THIRD SECTION
CASE OF KOLCHANOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 47563/16 and 6 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
14 December 2017
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kolchanov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Luis López Guerra, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 23 November 2017,
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 applications were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).
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. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER 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.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
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, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑165, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 36–40, 7 April 2005).
8. In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, 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. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
11. In applications nos. 50004/16 and 51355/16, the applicants also submitted complaints under Article 13 of the Convention, in accordance with 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 Sergey Babushkin v. Russia (cited above, §§ 38-45, pertaining to the absence of an effective remedy to complaint about the conditions of detention in Russia).
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
12. 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, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014, and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, no. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
14. 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,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the applications admissible;
3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
5. 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 14 December 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtLuis López Guerra
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant name
Date of birth
Facility start and end date Duration
Inmates per brigade Sq. m. per inmate Number of toilets per brigade
Specific grievances
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]
47563/16
26/07/2016
Vladimir Alekseyevich Kolchanov
25/03/1959
FKU IK-11 Bor, Nizhniy Novgorod Region
01/07/2009 to
31/08/2016
7 year(s) and 2 month(s)
120 inmate(s)
2 m²
8 toilet(s)
overcrowding, lack of requisite medical assistance, poor quality of food, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
5,500
50004/16
11/08/2016
Zaur Mukhamedovich Shebzukhov
27/08/1986
IK-5 Startsevo Krasnoyarsk
01/09/2015 to
22/08/2016
11 month(s) and
22 day(s)
3 inmate(s)
3 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, passive smoking, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of clothes, lack of requisite medical assistance
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
51355/16
13/10/2016
Konstantin Ivanovich Kryazhevskikh
29/12/1980
IK-29 Kirov Region
18/11/2010 to
08/11/2016
5 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 22 day(s)
4 inmate(s)
3.2 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,300
63004/16
12/10/2016
Sergey Nikolayevich Tsarev
08/05/1980
IK-34 Krasnoyarsk
17/11/2012
pending
More than 4 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 8 day(s)
146 inmate(s)
8 toilet(s)
overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, physical outdoor exercises in inappropriate clothes
8,300
63747/16
12/10/2016
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Ivanov
05/11/1985
IK-11, Bor, Nizhniy Novgorod region
01/10/2012 to
28/04/2017
4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 28 day(s)
2.1 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of appropriate underwear, clothing and shoes
6,800
64433/16
26/10/2016
Roman Sergeyevich Kovalev
15/09/1984
IK-11 Nizhegorodskiy Region
17/12/2012
pending
More than 4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 8 day(s)
140 inmate(s)
2.3 m²
6 toilet(s)
no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities
8,000
75870/16
30/11/2016
Aleksey Viktorovich Derin
18/06/1977
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
03/03/2016
pending
More than 1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 22 day(s)
120 inmate(s)
2.2 m²
lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to toilet, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease
7,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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