THIRD SECTION
CASE OF ISAKOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 54446/07 and 23 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
4 July 2017
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Isakov 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 Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 13 June 2017,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by Russian nationals on the various dates indicated in the Appendix.
2. Some of the applicants were represented by lawyers, whose names are listed in the Appendix. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights, and then by his successor in that office, Mr M. Galperin.
3. The applicants complained, in particular, that, as they were or had been convicted prisoners, they were, or had been barred from voting in elections.
4. On 12 December 2011 application no. 16824/10 was communicated to the Government. On 5 March 2015 the disenfranchisement complaints raised in applications nos. 54446/07, 51229/08, 44423/10, 43115/11, 77991/11, 78379/11, 78381/11, 78387/11, 1735/12, 2866/12, 10883/12, 18632/12, 31455/12, 35559/12, 69342/12, 73777/12, 78747/12, 5023/13, 10131/13, 3376/14, 14407/14, 32634/14, and 68565/14 were also communicated. The remainder of this group of applications was declared inadmissible pursuant to Rule 54 § 3 of the Rules of Court.
5. The Government did not object to the examination of application no. 16824/10, for which assignation to a Chamber had initially been envisaged, by a Committee.
THE FACTS
6. The applicants are, or were at the relevant period, convicted prisoners, with the result that they are, or were, automatically banned from voting, by virtue of Article 32 § 3 of the Russian Constitution.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
7. 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 PROTOCOL No. 1 TO THE CONVENTION
8. The applicants complained about their disenfranchisement on the grounds that they were, or had been, convicted prisoners. Some of them also claimed that they had been prevented from voting in the elections of members of the State Duma of 4 December 2011. They relied on Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, which reads as follows:
“The High Contracting Parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.”
9. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding ineligibility to vote in elections (see, for instance, Hirst v. the United Kingdom (no. 2) [GC], no. 74025/01, ECHR 2005‑IX; Kulinski and Sabev v. Bulgaria, no. 63849/09, 21 July 2016; Anchugov and Gladkov v. Russia, nos. 11157/04 and 15162/05, 4 July 2013; Greens and M.T. v. the United Kingdom, nos. 60041/08 and 60054/08, ECHR 2010 (extracts); and Calmanovici v. Romania, no. 42250/02, 1 July 2008).
10. In Anchugov and Gladkov (cited above) the Court found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
11. 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 statutory ban on prisoners voting in elections is, by reason of its blanket character, incompatible with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1.
12. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1.
III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 13 OF THE CONVENTION
13. The applicant in case no. 16824/10 complained under Article 13 of the Convention that he had no effective remedies to complain of disenfranchisement.
14. The Court has held that Article 13 does not go so far as to guarantee a remedy allowing a Contracting State’s laws as such to be challenged before a national authority on the grounds of being contrary to the Convention or to equivalent domestic legal norms (see Greens and M.T., cited above, §§ 90-92). In the present case the Court has not found any grounds to depart from its case-law. It follows that this part of the application is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. 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.”
A. Damage
16. Some of the applicants claimed just satisfaction in respect of non-pecuniary damage. The Court notes that in the vast majority of cases, where a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 was found on account of the prisoners’ ineligibility to vote, it expressly declined to make any award of just satisfaction (see Hirst (no. 2), cited above § 94; Firth and Others v. the United Kingdom, nos. 47784/09 and 9 others, § 18, 12 August 2014; and Anchugov and Gladkov, cited above, § 122). As in those cases, in the instant case the Court concludes that the finding of a violation constitutes sufficient just satisfaction for any damage sustained by the applicants.
B. Costs and expenses
17. Some of the applicants claimed legal costs and other expenses in relation to the proceedings before the Court.
18. As regards legal costs, in Firth and Others, cited above, § 21, the Court said that lodging applications regarding ineligibility to vote after the judgment in Hirst (no.2) was straightforward and did not require legal assistance. The circumstances of the instant cases lead the Court to the same conclusion, that the legal costs claimed were neither reasonably nor necessarily incurred. It therefore rejects the claims under that head.
