SECOND SECTION
CASE OF KURILENKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 18369/18 and 50 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
2 November 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kurilenko and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Lorraine Schembri Orland, President,
Frédéric Krenc,
Davor Derenčinović, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 12 October 2023,
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 about their confinement in a metal cage in the courtroom during criminal proceedings against them. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAWJOINDER 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.JURISDICTION
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).ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLEs 3 and 13 OF THE CONVENTION on account of placement in a metal cage in the courtroom
7. The applicants complained principally about their confinement in a metal cage in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Some applicants also complained that they had not been afforded an effective domestic remedy in respect of their grievances under Article 3, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention, reading as follows:
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
8. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in a metal cage in the courtroom in the context of their trial. In the leading cases of Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts) and Vorontsov and Others v. Russia, nos. 59655/14 and 2 others, 31 January 2017, the Court already dealt with the issue of the use of metal cages in courtrooms and found that such a practice constituted in itself an affront to human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention.
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’ confinement in a metal cage before the court during the criminal proceedings against them amounted to degrading treatment.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
11. Having regard to the above finding, the Court does not consider it necessary to deal separately with the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (see Valyuzhenich v. Russia, no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. Some 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 Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103‑08, 22 May 2012, concerning conditions of detention during transport; Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92‑156, 9 April 2019, regarding the lack of an effective remedy in respect of the complaint about conditions of detention during transport; and Chaldayev v. Russia, no. 33172/16, § 66-83, 28 May 2019, concerning restrictions in connection with family visits for prisoners detained on remand and differential treatment in that respect).APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
13. 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.”
14. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Vorontsov and Others, cited above), the Court considers that the finding of a violation in application no. 18369/18 will constitute in itself sufficient just satisfaction (see Ivanov and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 44363/14 and 2 others, § 12, 4 June 2020, and Puzanov v. Russia [Committee], nos. 26895/14 and 2 other applications, § 13, 15 September 2022). It further finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table to the remaining applicants.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,Decides to join the applications;Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with the applicants’ complaints as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the applicants’ placement in a metal cage before the court during the criminal proceedings against them;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 the appended table);Holds that it is not necessary to examine separately the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention about the absence of a domestic remedy to complain about placement in a metal cage in courtrooms;Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicant in application no. 18369/18;Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the remaining 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 2 November 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Lorraine Schembri Orland
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Name of the court
Date of the relevant judgment
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
18369/18
13/03/2018
Anatoliy Yuryevich KURILENKO
1989
Sverdlovsk Regional Court
29/09/2017
The finding of a violation constitutes sufficient just satisfaction
26113/18
27/05/2018
Timur Narimanovich UZBEKOV
1990
Sholokhov Igor Nikolayevich
Kazan
Privolzhskiy Circuit Garrison Court of Tatarstan
08/12/2017
5,500
26771/18
20/05/2018
Yevgeniy Valentinovich CHAYKA
1967
Laptev Aleksey Nikolayevich
Moscow
Meshchanskiy District Court of Moscow
29/12/2017
5,000
28334/18
14/12/2018
Vitaliy Romanovich MIKITIN
1978
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
27/06/2018
7,500
46995/18
10/09/2018
Sergey Vladimirovich MISHIN
1970
Justice of the Peace of Syktyvkar
13/06/2018
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - train on 27/10/2018 - 28/10/2018, involving overnight stay without an allocated individual sleeping place (see Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, § 127, § 133, 9 April 2019), overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water.
8,500
47302/18
21/02/2019
Denis Mikhaylovich SIDORENKOV
1972
Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk
17/01/2019
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - in convoy cells of the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, from 17/01/2018 to 26/08/2019 (overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
8,500
50217/18
04/10/2018
Boris Vladimirovich KUNITSYN
1989
Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich
Syktyvkar
Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic
11/05/2018
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - numerous occasions of transport by prison van (overcrowding) since 29/06/2015 and until the applicant’s release on 11/05/2018;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
6,200
50296/18
04/10/2018
Yevgeniy Grigoryevich KAYDO
1986
Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich
Syktyvkar
Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic
09/04/2018
7,500
56524/18
07/11/2018
Aleksey Viktorovich LICHUTIN
1979
Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich
Syktyvkar
Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic
11/05/2018
7,500
57713/18
29/10/2018
Galina Nikolayevna AFANASYEVA
1993
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Surgut Town Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region
09/06/2018
7,500
58921/18
26/11/2018
Dmitriy Sergeyevich ILYUKHIN
1992
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Verkhneuslonskiy District Court of the Tatarstan Republic
10/07/2018
7,500
59050/18
20/04/2019
Andrey Aleksandrovich MENSHIKOV
1994
Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen
27/11/2018
Art. 8 (1) - restrictions on family visits in pre-trial facilities - SIZO-1 Tyumen, limitation on the frequency of short-term family visits, physical separation and supervision during short-term family visits, refusal of long-term family visits. The applicant was detained in SIZO between 15/03/2017 and 09/04/2019.
