FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF KORZH AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 56154/21 and 9 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
6 July 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Korzh and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Carlo Ranzoni, President,
Lado Chanturia,
María Elósegui, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 15 June 2023,
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 that the conditions of their detention had been inappropriate and that they had no 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. 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.
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 6 July 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Carlo Ranzoni
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]
56154/21
08/11/2021
Sergiy Grygorovych KORZH
1990
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
29/11/2012
pending
More than 10 years and 5 months and 28 days
4-4.9 m²
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking, poor quality of food
7,500
56156/21
08/11/2021
Roman Petrovych SHAMRAY
1987
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
19/12/2014
pending
More than 8 years and 5 months and 8 days
4-4.5 m²
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking, poor quality of food
7,500
56157/21
08/11/2021
Grygoriy Mykolayovych KIOSE
1984
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
19/07/2017
pending
More than 5 years and 10 months and 8 days
2.3-4.5 m²
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding, passive smoking, poor quality of food
7,500
56159/21
08/11/2021
Vitaliy Anatoliyovych YEVSYEYEV
1979
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
18/01/2015
pending
More than 8 years and 4 months and 9 days
4.2-4.5 m²
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking, poor quality of food
7,500
56957/21
10/11/2021
Sergiy Vasylyovych GUK
1979
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
25/03/2021
pending
More than 2 years and 2 months and 2 days
4,4 m²
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking, poor quality of food
5,300
57094/21
09/11/2021
Ashot Ivanovych VARTANOV
1988
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
04/05/2014
pending
More than 9 years and 23 days
4-5 m²
lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of toiletries, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of potable water
7,500
57394/21
09/11/2021
Bogdan Valeriyovych KURASOV
1978
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility No. 3
18/11/2013
pending
More than 9 years and
6 months and 9 days
4-4.48 m²
lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, bunk beds, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water
7,500
57531/21
09/11/2021
Nazar Sergiyovych PAVLOV
1985
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryviy Rih Detention Facility no. 3
04/02/2014
pending
More than 9 years and 3 months and 23 days
4 m²
lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water
7,500
8371/22
01/02/2022
Oleksandr Sergiyovych TKACHUK
1985
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility
09/01/2016
pending
More than 7 years and 4 months and 18 days
>2.7 m²
lack of fresh air, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding
7,500
16211/22
23/02/2022
Oleksandr Vadymovych LYSENKO
1984
Sosyedko Maksym Oleksandrovych
Kyiv
Dnipro Detention Facility no. 4
28/11/2016
to
08/02/2022
5 years and 2 months and 12 days
2.6-3 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water
7,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.