FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF SLOBODYANYUK AND KRAVTSOVA v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 53602/22 and 2 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
6 June 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Slobodyanyuk and Kravtsova v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Carlo Ranzoni, President,
Mārtiņš Mits,
María Elósegui, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 16 May 2024,
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 excessive length of their pre-trial detention. The applicants 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.
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 3 OF THE CONVENTION6. The applicants complained principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
7. The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000‑XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006‑X, with further references).
8. In the leading cases of Kharchenko v. Ukraine (no. 40107/02, 10 February 2011) and Ignatov v. Ukraine (no. 40583/15, 15 December 2016), 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 length of the applicants’ pre-trial detention was excessive.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW11. The 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. 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 the cases set out in the appended table.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION12. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Ignatov, cited above), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
Decides to join the applications;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention;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 6 June 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Carlo Ranzoni
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention
(excessive length of pre-trial detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Period of detention
Length of detention
Specific defects
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage per applicant
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application
(in euros)[2]
53602/22
20/10/2022
AND
17275/23
30/03/2023
Bogdan Andriyovych SLOBODYANYUK
1995
Kulbach Sergiy Oleksandrovych
Limoges
10/10/2020
pending
More than
3 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 26 day(s)
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts;
use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice;
fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention - Dnipro Detention Facility No. 4
11/11/2022 - pending
More than 1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 25 day(s)
2.5-3.45 sq. m. per inmate;
no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, passive smoking, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
(see Melnik v. Ukraine, no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006 and Sukachov
v. Ukraine,
no. 14057/17, 30 January 2020)
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention - (see Melnik v. Ukraine,
no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006 and Sukachov
v. Ukraine,
no. 14057/17, 30 January 2020)
5,000
250
10581/23
08/02/2023
Darya Ivanivna KRAVTSOVA
1985
Voronyuk Kateryna Yuriyivna
Rivne
27/04/2016 to
08/08/2017
17/01/2022 to
10/11/2022
1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 13 day(s)
9 month(s) and 25 day(s)
fragility of the reasons employed by the courts;
fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed;
failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention
Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - from 22/04/2016 -pending,
3 levels of jurisdiction
(Nechay v. Ukraine,
no. 15360/10,
1 July 2021)
1,700
250
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.