Resolution ResDH(2004)85
concerning the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
of 7 May 2002 (final on 4 September 2002)
in the case of Burdov against the Russian Federation
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 22 December 2004
at the 906th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)[1]
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocol No. 11 (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”),
Having regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Burdov case delivered on 7 May 2002 and transmitted to the Committee of Ministers once it had become final under Articles 44 and 46 of the Convention;
Recalling that the case originated in an application (No. 59498/00) against the Russian Federation, lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 20 March 2000 under Article 34 of the Convention by Mr Anatoliy Tikhonovich Burdov, a Russian national, and that the Court declared admissible the complaints concerning the non-execution over several years by the Russian social authorities of final judicial decisions ordering them to pay certain compensations and allowances (with subsequent indexation) for health damage sustained by the applicant during emergency operations at the Chernobyl nuclear plant;
Whereas in its judgment of 7 May 2002 the Court unanimously:
- held that there had been a violation of Article 6, paragraph, 1 of the Convention
- held that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the Convention;
- held that the government of the respondent state was to pay the applicant, within three months from the date at which the judgment became final, 3 000 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into Russian roubles at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that might be chargeable and that simple interest at an annual rate of 23% would be payable on this sum from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement;
Having regard to the Rules adopted by the Committee of Ministers concerning the application of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention;
Having invited the government of the respondent state to inform it of the measures which had been taken in consequence of the judgment of 7 May 2002, having regard to the Russian Federation's obligation under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by it;
Having satisfied itself that on 16 July 2002, within the time-limit set, the government of the respondent state had paid the applicant the sum provided for in the judgment of 7 May 2002,
Whereas during the examination of the case by the Committee of Ministers, the government of the respondent state gave the Committee information about the measures taken to erase the consequences of the violations found and to prevent new, future violations of the same kind as those found in the present judgment; this information appears in the appendix to this resolution;
Having noted, in particular, the measures taken in respect of the category of persons in the applicant's position and recalling that the more general problem of non-execution of domestic court decisions in the Russian Federation is being addressed by the authorities, under the Committee's supervision, in the context of other pending cases;
Declares, after having examined the information supplied by the Government of the Russian Federation, that it has exercised its functions under Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention in this case.
Appendix to Resolution ResDH(2004)85
Information provided by the Government of the Russian Federation
during the examination of the Burdov case
by the Committee of Ministers
The Government of the Russian Federation recalls that the present case concerns the non-execution of final decisions delivered in 1997-2000 by the Shakhty City Court (Rostov region), which ordered the Russian social authorities to pay the applicant a fixed compensation and a monthly allowance (with subsequent indexation) for damage to his health sustained during his participation in emergency operations at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
With regard to individual measures, the amounts due under the domestic judicial decisions were paid to the applicant on 5 March 2001, i.e. before the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment (see paragraph, 22 of the judgment). Subsequently, a fresh indexation of the monthly allowance was ordered by the Shakhty City Court on 11 July 2003 (final on 1 October 2003). The social authorities continue to comply with the domestic judicial decisions by regularly paying the sums awarded.
In addition, the following general measures were adopted by the Russian authorities to comply with the European Court's judgment.
a) Resolving similar cases
At the outset, the government paid the arrears accumulated as a result of the non-execution, as in the present case, of domestic judgments ordering the payment of compensation and allowances for the Chernobyl victims in the applicant position (a total of 2 846 million roubles were paid between January and October 2002).
5 128 other domestic judgments concerning the indexation of the allowances for the victims of Chernobyl were executed by the authorities.
The government has also improved its budgetary process to ensure that the necessary budgetary means are allocated to social security bodies (2 152 071 000 roubles were allocated for 2003, 2 538 280 500 roubles for 2004, and 2 622 335 000 for 2005) to allow them continuously to meet their financial obligations arising inter alia from similar judgments.
In addition, in the spirit of the reform engaged to guarantee the long-term effectiveness of the Convention system, specific measures were adopted which successfully resolved a great number of similar cases lodged with the European Court. As a result, the Court has struck out many of them under Article 37 of the Convention, having been satisfied with the Government's acknowledging the violations, paying the damages and costs to the victims and adopting general measures under the Committee supervision in accordance with Article 46 (see, inter alia, Aleksentseva and 28 others against the Russian Federation, decision of 4 September 2003).
b) New indexation system introduced through legislation
As regards the obligation of continuous indexation of the amounts awarded by domestic courts, the legislation in force at the relevant time provided for the cost of living as index for calculation of allowances. By decision of 19 June 2002, the Constitutional Court declared the relevant legislative provisions unconstitutional, insofar as this system was found to lack clarity and predictability; in this decision, the Constitutional Court referred, inter alia, to the conclusions of the European Court in the Burdov judgment. Consequently, on 2 April 2004, the Russian Parliament amended the legislation governing the social insurance of Chernobyl victims. The new law, which has been in force since 29 April 2004, provides for a new system of indexation of allowances, which is based on the inflation rate used for calculation of the federal budget for the next financial year.
c) Publication and dissemination of the judgment
The European Court's judgment in Burdov case has been published in Rossijskaia Gazeta (on 4 July 2002), the main official periodical publishing all laws and regulations of the Russian Federation and widely disseminated to all authorities. The judgment has also been published in a number of Russian legal journals and internet data bases, and is thus easily available to the authorities and the public.
d) Conclusion
In view of the foregoing, the Russian Government considers that the measures adopted following the present judgment will prevent new similar violations of the Convention in respect of the category of persons in the applicant's position and that the Russian Federation has thus fulfilled its obligations under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention in the present case.
The government also believes that the measures adopted constitute, moreover, a noticeable step towards resolving the more general problem of non-enforcement of domestic court decisions in various areas, as highlighted in particular by other cases brought before the European Court against the Russian Federation. The government continues to take measures to remedy this problem, not least in the context of the execution, under the Committee's supervision, of other judgments of the European Court.
[1] Rectified on 17 February 2005, at the request of the delegation of the Russian Federation (see figures on page 2, paragraph 6 of the appendix)
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