THIRD SECTION
CASE OF LEVANOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 40953/21 and 18 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
25 April 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Levanov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Peeter Roosma, President,
Ioannis Ktistakis,
Andreas Zünd, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 4 April 2024,
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 disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. They 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.
JURISDICTION6. 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 ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION7. The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention.
8. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see Kudrevičius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey, no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006‑XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova, no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009).
9. In the leading cases of Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014, and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, 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 as to 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 interferences with the applicants’ freedom of assembly were not “necessary in a democratic society”.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW12. Some applicants 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.
13. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); Elvira Dmitriyeva v. Russia, nos. 60921/17 and 7202/18, §§ 77-90, 30 April 2019, concerning administrative convictions for making calls to participate in public events; and Novikova and Others v. Russia, nos. 25501/07 and 4 others, 26 April 2016, concerning disproportionate measures against solo demonstrators.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS14. Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative‑offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 12‑13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see in particular Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
Decides to join the applications;Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;Declares the complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints under Article 6 of the Convention;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention;Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under the 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 25 April 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Peeter Roosma
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention
(disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Name of the public event
Location
Date
Administrative / criminal offence
Penalty
Final domestic decision
Court Name
Date
Other complaints under
well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
40953/21
23/07/2021
Aleksandr Anatolyevich LEVANOV
1986
Lepekhin Andrey Gennadyevich
Chelyabinsk
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Chelyabinsk
23/01/2021
article 19.3 § 1 of CAO
detention for 13 days
Chelyabinsk Regional Court
27/01/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 3.45 p.m. to 11.40 p.m. on 23/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - in both sets of administrative proceedings (in connection with events of 23/01/2021 and 02/03/2022),
Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - 02/03/2022 / conviction for a call to participate in an anti-war rally posted on a social network / Article 20.3.3. § 2 / fine of RUB 90,000 / final decision on 07/07/2022 by the Chelyabinsk Regional Court
6,000
41629/21
30/07/2021
Kristina Dzhonson RAMIRES
1990
Levenberg Yeva Viktorovna
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 7 days
Moscow City Court
04/02/2021
Art. 10 (1) - disproportionate measures against solo demonstrators - 23/01/2021 /solo demonstration in support of A. Navalnyy / Moscow/ Article 20.2. § 5 / fine of RUB 10,000 / final decision on 06/04/2021 by the Moscow City Court;
25/02/2021 /solo demonstration in support of A. Navalnyy / Article 20.2. § 8 / fine of RUB 150,000 / 26/02/2021 Tverskoy District Court of Moscow / final decision on 09/07/2021 by the Moscow City Court,
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 9:00 p.m. on 23/01/2021 and 2:30 a.m. on 24/01/2021; between 12:25 p.m. on 31/01/2021 and 11:00 a.m. on 01/01/2021;
and between 10:30 p.m. on 25/02/2021 and 5:15 p.m. on 26/02/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - in all three sets of administrative proceedings (in connection with events of 23/01/2021 and 31/01/2021 and 25/02/2021)
7,000
42393/21
06/08/2021
Sergey Vladimirovich TOLMACHEV
1979
Lepekhin Andrey Gennadyevich
Chelyabinsk
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Chelyabinsk
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 8 of CAO
detention for 11 days
Chelyabinsk Regional Court
08/02/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2021 for compiling an offence record,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
5,000
58082/21
11/11/2021
Sergey Mikhaylovich FILENKO
1970
Mezak Ernest Aleksandrovich
Saint-Barthélemy-d’Anjou
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Petrozavodsk
23/01/2021
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Petrozavodsk
21/04/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 5,000
fine of RUB 5,000
Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia
11/05/2021
Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia
09/09/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 10 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of expression - 24/02/2022, 03/03/2022, and 15/03/2022 / anti-war posts in the "Vkontakte" social network / Article 20.3.3 § 1 of the CAO / 20/04/2022 Petrozavodsk City Court / fine of RUB 30,000 (upheld by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia on 31/08/2022).
