THIRD SECTION
CASE OF UTIMISHEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 15783/10 and 8 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
This version was rectified on 20 November 2018
under Rule 81 of the Rules of Court.
STRASBOURG
26 July 2018
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Utimishev and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 July 2018,
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 applications were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).
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. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER 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.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which read as follows:
“3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”
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 case of Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, 27 November 2012, 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.
III. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
11. In applications nos. 15783/17, 34056/17, 34062/17, 34621/17 and 56482/17 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 Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), related to the use of a metal cage or other security arrangements in courtrooms; Zubkov and Others v. Russia, nos. 29431/05 and 2 others, §§ 146-149, 7 November 2017, dealing with the lack of speedy review of detention matters; Yevdokimov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27236/05 and 10 others, 16 February 2016, concerning the absence of detained applicants from civil proceedings to which they were a party; Moiseyev v. Russia, no. 62936/00, §§ 250- 256, 9 October 2008, dealing with restrictions on family visits in detention; and Yuriy Rudakov v. Russia, no. 48982/08, §§ 64-65, 15 January 2015, regarding unlawful detention.
IV. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
12. In applications nos. applications nos. 15783/10, 34056/17 and 34161/17 the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.
13. The Court has examined the applications listed in the appended table and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.
It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
V. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
14. 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.”
15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Pastukhov and Yelagin v. Russia, no. 55299/07, 19 December 2013), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
16. 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 complaints concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of applications nos. 15783/10, 34056/17 and 34161/17 inadmissible;
3. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention;
4. 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 appended table);
5. 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 26 July 2018, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtAlena Poláčková
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
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 name
Date of birth
Representative name and location
Period of detention
Length of detention
Courts which
issued detention
orders/examined
appeals
Specific defects
Other complaints under well‑established case‑law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
per applicant
(in euros)[1]
15783/10
01/03/2010
Sergey Igorevich Utimishev
19/09/1972
16/02/2008 to
15/07/2011
3 year(s) and 5 month(s)
Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk / Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
- fragility of the reasons employed by the courts, as the case progressed;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint, as the case progressed;
- failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention.
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - detention order of 25/05/2010 - appeal examined on 27/07/2010;
detention order of 26/02/2010 - appeal examined on 25/03/2010; detention order of 28/02/2011 - appeal examined on 21/04/2011; detention order of 30/05/2011 - appeal examined on 19/07/2011,
Art. 8 (1) - lack of practical opportunities for or restriction on prison visits - restriction or no more than 2 short family visits during the entire period of pre-trial detention (see Moiseyev v. Russia, no. 62936/00, §§ 250-56, 9 October 2008),
Art. 6 (1) - absence of detainees from civil proceedings - applicant was not brought to civil proceedings concerning conditions of his transport (Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk on 12/20/2011; Krasnoyarsk Regional Court on 21/12/2011)
4,600
34056/17
19/04/2017
Denis Sergeyevich Siver
21/01/1982
Mikhaylova Yuliya Nikolayevna
Krasnoyarsk
05/11/2013 to
10/07/2017
3 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 6 day(s)
15/02/2018
pending
More than
3 month(s) and 24 day(s)
Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk / Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
- collective detention orders;
-failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of reoffending, colliding or absconding, particularly in view of the length and stage of the criminal proceedings;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint, particularly in view of the length and stage of the criminal proceedings;
- failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention.
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - examination of appeals against detention orders by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court with a delay of up to several months
5,200
34062/17
14/04/2017
Irek Rishatovich Tagirov
05/04/1989
Ablayeva Olga Valeryevna
Ufa
04/02/2015
pending
More than 3 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 4 day(s)
Kirovskiy Distirct Court of Ufa / Privolzhye Circuit Military Court / Appellate Division of the Privolzhye Circuit Military Court / Supreme Court of the Bashkortostan Republic
- collective detention orders;
- fragility of the reasons employed by the courts, as the case progressed;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint, as the case progressed;
- failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention.
Art. 5 (1) (c) - unlawful pre-trial detention - repeated extensions of the applicant’s detention from 04/08/2016 pending study of the case file (see Yuriy Rudakov v. Russia, no. 48982/08, §§ 64-65, 15 January 2015)
4,600
34161/17
27/04/2017
Vasiliy Sergeyevich Kasatov
02/09/1977
Sychugov Anton Petrovich
Volgograd
22/04/2015
pending
More than 3 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 17 day(s)
Sovetskiy District Court of Volgograd / Volgograd Regional Court
- 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;
- failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of reoffending, colliding or absconding;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint.
3,200
34621/17
19/04/2017
Yevgeniy Leonidovich Sadovskiy[2]
02/03/1979
Mikhaylova Yuliya Nikolayevna
Krasnoyarsk
05/11/2013 to
10/07/2017
3 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 6 day(s)
15/02/2018
pending
More than
3 month(s) and 24 day(s)
Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk / Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
-collective detention orders;
- 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;
- failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of reoffending, colliding or absconding;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint;
- failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention.
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - examination of appeals against detention orders by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court with a delay of up to several months
5,200
53786/17
17/07/2017
Vasiliy Anatolyevich Shatalov
12/10/1968
Suntsov Andrey Andreyevich
Izhevsk
16/07/2015
pending
More than
2 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 23 day(s)
Nizhegorodskiy District Court of Nizhniy Novgorod / Pervomayskiy District Court of Izhevsk / Ustinovskiy District Court of Izhevsk / Supreme Court of the Udmurtiya Republic
-collective detention orders;
- 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;
- failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of reoffending, colliding or absconding;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint;
- failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention
3,100
55286/17
18/07/2017
Vadim Kadrgaliyevich Zhalilov
05/07/1980
Denisov Dmitriy Arkadyevich
Astrakhan
28/10/2016 to
06/09/2017
10 month(s) and 10 day(s)
Kirovskiy District Court of Astrakhan / Astrakhan Regional Court / Presidium of the Astrakhan Regional Court
- fragility of the reasons employed by the courts;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint;
- failure to conduct the proceedings with due diligence during the period of detention.
1,000
56482/17
30/07/2017
Oleg Gennadyevich Filkov
02/11/1974
Osipov Artem Leonidovich
Moscow
24/12/2014 to
05/05/2016
1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 12 day(s)
31/08/2016 to
31/01/2017
5 month(s) and 1 day(s)
Nikulinskiy District Court of Moscow / Moscow City Court
- 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;
- failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of reoffending, colliding or absconding;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint.
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - confinement of the applicant in a metal cage during court hearings before the Nikulinskiy District Court of Moscow
9,750
70654/17
18/09/2017
Aleksandra Valeryevna Toskina
04/12/1998
Bocharov Anton Mikhaylovich
Ufa
29/03/2017
pending
More than
1 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 10 day(s)
Oktyabrskiy District Court of Ufa / Supreme Court of the Bashkortostan Republic
- 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;
- failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of reoffending, colliding or absconding;
- failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint.
1,300
[1]. Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[2]. Rectified on 20 November 2018: the text was “Sodovskiy”.
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