FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF ANDROSHCHUK AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 31982/22 and 4 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
16 May 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Androshchuk and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Mārtiņš Mits, President,
Kateřina Šimáčková,
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 18 April 2024,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine 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 Ukrainian 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 excessive length of their pre-trial detention. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 3 OF THE CONVENTION6. The applicants complained principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
7. The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000‑XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006‑X, with further references).
8. In the leading cases of Kharchenko v. Ukraine (no. 40107/02, 10 February 2011) and Ignatov v. Ukraine (no. 40583/15, 15 December 2016), 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 length of the applicants’ pre-trial detention was excessive.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW11. In applications nos. 17261/23 and 20654/23 the 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 the cases set out in the appended table.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS12. In application no. 31982/22 the applicant made additional complaints under Article 5 of the Convention.
13. The Court 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 application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION14. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Ignatov, cited above), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
Decides to join the applications;Declares the complaints concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of application no. 31982/22 inadmissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention;Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);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 16 May 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Mārtiņš Mits
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention
(excessive length of pre-trial detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Period of detention
Length of detention
Specific defects
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage per applicant
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application
(in euros)[2]
31982/22
08/06/2022
Bogdan Vitaliyovych ANDROSHCHUK
1995
Kardopoltsev Anton Sergiyovych
Lviv
26/11/2019 to
13/04/2022
2 year(s) and
4 month(s) and 19 day(s)
collective detention orders;
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts
1,500
250
14657/23
13/03/2023
Petro Vitaliyovych BERNATSKYY
1951
Voronyuk Kateryna Yuriyivna
Rivne
01/09/2021 to
16/02/2023
1 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 16 day(s)
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
1,000
250
17261/23
04/04/2023
Krystyna Olegivna CHUDINA
2002
Voronyuk Kateryna Yuriyivna
Rivne
20/06/2018
pending
More than
5 year(s) and
9 month(s) and 1 day(s)
fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed;
failure to examine the possibility, as the case progressed, of applying other measures to secure attendance at the trial;
failure to conduct the proceedings diligently leading to excessive length of detention on remand;
collective detention orders;
persistent reliance on the nature of the charges (Tuncer Bakirhan v. Turkey, no. 31417/19, § 43, 14 September 2021)
Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 20/06/2018 - pending, 1 level of jurisdiction
(see Nechay
v. Ukraine,
no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79,
1 July 2021);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine,
no. 15360/10,
§§ 67-79, 1 July 2021)
3,900
250
17301/23
05/04/2023
Ivan Mykhaylovych KOLTSOV
1987
28/09/2016
pending
More than
7 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 22 day(s)
failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention;
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts
3,000
-
20654/23
25/04/2023
Yevgen Yusufovych LYTVYNOV
1982
Voronyuk Kateryna Yuriyivna
Rivne
16/05/2019
pending
More than
4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 3 day(s)
fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed;
failure to examine the possibility, as the case progressed, of applying other measures to secure attendance at the trial;
failure to conduct the proceedings diligently leading to excessive length of detention on remand;
collective detention orders
Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 16/05/2019 - pending, 1 level of jurisdiction
(see Nechay
v. Ukraine,
no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79,
1 July 2021);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings
(see Nechay
v. Ukraine,
no. 15360/10,
§§ 67-79, 1 July 2021)
3,900
250
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.