THIRD SECTION
CASE OF KUDRYAVTSEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Application no. 50487/14 and 7 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
6 July 2017
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kudryavtsev 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 15 June 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. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under 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 Ananyev and Others, cited above, §§ 100‑119.
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 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.
6. Dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 6 July 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
Representative name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Number of 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]
50487/14
30/06/2014
Yuriy Aleksandrovich Kudryavtsev
22/03/1951
IK-11 Bor Nizhniy Novgorod Region
12/12/2006
pending
More than 10 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 26 day(s)
130 inmate(s)
1.6 m²
6 toilet(s)
6 sinks, no hot water, poor food quality, not provided with warm seasonal clothes and shoes and blanket, meals intake of 5 min. long
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention
13,800
7250/16
20/01/2016
Gyulmirza Gadzhirzy Ogly Rashidov
03/11/1976
IK-15 Norilsk
30/07/2007 to
29/09/2015
8 year(s) and 2 month(s)
120 inmate(s)
0.7-1 m²
6 toilet(s)
lack of fresh air, lack of toilet privacy
5,000
7403/16
20/01/2016
Aleksey Vladimirovich Chukhrov
05/03/1980
IK-16 Gromadsk, Krasnoyarsk Region
01/01/2001 to
30/08/2003
2 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 30 day(s)
IK-15 Norilsk
30/08/2003 to
27/07/2007
3 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 28 day(s)
IK-17 Krasnoyarsk
27/07/2007 to
28/07/2010
3 year(s) and 2 day(s)
IK-15 Norilsk
28/07/2010 to
18/12/2014
4 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 21 day(s)
IK-17 Krasnoyarsk
18/12/2014 to
21/08/2015
8 month(s) and 4 day(s)
120 inmate(s)
4 toilet(s)
180 inmate(s)
5 toilet(s)
150 inmate(s)
6 toilet(s)
180 inmate(s)
5 toilet(s)
150 inmate(s)
6 toilet(s)
lack of fresh air, no ventilation, no hot or cold water
lack of privacy when using toilet
lack of privacy when using toilet, no ventilation, warm clothes provided not in full range
lack of privacy when using the toilet
lack of privacy when using the toilet, no ventilation, warm clothes provided not in full range
5,000
14645/16
24/02/2016
Ilya Vyacheslavovich Ilyin
11/10/1982
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1, Kostroma
17/02/2015 to
01/10/2015
7 month(s) and 15 day(s)
2 m²
lack of (adequate) heating, infestation of the cell with insects, lack of (sufficient) natural light, lack of hygienic facilities, poor quality of food
3,600
21221/16
05/04/2016
Rustam Nikolayevich Orekhov
19/03/1983
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-7 Kostroma Region (OT-15/7)
09/06/2009 to
21/10/2010
1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 13 day(s)
IK-1 Kostroma Region (OT-15/1)
21/10/2010 to
02/11/2010
13 day(s)
IK-7 Kostroma Region (OT-15/7)
02/11/2010 to
05/03/2013
2 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 4 day(s)
IK-1 Kostroma Region (OT-15/1)
05/03/2013 to
29/03/2013
25 day(s)
IK-7 Kostroma Region (OT-15/7)
29/03/2013 to
16/10/2015
2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 18 day(s)
IK-1 Kostroma Region (OT-15/1)
16/10/2015 to
29/12/2015
2 month(s) and 14 day(s)
120 inmate(s)
1 m²
3 toilet(s)
4 inmate(s)
2.5 m²
1 toilet(s)
120 inmate(s)
1 m²
3 toilet(s)
4 inmate(s)
2.5 m²
1 toilet(s)
120 inmate(s)
1 m²
3 toilet(s)
90 inmate(s)
0.6 m²
overcrowding, cramped walking yard, insufficient hygiene facilities, infestation of the cell with insects, dormitory infested with vermin
overcrowding, insufficient hygiene facilities
overcrowding, cramped walking yard, insufficient hygiene facilities, infestation of the cell with insects, dormitory infested with vermin
overcrowding, insufficient hygiene facilities
overcrowding, infestation of the cell with insects, cramped walking yard, insufficient hygiene facility, dormitory infested with vermin
overcrowding, cramped walking yard
5,000
21351/16
05/04/2016
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Shalamov
09/12/1976
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1, Kostroma Region
28/06/2011 to
12/01/2016
4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 16 day(s)
2 m²
lack of (sufficient) natural light, poor quality of food, infestation of the cell with insects, lack of (regular) physical exercise on fresh air, lack of proper hygienic facilities
5,000
22078/16
29/03/2016
Dmitriy Vladimirovich Gorshkov
06/03/1978
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1 Kostroma Region (OT-15/1)
01/10/2014 to
25/12/2015
1 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 25 day(s)
100 inmate(s)
0.6 m²
overcrowding, infestation of the cell with insects, high humidity, cramped walking yard, insufficient lighting, lack of fresh air, inadequate working premises conditions, dormitory infested with vermin
5,000
24581/16
20/04/2016
Vagif Dilgamovich Ibragimov
06/07/1980
IK-7, Tula Region
21/07/2009 to
13/12/2015
6 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 23 day(s)
1.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of hygienic facilities, poor quality of food, lack of proper seasonal clothes
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention
5,000
[1]. Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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