Art. 14 - in conjunction with Art. 8 - discriminatory treatment compared with convicted prisoners as regards duration of short-term family visits and absence of long-term family visits
9,750
59594/18
26/11/2018
Igor Olegovich BEREZOVSKIY
1991
Verkhneuslonskiy District Court of the Tatarstan Republic
07/08/2018
7,500
1229/19
08/12/2018
Ruslan Anatolyevich GAZDAROV
1990
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Justice of the Peace of Tobolsk
31/07/2018
7,500
1748/19
07/12/2018
Aleksandr Andreyevich YEFREMOV
1997
Tobolskiy District Court of the Tyumen Region
16/08/2018
7,500
2970/19
08/12/2018
Vladimir Vladimirovich BOGATYREV
1983
Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region
29/08/2018
7,500
3897/19
04/01/2019
Yevgeniy Vladislavovich ZHELTOVSKIY
1994
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region
23/11/2018
7,500
4867/19
23/11/2018
Andrey Sergeyevich IGUSHEV
1979
Ukhta Town Court of Komi Republic
31/07/2020
Ukhta Town Court of the Komi Republic; Supreme Court of the Komi Republic
18/09/2020
Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic
22/04/2021
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - on 23/11/2018, by train - insufficient number of sleeping places, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light; on 23/11/2018, by van - 0.6 sq. m., overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light; on 24/11/2019, by van - overcrowding
8,500
6084/19
08/01/2019
Anatoliy Vyacheslavovich TSINKALOV
1997
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Tyumen Regional Court
12/11/2018
7,500
6808/19
08/01/2019
Vitaliy Vitalyevich VOYTSEKHOV
1991
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Tyumen Regional Court
12/11/2018
7,500
7047/19
14/01/2019
Azat Rifatovich TIMERZYANOV
1993
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Tsentralnyy District Court of Tyumen;
Tyumen Regional Court
24/07/2018
7,500
7396/19
24/12/2018
Nina Fedorovna TRAPSH
1944
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen
31/10/2018
7,500
7548/19
06/01/2019
Ilsur Inzilovich IDIYATULIN
1970
Vtorushin Nikolay Aleksandrovich
Tyumen
Bavly Town Court of the Tatarstan Republic
20/07/2018;
Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic
02/10/2018
7,500
8993/19
14/01/2019
Gennadiy Olegovich ISTOMIN
1998
Sarmasin Damir Fazylzhanovich
Orsk
Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Orenburg
20/11/2018
7,500
9077/19
22/01/2019
Rinaz Azatovich KHASHIMOV
1988
Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region
20/09/2018
7,500
9844/19
22/01/2019
Georgiy Nikolayevich BORCHA
1992
Yarkovskiy District Court of the Tyumen Region
01/08/2018;
Tyumen Regional Court
27/09/2018
7,500
10883/19
04/02/2019
Ruslan Lyufizovich SAYAFAROV
1992
Surgut Town Court the Khanty-Mansy Region
05/10/2018
7,500
11751/19
28/01/2019
Aleksandr Anatolyevich PUYSHIS
1991
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Neman Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region
06/12/2018
7,500
11801/19
28/01/2019
Vasiliy Borisovich KOLGANOV
1958
Berdiyev Artem Artykovich
Samara
Samarskiy District Court of Samara
04/09/2018
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - by van, 22/09/2016 - 04/09/2018, 0.2 sq. m., lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, numerous occasions of transport from the detention facility to the courthouse
8,500
11852/19
28/01/2019
Mikhail Viktorovich NASENNIK
1983
Surgut Town Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region
27/08/2018
7,500
12239/19
28/01/2019
Nikolay Sergeyevich NIKITENKO
1986
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Neman Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region
06/12/2018
7,500
12241/19
28/02/2019
Maksim Viktorovich NIKITIN
1994
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Neman Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region
06/12/2018
7,500
12790/19
16/02/2019
Yevgeniy Sergeyevich DUBROVIN
1992
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Tobolsk Town Court of the Tyumen Region
