Lexploria

SECOND SECTION

CASE OF BORIS AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 2838/22 and 15 others â€“

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

7 December 2023

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

In the case of Boris and Others v. Russia,

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

Lorraine Schembri Orland , President , FrÃ©dÃ©ric Krenc, Davor DerenÄinoviÄ‡ , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 16 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 (â€œthe Conventionâ€) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2. The applicants were represented by Memorial Human Rights Centre, an organisation based in Moscow at the time.

3. The Russian Government (â€œthe Governmentâ€) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS

4. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

5. The applicants complained of the disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. They also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

6. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

7. 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, Â§Â§ 68 â€‘ 73, 17 January 2023).

8. The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention.

9. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see KudreviÄius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey , no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006 â€‘ XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova , no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009).

10. In the leading cases of Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014, and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

11 . 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 as to 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 interferences with the applicantsâ€™ freedom of assembly were not â€œnecessary in a democratic societyâ€.

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

13. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and its Protocols, 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 Â§ 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 these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia , no. 5865/07, Â§Â§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia , nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, Â§Â§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia , no. 72051/17, Â§Â§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia , no. 926/08, Â§Â§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); and Martynyuk v. Russia , no. 13764/15, Â§Â§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention.

15. Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative-offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 11 and 14 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.

16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case â€‘ law (see in particular Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, Â§ 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds 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 December 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 Â§Â§ 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 11 of the Convention

(disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicantâ€™s name

Year of birth

Name of the public event

Location

Date

Administrative charges

Penalty

Final domestic decision

Court Name

Date

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non â€‘ pecuniary damage per applicant

(in euros) [1]

2838/22

09/12/2021

Aleksey Andreyevich BORIS

2002

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

23/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

09/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 7 p.m. on 23/01/2021 to 1 a.m. on 24/01/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

4578/22

17/12/2021

Nikita Valeryevich CHECHIKOV

1995

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Chelyabinsk

21/04/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

30 hours of community work

Chelyabinsk Regional Court

17/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 21/04/2021 for compiling an offence report;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

4626/22

24/12/2021

Vasiliy Anatolyevich IPPOLITOV

1986

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

11/05/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 7 p.m. on 31/01/2021 to 7 p.m. on 01/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

5566/22

24/12/2021

Margarita Viktorovna DUDENKOVA

2001

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Saransk

21/04/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Republic of Mordovia

07/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 8.45 p.m. on 21/04/2021 to 2.05 a.m. on 22/04/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

5635/22

24/12/2021

Mariya Dmitriyevna CHUPINA

1997

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

21/10/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 12.50 a.m. on 03/02/2021 to 8.35 a.m. on 03/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

5643/22

24/12/2021

Mariya Aleksandrovna MOZHAYEVA

2000

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

25/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 1.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on 03/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

5791/22

09/12/2021

Andrey Sergeyevich ELSHIN

1992

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

11/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 9.45 p.m. on 02/02/2021 to 9 a.m. on 03/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

5795/22

09/12/2021

Ilya Sergeyevich KARNAVSKIY

1996

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Nizhniy Novgorod

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court

10/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 12.15 p.m. to 9 p.m. on 31/01/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

5798/22

09/12/2021

Yuriy Dmitriyevich GARNOV

1999

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

11/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 11.05 a.m. to 8.50 p.m. on 02/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

7146/22

26/01/2022

Denis Aleksandrovich PALASHKIN

1989

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Voronezh

21/04/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Voronezh Regional Court

27/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 21/04/2021 for compiling an offence report;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

7261/22

13/01/2022

Sergey Yevgenyevich GINDILIS

1994

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

13/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3 p.m. on 31/01/2021 to 12.30 a.m. on 01/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

7321/22

27/01/2022

Mark Armenovich FRANGULYAN

2000

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

Election protest

Moscow

20/09/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

article 20.2 Â§ 8 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

detention for 15 days

Moscow City Court

09/08/2021

Moscow City Court

08/10/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report: 1) from 11.30 p.m. on 02/02/2021 to 5.20 a.m. on 03/02/2021; 2) from 5.40 p.m. on 24/09/2021 to 2.30 p.m. on 25/09/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in both sets of the administrative-offence proceedings;

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

5,000

7324/22

27/01/2022

Yaroslav Aleksandrovich KURENKOV

1996

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

29/09/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 12.10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 03/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

7329/22

27/01/2022

Sofya Mikhaylovna SENCHENKOVA

1994

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

29/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 11.05 a.m. to 5.38 p.m. on 02/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

7331/22

20/01/2022

Dmitriy Mikhaylovich BIBICHKOV

1990

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

29/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 12.30 a.m. to 9.50 p.m. on 02/02/2021;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

7341/22

20/01/2022

Pavel Aleksandrovich YAGUSHEVSKIY

1996

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

Perm

21/04/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Perm Regional Court

23/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 22/04/2021 for compiling an offence report;

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.

4,000

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

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CASE OF BORIS AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

CASE OF BORIS AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

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