THIRD SECTION
CASE OF A.C. AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 46966/14 and 7 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
14 June 2018
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of A.C. and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt,Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 24 May 2018,
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 applications were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).
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 their detention. Some applicants also raised complaints under Article 13 of the Convention.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑165, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 36–40, 7 April 2005).
8. In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
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’ conditions of detention were inadequate.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
III. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
11. Some applicants submitted complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (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 Sergey Babushkin, cited above, §§ 38-45.
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
12. 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.”
13. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014, and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, no. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
14. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the applications admissible;
3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
5. Holds
(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 14 June 2018, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtAlena Poláčková
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant name
Date of birth
Representative name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Inmates per brigade
Sq. m. per inmate
Number of toilets per brigade
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]
46966/14
27/09/2014
A.C.
22/12/1979
IK-56 Sverdlovsk Region
17/09/2012 to
25/07/2014
1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 9 day(s)
IK-56 Sverdlovsk Region
24/08/2014 to
07/11/2015
1 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 15 day(s)
IK-56 Sverdlovsk Region
06/12/2015 to
05/10/2016
10 month(s)
IK-56 Sverdlovsk Region
28/11/2016
pending
More than 1 year(s) and
4 month(s) and 24 day(s)
3.8-7 m²
3.8-7 m²
3.8-7 m²
3.8-7 m²
no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, no sewage system in the detention facility, inmates use a bucket as a lavatory pan and then take it outside daily to a cesspool from which an awful odour spreads, the same facility as in the case of Gorbulya v. Russia (no. 31535/09, 6 March 2014); Romanenko v. Russia (no. 34310/12, 7 February 2017), lack of or insufficient electric light
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
15,300
14076/16
30/08/2016
Andrey Fedorovich Avdulov
21/12/1977
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
14/09/2008
pending
More than 9 year(s) and
7 month(s) and 7 day(s)
14 inmate(s)
2.3 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to running water, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air
10,000
45716/16
03/10/2016
Vladimir Nikolayevich Lanochkin
25/07/1972
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
22/11/2015
pending
More than 2 year(s) and
4 month(s) and 30 day(s)
135 inmate(s)
1.6 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to running water, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention
9,300
57406/16
13/09/2016
Vladimir Igorevich Ovadenko
28/01/1987
IK-1 Syktyvkar
23/08/2013
pending
More than 4 year(s) and
7 month(s) and 29 day(s)
100 inmate(s)
1.8 m²
4 toilet(s)
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
10,000
60447/16
07/10/2016
Leonid Vasilyevich Petrov
10/03/1982
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1 Kostroma Region
10/07/2015 to
09/10/2017
2 year(s) and 3 month(s)
100 inmate(s)
2 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to running water
8,300
60737/16
11/10/2016
Aleksey Vitalyevich Zverev
10/06/1977
Alekseyeva Natalya Vasilyevna
Krsanoyarsk
IK-16 Krasnoyarsk Region
23/08/2012
pending
More than 5 year(s) and
7 month(s) and 29 day(s)
2 m²
4 toilet(s)
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to shower
9,800
51002/17
03/07/2017
Sergey Vladimirovich Yesin
16/04/1971
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
26/02/2012
pending
More than 6 year(s) and
1 month(s) and 26 day(s)
135 inmate(s)
1.4 m²
6 toilet(s)
overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack or insufficient quantity of food
7,500
53613/17
14/07/2017
Vadim Valeryevich Gogin
29/05/1961
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1 Kostroma Region
27/12/2014 to
04/07/2017
2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 8 day(s)
100 inmate(s)
2 m²
inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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