THIRD SECTION
CASE OF KOSAREV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 2102/20 and 5 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
13 October 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kosarev and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Andreas Zünd,
Frédéric Krenc, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 15 September 2022,
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 Russian 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 excessive length of their pre-trial detention. In application no. 2102/20 the applicant also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
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 ARTICLE 5 § 3 OF THE CONVENTION6. The applicants complained principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 5 § 3
“3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”
7. The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000‑XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006‑X, with further references).
8. In the leading case of Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, 27 November 2012, 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 length of the applicants’ pre-trial detention was excessive.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW11. In application no. 2102/20 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 Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), as regards detention in a cage during court hearings, and Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, as regards poor conditions of transport of detainees.
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, Pastukhov and Yelagin v. Russia, no. 55299/07, 19 December 2013), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
14. The Court further 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,
Decides to join the applications;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention;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);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 13 October 2022, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention
(excessive length of pre-trial detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Period of detention
Court which issued detention order/examined appeal
Length of detention
Specific defects
Other complaints under well‑established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
2102/20
03/12/2019
Maksim Aleksandrovich KOSAREV
1972
Tretyak Tatyana Aleksandrovna
Gelendzhik
20/02/2018 to
10/08/2020
Chertanovskiy District Court of Moscow, Moscow City Court
2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 22 day(s)
failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport and placement in a metal cage during court hearings,
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - detention in a cage in the courtrooms in the Chertanovskiy District Court of Moscow since 22/02/2018 on multiple occasions until 10/08/2020,
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - vans and transit cells since 22/02/2018 until 10/08/2020: passive smoking, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient electric light, inadequate temperature.
9,750
6762/20
30/12/2019
Yuriy Vladimirovich PETROV
1969
27/03/2019
pending
Tverskoy District Court of Moscow; Moscow City Court
More than
3 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 11 day(s)
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; white-collar crime - business fraud; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint
3,400
36377/20
29/07/2020
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich MUZYUKOV
1969
01/10/2019
pending
Krasnoarmeyskyy District Court of Volgograd; Volgograd Regional Court
More than
2 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 7 day(s)
use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint
3,000
38484/20
12/08/2020
Rasul Dzhambekovich SULTANOV
1973
Gromovenko Aleksey Nikolayevich
Rostov-on-Don
26/07/2019 to
21/06/2021
Rostov Regional Court
1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 27 day(s)
failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention; "white collar" charges (abuse of power); fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint
2,100
40271/20
18/08/2020
Vitaliy Bolatovich CHARUSHIN
1972
Kevorkov Denis Rafaelyevich
Moscow
05/06/2019
pending
Chertanovo District Court of Moscow; Moscow City Court
More than
3 year(s), 1 month(s) and 3 day(s)
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding
3,200
40600/20
10/09/2020
Kantemir Feliksovich KARAMZIN
1970
Filatova Mariya Anatolyevna
Moscow
10/04/2019 to
24/05/2021
Balashikha Town Court of the Moscow Region, Moscow Regional Court
2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 15 day(s)
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; collective detention orders; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice
2,200
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.