THIRD SECTION
CASE OF KOZHUKHOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 54994/18 and 3 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
27 October 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kozhukhov 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 6 October 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 deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention. Some applicants 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 § 4 of the Convention6. The applicants complained principally of the deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 5 § 4
“Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful.”
7. The Court reiterates that Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, in guaranteeing to detained persons a right to institute proceedings to challenge the lawfulness of their detention, also proclaims their right, following the institution of such proceedings, to a speedy judicial decision concerning the lawfulness of detention and the ordering of its termination if it proves unlawful (see Baranowski v. Poland, no. 28358/95, § 68, ECHR 2000-III). Where an individual’s personal liberty is at stake, the Court has very strict standards concerning the State’s compliance with the requirement of speedy review of the lawfulness of detention (see, for example, Mamedova v. Russia, no. 7064/05, § 96, 1 June 2006, where the length of appeal proceedings lasting twenty-six days was found to be in breach of the “speediness” requirement of Article 5 § 4).
8. In the leading case of Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154‑58, 22 May 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 appeal proceedings for the review of the lawfulness of the applicants’ detention, as set out in the table appended below, cannot be considered compatible with the requirements set out in Article 5 § 4 of the Convention.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW11. The applicants in applications nos. 54994/18, 33647/19 and 7430/20 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 metal cage during court hearings; Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, §§ 101- 11, 27 November 2012, as regards lengthy pre-trial detention; and Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, 9 April 2019, as regards inadequate conditions of transport.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS12. In applications nos. 7430/20 and 49766/20 the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.
13. The Court has examined the applications and 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 applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION14. 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.”
15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Oravec v. Croatia, no. 51249/11, §§ 78-80, 11 July 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
16. 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 complaints concerning the deficiencies in the proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of applications nos. 7430/20 and 49766/20 inadmissible;Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention concerning the deficiencies in the proceedings for review of the lawfulness of 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 27 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 § 4 of the Convention
(deficiencies in proceedings for review of the lawfulness of detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
First-instance court and date of detention order
Appeal instance court and date of decision
Procedural deficiencies
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
54994/18
08/10/2018
Dmitriy Yegorovich KOZHUKHOV
1990
Presnenskiy District Court of Moscow
27/04/2018
Moscow City Court
06/08/2018
lack of speediness of review of detention (Idalov
v. Russia [GC],
no.5826/03,
§§ 154-58, 22 May 2012)
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - placement in a metal cage from 27/04/2018 to 19/06/2018 on 7 occasions in the Presnenskiy District Court of Moscow.
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport on numerous occasions by van from 27/04/2018 to 19/06/2018; 0.4 sq. m. of personal space; lack of fresh air, overcrowding, inadequate temperature
9,000
33647/19
11/06/2019
Azat Ilgizovich ZAGIYEV
1990
Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court
28/01/2019
Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court
06/03/2019
lack of speediness of review of detention (Idalov
v. Russia [GC],
no.5826/03,
§§ 154-58, 22 May 2012)
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - van, transit cells in courts, 08/02/2019 to 26/04/2019, numerous occasions of transport by van and detention in convoy cells in the courthouse, overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air,
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - Privolzhskiy Circuit Military Court
from 18/03/2019 to 26/04/2019
9,000
7430/20
27/01/2020
Daniel Siksto DIAS-STRUKOV
1974
Aleksandr Dmitriyevich Peredruk
St Petersburg
Moscow Regional Court, 17/10/2019
First Appeal Court of Law, 19/11/2019
lack of speediness of review of detention (Idalov
v. Russia [GC],
no.5826/03,
§§ 154-158, 22 May 2012)
Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - pre-trial detention since 02/03/2017 and until the conviction on 17/03/2020, detention orders issued by the Khimki Town Court of the Moscow Region.
Defects: 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,
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - since 04/03/2017, 0.3 sq. m, van, transit cell, numerous occasions of transport between the detention facilities and the courthouse or to take part in the investigative actions, overcrowding
4,000
49766/20
12/10/2020
Viktor Vladimirovich MASLIKHOV
1984
Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, 30/04/2020
Krasnoyarskiy Regional Court, 09/06/2020
lack of speediness of review of detention (Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154-58, 22 May 2012)
500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.