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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> YELISEYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 15304/19 (Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Second Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 860 (02 November 2023) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/860.html Cite as: [2023] ECHR 860 |
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SECOND SECTION
CASE OF YELISEYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 15304/19 and 39 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
2 November 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Yeliseyeva 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 12 October 2023,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
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 in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them and/or during the administrative proceedings to which they were a party. 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 in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them and/or during the administrative proceedings to which they were parties. 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."
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, reading as follows:
"Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity."
8. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in a metal cage in the courtroom in the context of their trial and/or administrative proceedings to which they were a party. 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. 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 before the court during the criminal proceedings against them and/or the administrative proceedings to which they were a party amounted to degrading treatment.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
11. 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).
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 findings in 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; 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; and Anchugov and Gladkov v. Russia, nos. 11157/04 and 15162/05, §§ 101-12, 4 July 2013, concerning ineligibility for convicted prisoners to vote in or stand for elections. It further concludes that no separate issue arises under Article 14 of the Convention in conjunction with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in application no. 50736/21.
13. 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."
14. 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 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 2 November 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 3 of the Convention
(use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms)
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] | |
04/03/2019 | Olesya Viktorovna YELISEYEVA 1979 | Yezerskiy Aleksey Vladimirovich Samara | Samarskiy District Court of Samara; Samara Regional Court 04/09/2018 |
| 7,500 | |
18/12/2019 | Aleksey Aleksandrovich PULYALIN 1986
Anton Alekseyevich KOROSTELEV 1987 |
| Ukhta Town Court of the Republic of Komi date of the relevant judgment unspecified;
Supreme Court of Russia 18/06/2019 1st applicant;
Supreme Court of Russia 26/03/2020 2nd applicant;
Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi, Second Court of Appeal, Third Cassation Court 23/06/2021 2nd applicant;
Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi, Second Appeal Court, Third Cassation Court, Supreme Court of Russia 19/07/2021;
Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi 28/02/2022 1st applicant
|
| 7,500 | |
24/02/2021 | Vitaliy Valeryevich KOTCHENKO 1982 |
| Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, Fifth Appeal Court 10/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
04/10/2021 | Ilya Mikhaylovich TONKIKH 2001 |
| Syktyvkar Town Court of the Republic of Komi 29/07/2021 | Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - IZ-1 Republic of Komi (detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators) from 06/01/2021 to 02/09/2021;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of permanent video surveillance in detention facilities;
Prot. 1 Art. 3 - ineligibility to vote in or stand for elections - Impossibility for the applicant as a prisoner to vote in elections, including elections to the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament on 19/09//2021
| 7,500 | |
06/10/2021 | Viktor Nikolayevich SHCHEGLOV 1975
|
| Kupinskiy District Court of the Novosibirsk Region 17/05/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
28/10/2021 | Eduard Vyacheslavovich NIKOLAYEV 1992 |
| Sysolskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 13/07/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
01/11/2021 | Sergey Konstantinovich SHMELEV 1994 |
| Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 05/07/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
03/11/2021 | Anvar Urazgaleyevich KALDAMANOV 1987 |
| Onega Town Court of the Arkhangelsk Region 20/10/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
11/11/2021 | Takhir Rashitovich AKHMETSHIN 1976 |
| St Petersburg Second Appellate Court 13/07/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
11/11/2021 | Maksim Aleksandrovich GUSHCHIN 1990 |
| Slobodskoy District Court of the Kirov Region 29/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
22/10/2021 | Aleksandr Ivanovich DEVYATOV 1976 |
| Argayashskiy District Court of the Chelyabinsk Region 06/08/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
21/01/2022 | Anatoliy Aleksandrovich BESSONOV 1991 |
| Kirovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 29/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
16/02/2022 | Nikolay Sergeyevich KLEMETS 1978 |
| Kirovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 10/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
20/11/2021 | Pavel Vladimirovich AGAFUROV 1984 |
| Leninskiy District Court of Barnaul, Altay Regional Court 30/07/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
07/11/2021 | Olga Aleksandrovna LOGINOVA 1995 |
| Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Regional Court 17/05/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
17/11/2021 | Maksim Vadimovich TROFIMENKO 1993 |
| Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Volgograd Since 06/07/2021 - end date is unknown, placement in metal cage was ongoing on the date when the application was lodged |
| 7,500 | |
25/11/2021 | Fenil Minnereisovich SMENOV 1978 |
| Batyrevskiy District Court of the Republic of Chuvashia, Supreme Court of the Republic of Chuvashia 19/08/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
29/11/2021 | Aleksandr Anatolyevich ARTEYEV 1970 |
| Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi 31/05/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
25/02/2022 | Nikita Sergeyevich FEDOROV 1998 |
| Pervomayskiy District Court of Kirov 17/02/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
17/02/2022 | Yevgeniy Vladimirovich KUZMINYKH 1982 |
| Sovetsk Town Court of the Kirov Region 13/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
29/11/2021 | Vitaliy Valentinovich OVCHINNIKOV 1969 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk 24/08/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
27/11/2021 | Aleksandr Leonidovich SAFRONOV 1974 |
| Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Novosibirsk 28/07/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
23/11/2021 | Anton Alekseyevich MOKROUSOV 1980 |
| Leninskiy District Court of Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Regional Court 15/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
30/11/2021 | Maksim Vladimirovich SHADRIN 1990 |
| Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Novosibirsk 29/07/2021
Novosibirsk Regional Court 13/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
07/12/2021 | Nikolay Nikolayevich BOGOLYUBOV 2000 | Korneyev Aleksey Igorevich Bryansk | Leninskiy District Court of Kursk 24/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
04/12/2021 | Faridun Yatimovich DOSTIYEV 1991 |
| Trusovskoy District Court of Astrakhan, Leninskiy District Court of Astrakhan, Astrakhan Regional Court 08/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
22/11/2021 | Roman Nikolayevich STARKOV 1993 |
| Justice of the Peace of the 70-th Judicial District of Kirov 03/08/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
13/12/2021 | Denis Aleksandrovich RYZHOV 1987 |
| Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi 15/06/2021 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - van, train, from 28/10/2021 to 20/12/2021, 0.2-0.4 sq. m. of personal space, overcrowding, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, 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 | 8,500 | |
07/12/2021 | Denis Vladimirovich FADEYEV 2000 |
| Kazan Garrison Military Court 21/06/2021 | Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - IZ-1 Republic of Tatarstan, 13/03/2021-16/07/2021, detention in different cells with video surveillance, opposite-sex operators | 7,500 | |
30/11/2021 | Aleksey Alekseyevich DYUZHEV 1988 | Polonskiy Aleksandr Viktorovich Volgograd | Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Volgograd 25/10/2021
|
| 7,500 | |
23/11/2021 | Albert Dinariyevich SAYFULLIN 1982 | Khaziyeva Elvira Ilgizovna Almetyevsk | Supreme Court of Russia 02/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
14/03/2022 | Sergey Viktorovich OKHAPKIN 1989 |
| Pervomayskiy District Court of Kirov 09/03/2022
|
| 7,500 | |
20/12/2021 | Aleksandr Aleksandrovich MATYASKIN 1994 | Abdrashitov Elik Yevgenyevich Orel | Zheleznodorozhnyy District Court of Samara, Sovetskiy District Court of Samara, Vakhitovskiy District Court of Kazan, Novo-Savinovskiy District Court of Kazan 27/07/2021 | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - detention in custody from 27/04/2017 to 27/07/2021, collective detention orders; 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 to secure attendance at the trial | 9,750 | |
26/11/2021 | Denis Gennadyevich KRUGLYANIN 1979 |
| Kirovskiy District Court of Irkutsk, Irkutsk Regional Court since 28/11/2017 - end date is unknown, placement in metal cage was ongoing on the date when the application was lodged
| Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - detention since 28/11/2017 and ongoing at the time when the application was lodged with the Court. Specific defects: as the case progressed, 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 | |
15/12/2021 | Sergey Vladimirovich YEGOROV 1967 | Panshina Yelena Nikolayevna Moscow | Moscow City Court 16/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
15/12/2021 | Aleksandr Yuryevich GONCHAROV 1982 |
| Vorkuta Town Court of the Republic of Komi 29/06/2021
|
| 7,500 | |
13/12/2021 | Yevgeniy Nikolayevich AGAFONOV 1984
|
| Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi 15/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
10/12/2021 | Denis Aleksandrovich SOLOVYEV 1982 |
| Syktyvdinskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 18/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
13/12/2021 | Marat Radifovich KHANNANOV 1987 |
| Privolzhskiy District Court of Kazan 30/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
21/12/2021 | Grigoriy Aleksandrovich ZINOVYEV 1992 |
| Sysolskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 03/08/2021
Sysolskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 21/01/2022 |
| 7,500 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.