FIRST SECTION

CASE OF KORABLEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 33771/16 and 17 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

26 October 2023

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

In the case of Korablev and Others v. Russia,

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

Péter Paczolay , President , Gilberto Felici, Raffaele Sabato , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 5 October 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 inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. 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 inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

8. The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions during transport. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case ‑ law regarding cramped and defective conditions during the transit of prisoners (see Tomov and Others v. Russia , nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 124-27, 9 April 2019). It reiterates in particular that a strong presumption of a violation arises when detainees are transported in conveyances offering less than 0.5 square metres of space per person, regardless of whether such cramped conditions result from an excessive number of detainees being transported together or from the restrictive design of compartments (ibid., § 125). As regards longer journeys, factors such as a failure to arrange an individual sleeping place for each detainee or to secure an adequate supply of drinking water and food or access to the toilet seriously aggravate the situation of prisoners during transfers and are indicative of a violation of Article 3 (ibid., § 127).

9. In the leading case of Tomov and Others (cited above), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

10. Having examined all the material submitted to it, and having taken into account the issue of compliance with the six-month time-limit under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention (see Saakashvili v. Georgia (dec.), nos. 6232/20 and 22394/20, §§ 46-59, 1 March 2022, in which the Court addressed the COVID-related extension of the period in question), 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 during their transport were inadequate.

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

12. 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. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its well ‑ established case-law (see Salduz v. Turkey , [GC], no 36391/02, 27 November 2008, §§ 50-62, concerning restrictions on the right to be effectively defended by a lawyer; Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), as regards placement in a metal cage during court hearings, Tomov and Others, cited above, §§ 92 ‑ 156, concerning the lack of an effective remedy in respect of the complaint about conditions of detention during transport; Gorlov and Others v. Russia , nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect; Yevdokimov and Others v. Russia , nos. 27236/05 and 10 others, 6 February 2016, concerning domestic courts’ refusal to ensure the detained applicants’ presence in court in civil cases).

13. Mr Korablev (application no. 33771/16) and Mr Tkhaguzhokov (application no. 24860/20) also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

14. The Court has examined these complaints and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

15. Furthermore, in view of the findings in paragraphs 11 and 12 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with the complaints lodged by Mr Zelenskiy (application no. 17760/19) and Mr Pronin (application no. 29030/19) under Article 13 of the Convention in respect of their placement in a metal cage in the courtroom (compare Valyuzhenich v. Russia , no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).

16. 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.”

17. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Pukhachev and Zaretskiy v. Russia, nos. 17494/16 and 29203/16, 16 November 2017), 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 during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 October 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Viktoriya Maradudina Péter Paczolay

Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention during transport)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Means of transport

Start and end date

Sq. m per inmate

Specific grievances

Other complaints under well ‑ established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non ‑ pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros) [1]

33771/16

31/05/2016

Yevgeniy Yevgenyevich KORABLEV

1987Prokofyeva Viktoriya Pavlovna

St Petersburg

van

23/10/2015 to

05/08/2016

0.3 m²

overcrowding

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

1,000

50219/18

05/10/2018

Oleg Gennadyevich ANTONOV

1971Mazitov Marat Farukovich

Moscow

van, numerous occasions of transport from the detention facility to the courthouse

09/04/2018 to

07/09/2018

0.2 m²

passive smoking, lack of security measures

1,000

54591/18

05/11/2018

Andrey Romanovich GORYNIN

1995train

19/08/2018 to

27/08/2018

0.2-1.2 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, single occupancy cell in a van, insufficient number of sleeping places

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

1,000

12186/19

30/01/2019

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich SULIM

1957transit cell, van

04/06/2017 to

04/10/2018

0.7 m²

overcrowding, lengthy transfers by van (up to 7 hours) with no access to toilet, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, passive smoking

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – placement of the applicant in a metal cage in the courtroom of the Lugi Town Court of the Leningrad Region, between

02/06/2017 and 04/10/2018

8,500

17760/19

21/03/2019

Yuriy Sergeyevich ZELENSKIY

1983van, train

03/11/2018 to

05/11/2018

holding cell at the courthouse

01/06/2020 to

13/11/2020

van, train

03/12/2020 to

05/12/2020

0.28 m²

0.5 m²

0.2 m²

overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet, no necessary medications provided

lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, no food served, the applicant spent from 4 to

7 hours at the courthouse, overcrowding

overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light, insufficient number of sleeping places, passive smoking, inadequate temperature

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – placement of the applicant in a metal case in the courtroom of the Vorkuta Town Court of the Komi Republic, between 01/06/2020 and 13/11/2020,

