy District Court of the Stavropol Region, Stavropol Regional Court

23/03/2022

7,500

41329/22

12/08/2022

Ivan Sergeyevich PRIKHODKOV

1991Sheykina Marina Sergeyevna

Chita

Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction

12/04/2022

7,500

42453/22

12/08/2022

Yegor Sergeyevich AFANASYEV

1989Sheykina Marina Sergeyevna

Chita

Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction

12/04/2022

7,500

44999/22

10/09/2022

Aleksandr Vasilyevich KASARAKIN

1970Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna

Strasbourg

Oktyabrskiy District Court of Ulan-Ude, Supreme Court of the Republic of Buryatia

12/05/2022

-

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