19. As to other expenses, including postal costs, the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums set out in Appendix, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
C. Default interest
20. 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 applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention admissible, and the remainder of application no. 16824/10 inadmissible;
3. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention;
4. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts listed in Appendix, plus any tax that may be chargeable, 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 below amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;
5. Dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claim for just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 4 July 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Fatoş AracıLuis López Guerra
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
Award in respect of costs and expenses (EUR)
54446/07
06/11/2007
Veniamin Vitalyevich ISAKOV
01/01/1966
Aleksandriyskaya,
Krasnodar Region
-
-
51229/08
02/02/2008
Maksim Aleksandrovich KOVAL
19/01/1959
Eysk,
Krasnodar Region
-
30
16824/10
14/02/2010
Aleksey Ivanovich
BOLSUNOVSKIY
08/10/1982
Krasnoyarsk
-
30
44423/10
20/07/2010
Dmitriy Vladimirovich BARANOV
04/08/1981
Tomsk
-
30
43115/11
12/06/2011
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich PROSOLUPOV
06/11/1979
Krasnoyarsk
-
-
77991/11
02/12/2011
Nikolay Valeryevich SAFONOV
Vostochnyy
Sverdlovsk Region
Igor Stepanovich GOLENDUKHIN
-
78379/11
02/12/2011
Andrey Nikolayevich BATUKHTIN
14/06/1972
Vostochnyy
Sverdlovsk Region
Igor Stepanovich GOLENDUKHIN
-
78381/11
02/12/2011
Andrey Aleksandrovich BUSHUYEV
26/08/1976
Vostochnyy
Sverdlovsk Region
Igor Stepanovich GOLENDUKHIN
-
78387/11
02/12/2011
Sergey Mikhaylovich ABZALIMOV
Vostochnyy
Sverdlovsk Region
Igor Stepanovich GOLENDUKHIN
-
1735/12
05/12/2011
Nikolay Nikolayevich KOKORA
06/09/1965
Krasnodar
30
2866/12
12/12/2011
Yevgeniy Borisovich YARTSEV
17/10/1979
Irkutsk
Igor Leonidovich TRUNOV
-
10883/12
18/01/2012
Andrey Valentinovich TELEPIN
21/11/1981
Kharp
Yamalo-Nenetskiy Region
-
-
18632/12
02/03/2012
Vyacheslav Viktorovich BORISOV
23/05/1964
Yekaterinburg
-
-
31455/12
12/03/2012
Andrey Igorevich RESIN
29/07/1974
Lozvinskiy
Sverdlovsk Region
Andrey Aleksandrovich MOLOSTOV
30
35559/12
02/05/2012
Sergey Stepanovich KULIDA
17/10/1959
Lepley
Republic of Mordoviya
-
-
69342/12
21/05/2012
Oleg Pavlovich LIKHACHEV
22/03/1961
Staromatyevka
Stavropol Region
-
30
73777/12
04/03/2012
Mikhail Sergeyevich SHARAPOV
21/11/1980
Moscow
-
8
78747/12
25/10/2012
Sergey Yakovlevich GOLIMGREYN
25/04/1981
Kharp
Yamalo-Nenetskiy Region
-
-
5023/13
08/12/2012
Stepan Sergeyevich SHARKOV
20/04/1991
Vyborg
Marina Aleksandrovna BELINSKAYA
-
Nikita Nikolayevich SOKOLOV
15/05/1977
St Petersburg
Viktoriya Pavlovna PROKOFYEVA
-
Sergey Igorevich KOTELNIKOV
20/12/1982
St Petersburg
Marina Aleksandrovna BELINSKAYA
-
Aleksandr Vladimirovich AVDEYEV
28/06/1988
Fornosovo
Leningrad Region
Marina Aleksandrovna BELINSKAYA
-
10131/13
20/01/2013
Danil Nikolayevich PANKOV
11/04/1979
St Petersburg
Sergey Igorevich KOTELNIKOV
-
Dmitriy Yuryevich TATARINOV
11/11/1982
St Petersburg
Marina Aleksandrovna BELINSKAYA
-
Kirill Igorevich DERZHAVETS
10/03/1970
St Petersburg
Sergey Igorevich KOTELNIKOV
-
3376/14
11/12/2013
Dmitriy Dmitriyevich GOLOVINOV
15/06/1969
Rostov-na-Donu
-
-
14407/14
30/04/2014
Timur Vladislavovich VOYNOV
03/07/1985
Areiyskoe
Krasnoyarsk Region
-
30
32634/14
17/06/2014
Sergey Viktorovich ZHABOTINSKIY
16/01/1963
Rostov-na-Donu
-
30
68565/14
24/09/2014
Yevgeniy Viktorovich ZARETSKIY
13/07/1969
Fornosovo
Leningrad Region
-
-
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy