FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF DRAZHNYK AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 55957/20 and 8 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
29 September 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Drazhnyk and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
Ivana Jelić,
Kateřina Šimáčková, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 8 September 2022,
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 inadequate conditions of their detention and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law.
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 ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION6. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention and of the lack of an effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention, which read as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Article 13
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority ...”
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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122-41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑59, 10 January 2012).
8. In the leading cases of Melnik v. Ukraine, no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006 and Sukachov v. Ukraine, no. 14057/17, 30 January 2020, 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. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION12. 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, Sukachov, cited above, §§ 165 and 167), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
14. The Court further 0considers 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;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law;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 29 September 2022, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Sq. m per inmate
Specific grievances
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
55957/20
20/11/2020
Andriy Oleksandrovych DRAZHNYK
1988
Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility
17/07/2019
to
11/12/2020
1 year and 4 months and 25 days
2.5 m²
lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, overcrowding
3,800
2681/21
17/12/2020
Ivan Ivanovych ZALEVSKYY
1992
Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility
05/05/2019
to
08/02/2021
1 year and 9 months and 4 days
2.3 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or insufficient electric light
4,600
5169/21
09/01/2021
Mikhail Igorevich BELYAYEV
1981
Romny Detention Facility no. 56
28/08/2004
pending
More than 17 years and 10 months and 2 days
3.3 m²
constant electric light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding
7,500
27821/21
21/05/2021
Dmytro Sergiyovych BARANOV
1990
Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Zhytomyr Detention Facility no. 8
11/03/2019
pending
More than 3 years and 3 months and 19 days
2.8 m²
overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking, poor quality of food
7,300
32770/21
16/06/2021
Oleksiy Volodymyrovych PROTSENKO
2000
Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych
Pyatykhatky
Vinnytsya Detention Facility no.1
21/02/2019
to
19/08/2021
2 years and 5 months and 30 days
2.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking
5,800
32772/21
16/06/2021
Mykola Mykolayovych BUZYLO
1997
Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych
Pyatykhatky
Vinnytsya Detention Facility no.1
28/09/2017
to
30/09/2021
4 years and 3 days
2.5 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, passive smoking
7,500
32774/21
16/06/2021
Vasyl Vasylyovych MYTRUSHENKO
1963
Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych
Pyatykhatky
Vinnytsya Detention Facility no.1
29/09/2017
to
28/10/2021
4 years and 1 month
2.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking
7,500
32776/21
16/06/2021
Sergiy Ivanovych GRYTSENKO
1966
Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych
Pyatykhatky
Vinnytsya Detention Facility no.1
16/01/2017
pending
More than 5 years and 5 months and 14 days
2.5 m²
overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking
7,500
32778/21
16/06/2021
Igor Vasylyovych MYTRUSHENKO
1967
Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych
Pyatykhatky
Vinnytsya Detention Facility no.1
29/09/2017
to
24/11/2021
4 years and 1 month and 27 days
2.5 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, passive smoking
7,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.