4,000
9493/22
01/02/2022
Kristina Borisovna ISAYEVA
1989
Prosvirkina Kseniya Dmitriyevna
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Belgorod
21/04/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Belgorod Regional Court
02/08/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
3,500
14155/22
18/02/2022
Mariya Yuryevna ANTYUSHEVA
1984
Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich
Krasnoyarsk
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Krasnoyarsk
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 5,000
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
19/08/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 31/01/2021
4,000
14828/22
27/02/2022
Aleksey Aleksandrovich BAVYKIN
1976
Polyakov Daniil Alekseyevich
Voronezh
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Voronezh
21/04/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Voronezh Regional Court
31/08/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 7:30 p.m. on 21/04/2021 and 1:10 a.m. on 22/04/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
14843/22
27/02/2022
Nikita Nikolayevich KABAKOV
1999
Polyakov Daniil Alekseyevich
Voronezh
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Voronezh
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Voronezh Regional Court
30/08/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record between on 31/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
17399/22
20/03/2022
Kseniya Sergeyevna MAYOROVA
2001
Zyryanova Mariya Sergeyevna
St Petersburg
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
St Petersburg
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 2 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
St Petersburg City Court
21/09/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 5:00 p.m. on 31/01/2021 and 01/02/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
17807/22
12/03/2022
Daniel Vladimirovich CHERKASHIN
1998
Polyakov Daniil Alekseyevich
Voronezh
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Voronezh
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Voronezh Regional Court
21/09/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 23/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
25175/22
22/04/2022
Aleksey Pavlovich MERKULOV
1990
Sirosh Fedor Yevgenyevich
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
21/04/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
11/11/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
3,500
37796/22
22/07/2022
Olga Andreyevna KOROBITSINA
2003
Pilipenko Anastasiya Vladimirovna
St Petersburg
Anti-war protest
St Petersburg
06/03/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
St Petersburg City Court
26/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 3:10 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and the morning of 07/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
38208/22
18/07/2022
Aleksandr Sergeyevich ABRAMOV
1996
Levichev Dmitriy Sergeyevich
Krasnoyarsk
Anti-war protest
Krasnoyarsk
06/03/2022
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
27/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on 06/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
39195/22
03/08/2022
Vladimir Mikhaylovich TOBOROVETS
1970
Anti-war protest
Voronezh
24/02/2022
article 20.2 § 8 of CAO
80 hours of community work
Voronezh Regional Court
06/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 8:10 p.m. on 24/02/2022 and 10:00 a.m. on 26/02/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
5,000
41207/22
05/08/2022
Nadezhda Nikolayevna STEPANENKO
2002
Zaytsev Roman Olegovich
Volgograd
Anti-war rally
Volgograd
06/03/2022
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
Volgograd Regional Court
05/05/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 2:50 p.m. and the evening of 06/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
41334/22
12/08/2022
Svetlana Petrovna SEMENYUK
1970
Anti-war protest
Krasnoyarsk
06/03/2022
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
11/05/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 06/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
41342/22
12/08/2022
Mikhail Dmitriyevich MILITSIN
1999
Zaytsev Roman Olegovich
Volgograd
Anti-war protest
Volgograd
06/03/2022
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Volgograd Regional Court
13/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 2:50 p.m. and the evening of 06/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
43109/22
16/08/2022
Marek PASIERB
1984
Anti-war protest
St Petersburg
25/02/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
St Petersburg City Court
19/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 8:45 p.m. on 25/02/2022 and the afternoon of 26/02/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
30089/23
12/03/2022
Artem Aleksandrovich SHCHELOKOV
1988
Polyakov Daniil Alekseyevich
Voronezh
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Voronezh
21/04/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
Fine of RUB 10,000
Voronezh Regional Court
16/09/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 7:30 p.m. on 21/04/2021 and 1:10 a.m. on 22/04/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
4,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.