CASE OF KIRILYUK AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF KIRILYUK AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 46051/21 and 2 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

10 July 2025

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

In the case of Kirilyuk and Others v. Russia,

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

 Diana Kovatcheva, President,
 Canòlic Mingorance Cairat,
 Vasilka Sancin, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 19 June 2025,

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 unlawful detention (deprivation of liberty). They 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 Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68‑73, 17 January 2023).

7.  The applicants complained principally of the unlawful detention (deprivation of liberty). They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 5 § 1 of the Convention.

8.  The Court reiterates that that the expressions “lawful” and “in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law” in Article 5 § 1 essentially refer back to national law and state the obligation to conform to the substantive and procedural rules thereof. It is in the first place for the national authorities, notably the courts, to interpret and apply domestic law. However, since under Article 5 § 1 failure to comply with domestic law entails a breach of the Convention, it follows that the Court can and should exercise a certain power to review whether this law has been complied with (see, among numerous other authorities, Benham v. the United Kingdom, 10 June 1996, §§ 40-41 in fine, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996 III).

9.  In the leading cases of Fortalnov and Others v. Russia, nos. 7077/06 and 12 others, 26 June 2018, Rozhkov v. Russia (no. 2), no. 38898/04, §§ 91‑96, 31 January 2017, Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, § 67, 13 February 2018, Kuptsov and Kuptsova v. Russia, no. 6110/03, § 81, 3 March 2011 and Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 121-22, 10 April 2018, 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’ detention was contrary to domestic law requirements and the “lawfulness” guarantee of Article 5 of the Convention (see the appended table).

11.  The applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see the 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 well-established case-law (see Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, regarding the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); Dudchenko v. Russia, no. 37717/05, §§ 93‑100, 7 November 2017, and Radzhab Magomedov v. Russia, no. 20933/08, §§ 80-84, 20 December 2016, concerning secret surveillance measures taken in the framework of criminal proceeding; Konstantin Moskalev v. Russia, no. 59589/10, §§ 23-36, 7 November 2017, concerning the lack of an effective remedy in respect of the complaint about the secret surveillance; Novaya Gazeta and Others v. Russia, nos. 11884/22 and 161 others, 11 February 2025, concerning prosecution for the statements about the Russian military; Elvira Dmitriyeva v. Russia, nos. 60921/17 and 7202/18, §§ 77‑90, 30 April 2019, as to administrative conviction for making calls to participate in public assemblies; and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention.

12.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Biryuchenko and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 1253/04 and 2 others, § 96, 11 December 2014), 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 10 July 2025, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

 Viktoriya Maradudina Diana Kovatcheva

 Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention

(unlawful detention (deprivation of liberty))

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Start date of unauthorised detention

End date of unauthorised 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]

46051/21

10/09/2021

Natalya Ivanovna KIRILYUK

1961

Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich

Vilnius

31/01/2021

01/02/2021

Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity (see Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, § 34, 8 October 2019; Ryabinina and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 50271/06 and 8 other applications, § 35, 2 July 2019), Detention as an administrative suspect: beyond the three-hour statutory period (Art. 27.5(1)-(4) CAO) (see Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 121-22, 10 April 2018)

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - in respect of the proceedings before the Rostov Regional Court which ended on 23/03/2021 (conviction under 20.2 § 6, fine of RUB 10,000) and on 06/07/2022 (conviction under 20.3.3 § 1, fine of RUB 30,000),

Art. 10 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of expression - the applicant was prosecuted for having published a text on her personal page in Odnoklassniki social network which "discredited" Russian armed forces and their actions in Ukraine (conviction under Art. 20.3.3 CAO, administrative fine of RUB 10,000, final decision - 06/07/2022, Rostov Regional Court)

4,000

951/22

15/12/2021

Aleksey Vladimirovich GORDIYENKO

1978

Kiryanov Aleksandr Vladimirovich

Taganrog

13/08/2020,

12.44 p.m.

13/08/2020, 9.30 p.m.

Forced attendance without evidence of proper summons to appear or of failure by the applicant to comply without a valid excuse (see Rozhkov v. Russia (no. 2), no. 38898/04, §§ 91-96, 31 January 2017)

Art. 8 (1) - secret surveillance - Interception of telephone communications authorised, on multiple occasions, by the Leninskiy District Court of Rostov-on-Don from 06/07/2021 to 19/08/2021. The applicant was refused access to the decisions authorising the interception. Nor did the courts verify the existence of a “reasonable suspicion” or apply the “necessity in a democratic society test”,

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law - in respect of secret surveillance

9,750

37080/22

18/07/2022

Mikhail Mikhaylovich PISTSOV

1995

Sabinin Andrey Vasilyevich

Stavropol

27/02/2022

21/04/2022

28/02/2022

21/04/2022

Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect for the purposes of compiling an offence record: no written record of the administrative escort (Art. 27.2 § 3 CAO) (see Timishev v. Russia [Committee], no. 47598/08, § 21, 28 November 2017)

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - in respect of both sets of proceedings,

Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - conviction under Art. 20.2 § 2 CAO for a post in VKontakte social network on a forthcoming Anti-war rally, 5 days’ administrative arrest, final decision was taken by the Stavropol Regional Court on 18/03/2022,

Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of the administrative arrest imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO,

Art. 10 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of expression - conviction under Art. 20.3.3 § 1 CAO for the statements made on 18/04/2022 at the military commissariat, fine of RUB 35,000, final decision was taken by the Stavropol Regional Court on 08/06/2022

5,000

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