THIRD SECTION
CASE OF BEREZHNOY AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 68287/17 and 7 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
15 April 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Berezhnoy and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Peeter Roosma, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 25 March 2021,
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 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 of the excessive length of their pre-trial detention. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAWJOINDER 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.THE GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST TO STRIKE OUT APPLICATION No. 68287/17 UNDER ARTICLE 37 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION
6. In application no. 68287/17 the Government submitted a unilateral declaration which did not offer a sufficient basis for finding that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention does not require the Court to continue its examination of the case (Article 37 § 1 in fine). The Court rejects the Government’s request to strike the application out and will accordingly pursue its examination of the merits of the cases (see Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary issue) [GC], no. 26307/95, § 75, ECHR 2003‑VI).ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 3 OF THE CONVENTION
7. The applicants complained principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 5 § 3
“3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”
8. 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).
9. In the leading case of Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, 27 November 2012, the Court has already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
10. 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.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. In applications nos. 72590/17, 4790/18 and 7127/19, the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see the 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 well-established case-law (see Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), concerning the use of metal cages during court hearings; and Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, 22 May 2012, concerning lack of a speedy review of detention matters).REMAINING COMPLAINTS
13. The applicant in application no. 68287/17 also raised complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention about the conditions of his detention. The Court notes that on 17 March 2020 it adopted a decision in the case of Shmelev and Others v. Russia (applications nos. 41743/17 and 16 others), finding that the new compensatory remedy envisaged by the Russian Compensation Act was an effective remedy, in particular, for all cases of past pre-trial detention allegedly in breach of domestic provisions.
14. On 28 May 2020 the Court forwarded to the applicant the Government’s submissions concerning the remedy in question and invited the applicant to comment on the issue. The applicant did not respond. The Court therefore rejects the applicant’s complaints in this regard for failure to exhaust domestic remedies. This part of the application should thus be declared inadmissible pursuant to Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. 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.”
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Pastukhov and Yelagin v. Russia, no. 55299/07, 19 December 2013), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
17. 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,Decides to join the applications;Rejects the Government’s request to strike application no. 68287/17 out of its list of cases under Article 37 § 1 of the Convention on the basis of the unilateral declaration which they submitted;Declares the complaints concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the application no. 68287/17 inadmissible;Holds that there has been a violation 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 the 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 15 April 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtDarian Pavli
Deputy RegistrarPresident
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
Court which issued detention order/examined appeal
Length of detention
Specific defects
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]
68287/17
30/08/2017
Anatoliy Valeryevich BEREZHNOY
1985
Belinskaya Marina Aleksandrovna
St Petersburg
15/10/2011 to
29/07/2014
05/12/2014 to
21/03/2017
St Petersburg City Court
2 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 15 day(s)
2 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 17 day(s)
Fragility of the reasons employed by the courts;
collective detention orders; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention
5,000
72590/17
03/10/2017
Oleg Gennadyevich YANSHIN
1977
Dankov Andrey Pavlovich
Kursk
01/03/2016 to
11/05/2017
Basmannyy District Court of Moscow; Moscow City Court
1 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 11 day(s)
Collective detention orders; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - Pre-trial detention prolonged on 21/02/2017 by the Moscow City Court. Appeal decision delivered by the Moscow City Court on 04/05/2017 (44 days)
1,700
74585/17
27/09/2017
Dmitriy Valeryevich TARADEYKO
1973
Vodyanik Yekaterina Aleksandrovna
Rostov-on-Don
26/01/2016 to
23/11/2018
Ust-Donetskiy District Court of Rostov Region,
Rostov Regional Court
2 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 29 day(s)
Fragility of the reasons employed by the courts;
use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding
3,000
79267/17
26/10/2017
Rustem Firkatovich SALIMZYANOV
1970
Kondratyeva Alisa Valeryevna
Kanash
06/04/2017
to
03/10/2017
Kanash District Court of the Chuvashiya Republic,
Supreme Court of the Chuvashiya Republic
5 month(s) and 28 day(s)
Failure to consider alternative "preventive measures"; reliance only on the seriousness of the charges
1,000
81437/17
26/11/2017
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich BURNAYEV
1982
Khrunova Irina Vladimirovna
Kazan
11/03/2015 to
13/11/2020
Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan
5 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 3 day(s)
Fragility of the reasons employed by the courts;
use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention
5,000
82504/17
01/12/2017
Pavel Vladimirovich PIMENOV
1974
Podoplelova Olga Germanovna
Moscow
22/08/2016 to
01/06/2017
Tsentralnyy District Court of Volgograd, Volgograd Regional Court
9 month(s) and 11 day(s)
Failure to consider alternative "preventive measures"; reliance only on the seriousness of the charges
1,000
4790/18
08/01/2018
Aleksey Vyacheslavovich KONONOV
1979
Vasilyev Aleksey Anatolyevich
Izhevsk
22/10/2016 to
07/06/2018
04/08/2018 to
28/08/2019
12/11/2019
pending
1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 17 day(s)
1 year(s) and 25 day(s)
More than 1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 15 day(s)
Failure to address specific facts or consider alternative preventive measures
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - detention in a metal cage during the detention and trial hearings at the Mozhga District Court of the Udmurtiya Republic starting from 22/10/2016
9,750
7127/19
24/01/2019
Leonid Mikhaylovich KRASNER
1961
Taysayeva Viktoriya Leonidovna
Moscow
02/07/2018 to
28/02/2019
Taganskiy District Court of Moscow, Moscow City Court
7 month(s) and 27 day(s)
Use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - placement in a metal cage during five hearings before the Taganskiy District Court of Moscow from 04/07/2018 to 26/09/2018
9,750
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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