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

8,500

26618/19

20/04/2019

Yevgeniy Olegovich KOKOREV

1978transit cell, van

25/01/2018 to

30/01/2020

0.2-0.3 m²

no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking

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

1,000

29030/19

24/05/2019

Anton Dmitriyevich PRONIN

1988Urlashov Aleksey Mikhaylovich

St Petersburg

van

15/12/2017 to

24/01/2019

0.3 m²

lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - detention in a metal cage in SIZO-1 St Petersburg while participating in the hearings by means of video conference in the St Petersburg City Court in a number of hearings, with the most recent one on 12/03/2019;

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

Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (c) – unfair criminal proceedings in view of the lack of access to legal assistance, including at the moment when confessing to a crime - Confession statement was signed by the applicant at the pre-trial stage; he was not provided with a lawyer at the time. Although the applicant has subsequently raised a motion to withdraw his confessions and claimed that he was put under pressure to sign it, the statement served as evidence for the trial court and became the basis for his conviction. Final decision: St Petersburg City Court, 12/03/2019

9,750

34305/19

08/04/2019

Oleg Anatolyevich BORISOV

1968transit cell, train, van

06/12/2018 to

25/12/2018

0.4 m²

lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no ventilation, overcrowding, lack of safety belts in a van, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, passive smoking

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport and in respect of permanent video surveillance in detention facilities,

Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - during the applicant’s detention in IK-25 Komi Republic, since 22/07/2019 - pending as of 16/09/2022, detention in different cells with video surveillance ensured by opposite-sex operators, video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room

1,000

50882/19

19/09/2019

German Lyubomirovich KHRISTAN

1986Drobyshev Oleg Petrovich

St Petersburg

van

12/02/2019 to

29/05/2019

0.4 m²

applicant transported on numerous occasions, overcrowding

54016/19

30/09/2019

Aslanbek Alviyevich DAGAYEV

1982Konnov Sergey Viktorovich

Krasnodar

transit cell

22/03/2019 to

16/04/2019

0.3 m²

lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of potable water

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

1,000

55812/19

12/10/2019

Andrey Vladimirovich TYAGANOV

1968Markin Maksim Aleksandrovich

St Petersburg

train, van

17/04/2019 to

30/04/2019

no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food

1,000

59293/19

01/11/2019

Aleksandr Sergeyevich KOVALCHUK

1984van

02/10/2019 to

02/10/2019

van

28/02/2020 to

28/02/2020

0.2-0.5 m²

0.3 m²

insufficient number of sitting places, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, no safety belts or handles, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack or insufficient quantity of food

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water

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

1,000

1552/20

28/12/2019

Mikhail Nikolayevich BELYAYEV

1968Okushko Tatyana Borisovna

Moscow

van, train

24/05/2019 to

19/07/2019

insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet

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

1,000

6992/20

16/01/2020

Boris Valeryevich ZHURAVLEV

1965van

02/04/2015 to

17/07/2019

0.25 m²

applicant transported on numerous occasions, overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet

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

1,000

24860/20

18/05/2020

Alim Aniuarovich TKHAGUZHOKOV

1978train

13/03/2020 to

14/03/2020

overcrowding, 9 inmates per train compartment, insufficient number of sleeping places

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

1,000

40988/20

14/08/2020

Andrey Yuryevich OVSYANNIKOV

1985van, numerous occasions of transport between the detention facilities and the courthouse

03/04/2019 to

25/12/2019

0.25 m²

inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, transfers lasted over 3 hours

Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – placement in a metal cage in the courtrooms of the Kalininskiy and Kolpinskiy District Courts of St Petersburg, between 03/04/2019 and 25/12/2019

8,500

8417/21

22/12/2020

Sergey Nikolayevich IVANCHENKO

1976van

25/01/2017 to

28/10/2020

0.25 m²

overcrowding

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

1,000

32356/22

14/02/2022

Roman Aleksandrovich KASHURIN

1988train, van

20/04/2022 to

28/04/2022

train, van

03/05/2022 to

04/05/2022

train, van

10/05/2022 to

12/05/2022

0.2-0.3 m²

0.2 m²

0.2 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, passive smoking, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen

lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding

lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places

Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - in a transit cell in Krasnoyarsk between 20/04/2022 and 26/04/2022,

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

Art. 6 (1) - absence of detainees from civil proceedings - compensation of non-pecuniary damage for inadequate medical aid in detention, decision on 16/09/2020, by the Leninskiy District Court of Vladivostok, and on 21/01/2021, by the Primorye Regional Court, on 17/12/2021, by the Supreme Court of Russia (the applicant, a detainee, was absent from all hearings)

1,950

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