FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF PRYADKO AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 4595/20 and 5 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
15 April 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Pryadko and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Ivana Jelić, President,
Ganna Yudkivska,
Arnfinn Bårdsen, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 25 March 2021,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine 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 Ukrainian 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 inadequate conditions of their detention and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law.
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.ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention, which read as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Article 13
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority ...”
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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122 ‑141, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑159, 10 January 2012).
8. In the leading cases of Melnik v. Ukraine (no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006) and Sukachov v. Ukraine (no. 14057/17, 30 January 2020) 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. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.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, Melnik, cited above), 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, Decides to join the applications; Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;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 15 April 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtIvana Jelić
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Sq. m
per inmate
Specific grievances
Amount awarded
for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
per applicant
(in euros)[1]
4595/20
26/12/2019
Yuriy Stanislavovych PRYADKO
1965
Zhukova Yevgeniya Borysivna
Dnipro
Dnipro Penitentiary Facility no. 4
25/07/2018
to
28/10/2020
2 years and 3 months and 4 days
3.6-3.8 m²
Overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water.
5,500
5613/20
09/01/2020
Oleksiy Viktorovych TSATSENKO
1988
Bulkach Sergiy Petrovych
Dnipro
Dnipro Penitentiary Facility no. 4
12/03/2019
to
03/12/2019
8 months and 22 days
3.5 m²
Overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, passive smoking.
2,400
5728/20
17/01/2020
Oleg Pavlovych PETROV
1975
Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Dnipro Penitentiary Facility no. 4
27/11/2018
to
06/09/2019
9 months and 11 days
3.4 m²
Overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light.
2,600
26502/20
04/06/2020
Sergiy Vasylyovych CHORNYY
1997
Yolkin Andriy Valeriyovych
Kryvyy Rig
Kharkiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility
25/11/2019
to
03/12/2019
9 days
2.7-3.7 m²
Overcrowding, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of toiletries, lack or insufficient quantity of food, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food.
600
20792/20
23/04/2020
Oleksandr Viktorovych LOPAREVYCH
1979
Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych
Dnipro
Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility
29/11/2017
pending
More than 3 years and 2 months and 20 days
2 m²
Overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light.
7,100
31580/20
09/07/2020
Mariya Valeriyivna CHERVONA
1995
Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych
Dnipro
Kryvyy Rig Pre-Trial Detention Facility no.3
11/10/2017
to
23/04/2020
2 years and 6 months and 13 days
2.5-4.8 m²
Lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding, poor quality of food.
5,900
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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