CASE OF GERBURT AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

FIFTH SECTION

CASE OF GERBURT AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

(Applications nos. 26877/23 and 9 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

9 October 2025

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Gerburt and Others v. Ukraine,

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

 Andreas Zünd, President,
 Diana Sârcu,
 Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 18 September 2025,

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. In application no. 152/24, the applicant also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

6.  The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention and lack of an effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

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.  The Court also refers to its standard of proof and methods for assessment of evidence in conditions-of-detention cases (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 127-28). In particular, in reply to a prima facie case of ill-treatment, complained of by the applicants, the Government is expected to provide primary evidence showing cell floor plans and the actual number of inmates during the specific periods of the applicants’ detention (see Ananyev and Others, cited above, § 123, and, for example, Sparysh and Kutsmand v. Ukraine [Committee], nos. 49709/18 and 49870/18, 12 September 2024). Other documents and photographs, related to air, food, water quality control, pest control, temperature and luminosity measurements, bathing facilities, privacy of toilet, laundry services, etc., should pertain to cells and periods of the applicants’ detention.

9.  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.

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 applicants’ conditions of detention were inadequate.

11.  The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.

12.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

13.  In application no. 152/24, the applicant 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 case set out in the appended table.

14.  In application no. 2404/24, the applicant also raised complaints under Article 6 of the Convention.

15.  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.

16.  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.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

(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 9 October 2025, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

 Viktoriya Maradudina Andreas Zünd

 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

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]

26877/23

15/06/2023

Oleksandr Igorovych GERBURT

1990

Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych

Dnipro

Zhytomyr Detention Facility no. 8

28/09/2021

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 10 month(s)

and 10 day(s)

2.6 m²

overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air

7,500

-

30521/23

13/07/2023

Yuriy TYMOSHENKO

1969

Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych

Pyatykhatky

Zhytomyr Detention Facility no. 8

15/12/2022

pending

More than 2 year(s) and 7 month(s)

and 23 day(s)

2.6 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities

6,100

-

30527/23

13/07/2023

Vitaliy Ivanovych POLYAK

1982

Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych

Pyatykhatky

Vinnytsya Detention Facility no. 1

21/05/2018

pending

More than 7 year(s) and 2 month(s)

and 17 day(s)

2-2.5 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water

7,500

-

30582/23

13/07/2023

Pavlo Petrovych DOMOSLAVSKYY

1983

Vavrenyuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych

Pyatykhatky

Zhytomyr Pre-Trial Detention Facility no. 8

08/11/2021 to

14/08/2023

1 year(s)

and 9 month(s)

and 7 day(s)

2.6 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of toiletries, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light

4,600

-

31673/23

02/08/2023

Bogdan Rashatovych TETYORA

2003

Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych

Dnipro

Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility

06/10/2021

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 10 month(s)

and 1 day(s)

2.5 - 3 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light

7,500

-

35206/23

10/09/2023

Dmytro Volodymyrovych KYSIL

1998

Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych

Dnipro

Chernihiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

27/01/2022

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 6 month(s)

and 11 day(s)

2.5 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light

7,500

-

152/24

18/12/2023

Yevgen Viktorovych YAKOVENKO

1981

Kushnir Valeriy Volodymyrovych

Dnipro

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

16/06/2020 to

19/10/2023

3 year(s)

and 4 month(s)

and 4 day(s)

2.6-3 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, poor quality of potable water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell

Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - 14/06/2020 - 19/10/2023, lack of reasoning by the court reviewing detention

(see Kharchenko v. Ukraine,

no. 40107/02, §§ 77-81,

10 February 2011,

Ignatov v. Ukraine, 40583/15,

§§ 38-42, 15 December 2016),

Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 14/06/2020 - 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)

9,700

250

155/24

15/12/2023

Valeriy Mykolayovych VASYLYEV

1978

Kushnir Valeriy Volodymyrovych

Dnipro

Chernivtsi Pre-Trial Detention Facility

04/11/2022 to

17/08/2023

9 month(s)

and 14 day(s)

2.5 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, poor quality of potable water, lack of toiletries, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen

2,600

-

2404/24

23/12/2023

Stanislav Oleksandrovych MUZYKOV

1986

Kushnir Valeriy Oleksandrovych

Dnipro

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

27/01/2022

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 6 month(s)

and 11 day(s)

2.5-3.4 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, poor quality of potable water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food

7,500

-

10212/24

04/04/2024

Artem Stepanovych KOSTENKO

1988

Kulbach Sergiy Oleksandrovych

Limoges

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

25/10/2022

pending

More than 2 year(s) and 9 month(s)

and 13 day(s)

2.5-3.4 m²

overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, poor quality of potable water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food

6,400

-

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.

[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.