BODROV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 35264/09
Aleksandr Valentinovich BODROV and Others
against Russia
(see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 28 June 2016 as a Committee composed of:

Branko Lubarda, President,
Pere Pastor Vilanova,
Georgios A. Serghides, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 8 May 2009,

Having regard to the declaration submitted by the respondent Government on 13 June 2014 requesting the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases and the applicants’ reply to that declaration,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.

The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights.

The applicants complained under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention about the excessive length of their pre-trial detention.

The application had been communicated to the Government.

THE LAW

The applicants complained about the excessive length of their pre-trial detention. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.

By a letter of 16 June 2014 the Government informed the Court that they proposed to make a unilateral declaration with a view to resolving the issue raised by the application. They further requested the Court to strike out the application in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention.

In the declarations, the Government acknowledged that the applicants had been detained “without well-founded justification on the basis of the decisions rendered by the courts of the Bashkortostan Republic which did not comply with the requirements of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention” and stated their readiness to pay the following amounts to the applicants as just satisfaction:

(a) 2,800 euros (EUR) to the first applicant for his pre-trial detention between 12 January 2008 and 7 May 2010;

(b) EUR 2,500 to the second applicant for her pre-trial detention between 9 April 2008 and 7 May 2010;

(c) EUR 2,600 to the third applicant for her pre-trial detention between 19 March 2008 and 7 May 2010.

The remainder of their declarations provided as follows:

“The sum referred to above, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on it, from expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

This payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”

By a letter of 4 August 2014, the applicants indicated that they were not satisfied with the terms of the unilateral declaration.

Court reiterates that Article 37 of the Convention provides that it may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to one of the conclusions specified, under (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 1 of that Article. Article 37 § 1 (c) enables the Court in particular to strike a case out of its list if:

“for any other reason established by the Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application”.

It also reiterates that in certain circumstances, it may strike out an application under Article 37 § 1 (c) on the basis of a unilateral declaration by a respondent Government even if the applicants wish the examination of the case to be continued.

To this end, the Court has examined the declaration in the light of the principles emerging from its case-law, in particular the Tahsin Acar judgment (Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, §§ 75-77, ECHR 2003-VI; WAZA Sp. z o.o. v. Poland (dec.), no. 11602/02, 26 June 2007; and Sulwińska v. Poland (dec.), no. 28953/03, 18 September 2007).

The Court notes that, since its first judgment concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention in Russia (see Kalashnikov v. Russia, no. 47095/99, §§ 104-121 ECHR 2002‑VI), it has found a violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention on account of an excessively lengthy pre‑trial detention without proper justification in more than a hundred cases against Russia (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, § 200, 10 January 2012). It follows that the complaints raised in the present application are based on the clear and extensive case-law of the Court.

Having regard to the nature of the admissions contained in the Government’s declaration, as well as the amount of compensation proposed – which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases – the Court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 (c)).

Moreover, in light of the above considerations, and in particular given the clear and extensive case-law on the topic, the Court is satisfied that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto does not require it to continue the examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine).

The Court considers that these amounts should be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of payment, and paid within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision issued in accordance with Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to settle within this period, simple interest shall be payable on the amounts in question at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank plus three percentage points.

Finally, the Court emphasises that, should the Government fail to comply with the terms of their unilateral declaration, the application could be restored to the list in accordance with Article 37 § 2 of the Convention (Josipović v. Serbia (dec.), no. 18369/07, 4 March 2008).

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Takes note of the terms of the respondent Government’s declaration under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention and of the modalities for ensuring compliance with the undertakings referred to therein;

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.

Done in English and notified in writing on 21 July 2016.

Fatoş AracıBranko Lubarda
              Deputy RegistrarPresident

APPENDIX

1. Aleksandr Valentinovich Bodrov born on 16 January 1966 is a Russian national who was born in 1966 and is detained in Ufa.

2. Natalya Sergeyevna Yurkova born on 16 June 1984 is a Russian national who was born in 1984 and lives in Ufa.

3. Oksana Gabdelraufovna Kamaltdinova born on 19 July 1974 is a Russian national who was born in 1974 and lives in Ufa.

The applicants are represented by Mr D. Kurakov, a lawyer practising in Ufa.

 

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