02/10/2018
7,500
13742/19
19/02/2019
Sergey Sergeyevich POPOV
1998
Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen
18/09/2018;
Tyumen Regional Court
01/11/2018
7,500
14965/19
07/03/2019
Mikhail Andreyevich VAGANOV
1987
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen
18/12/2018;
Zavodoukovskiy District Court of Tyumen
16/01/2019
7,500
15519/19
22/04/2019
Aleksey Vladislavovich NECHAYEV
1993
Balog Natalya Andreyevna
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
27/06/2018
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport on numerous occasions from the detention facility to the courthouse during the period between 24/08/2016 and 24/10/2018; by van and detention in a transit cell, severe overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, no access to potable water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, passive smoking;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
8,500
16826/19
12/03/2019
Aleksey Aleksandrovich KUKUSHKIN
1979
Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk
21/11/2018
7,500
18023/19
12/03/2019
Sergey Aleksandrovich STIKHARNYY
1973
Supreme Court of the Komi Republic
26/04/2019
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport by train and detention in transit cells from transport by train and detention in transit cells from 02/02/2019 to 23/02/2019; 0.3 sq. m. of personal space; overcrowding, passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet
8,500
18153/19
22/03/2019
Vitaliy Fedorovich KARPOV
1985
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Tsentralnyy District Court of Tyumen
10/01/2019;
Tyumen Regional Court
26/02/2019
7,500
18506/19
27/03/2019
Aleksandr Lazarevich ARTYUSHKIN
1986
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Surgut Town Court the Khanty-Mansy Region
11/10/2018
7,500
19437/19
27/03/2019
Aleksey Sergeyevich KOZHARIN
1974
Petrov Roman Nikolayevich
Cheboksary
Cherepovets Town Court, Vologda Regional Court
10/12/2018
7,500
19711/19
29/03/2019
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich SEMENOV
1984
Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk
10/12/2018
7,500
20331/19
29/03/2019
Anastasiya Andreyevna KORNEVA
1998
Lukyanova Svetlana Anatolyevna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Kalininskiy District Court of Tyumen
18/03/2019
7,500
21607/19
05/04/2019
Dmitriy Maksimovich KARAPATS
1979
Smolninskiy District Court of St Petersburg
15/02/2019
7,500
23379/19
02/04/2019
Sergey Aleksandrovich MITSKEVICH
1991
Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich
Nizhniy Tagil
Ordzhonikidzevskiy District Court of Yekaterinburg; Sverdlovsk Regional Court
18/01/2019
7,500
24005/19
18/04/2019
Aleksandr Sergeyevich BYRKA
1986
Koneva Nina Filippovna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Leninskiy District Court of Tyumen
26/03/2019
7,500
24439/19
22/04/2019
Vitaliy Sergeyevich SIPYAGIN
1987
Inta Town Court of the Komi Republic
02/04/2018
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transport by train and van from the pre-trial detention facility to the temporary police ward in another town to take part in the investigative actions; proceedings are still pending; transport on-going; insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light, passive smoking
8,500
24933/19
15/04/2019
Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich KORYTKO
1986
Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Orenburg
30/11/2018
7,500
25538/19
21/04/2019
Roman Yevgenyevich NOVITSKIY
1992
Nefteyuganskiy District Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region
13/11/2018
7,500
25602/19
18/04/2019
Yevgeniy TABAK
1995
Koneva Nina Filippovna
Khanty-Mansiysk
Nefteyuganskiy District Court of the Khanty-Mansy Region
16/01/2019
7,500
26586/19
18/04/2019
Rustam Sultanovich GORBAKOV
1987
Magomadov Andarbek Sharanovich
Moscow
Gagarinskiy District Court of Moscow
08/04/2019
7,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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