FIRST SECTION
CASE OF VEGERA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 37150/18 and 30 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
26 October 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Vegera and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Péter Paczolay, President,
Gilberto Felici,
Raffaele Sabato, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 October 2023,
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 dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Russian Government were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. A 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 detention during their transport. Some applicants also raised additional complaints under the Convention.
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.JURISDICTION
6. 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 3 OF THE CONVENTION
7. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
8. The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions during transport. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding cramped and defective conditions during the transit of prisoners (see Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 124-27, 9 April 2019). It reiterates in particular that a strong presumption of a violation arises when detainees are transported in conveyances offering less than 0.5 square metres of space per person, regardless of whether such cramped conditions result from an excessive number of detainees being transported together or from the restrictive design of compartments (ibid., § 125). As regards longer journeys, factors such as a failure to arrange an individual sleeping place for each detainee or to secure an adequate supply of drinking water and food or access to the toilet seriously aggravate the situation of prisoners during transfers and are indicative of a violation of Article 3 (ibid., § 127).
9. In the leading case of Tomov and Others (cited above), 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 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 during their transport were inadequate.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. The applicants whose names are listed in the appended table also raised other complaints relating to the issues of the Court’s well-established case-law. 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 a violation of the Convention (see appended table for further details) in view of its findings in Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), concerning placement of applicants in a metal cage in courtrooms; and Tomov and Others (cited above, §§ 143-56), related to the lack of an effective domestic remedy to complain about poor conditions of detention during transport.
13. In view of the above findings, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with the complaint lodged by some applicants under Article 13 of the Convention in respect of the alleged lack of remedies to complain about their placement in a metal cage in the courtrooms (compare Valyuzhenich v. Russia, no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).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, Pukhachev and Zaretskiy v. Russia, nos. 17494/16 and 29203/16, 16 November 2017), 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;Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention during transport;Holds that there have been other violations of the Convention under the Court’s well-established case-law (see the appended table);Holds that it is not necessary to examine separately the complaints raised under Article 13 of the Convention in respect of the lack of domestic remedies to complain about placement in a metal cage in a courtroom;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 during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 October 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Péter Paczolay
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention during transport)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Means of transport
Start and end date
Sq. m per inmate
Specific grievances
Other complaints under well‑established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
37150/18
16/07/2018
Denis Alekseyevich VEGERA
1982
train, van
09/02/2018 to
10/02/2018
train, van
13/03/2018 to
13/03/2018
0.2-0.3 m²
0.2-0.3 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient natural light
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
39643/18
13/08/2018
Aleksandr Sergeyevich POVAROV
1983
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary
train, van, transit cell
14/01/2019 to
06/02/2019
0.2 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
40747/18
23/07/2018
Ilya Tadeyevich DEMKO
1987
transit cell, van, (52 trips)
05/05/2016 to 13/07/2018
train
11/09/2018 to
13/09/2018
overcrowding, passive smoking
insufficient number of sleeping places, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, passive smoking
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – placement of the applicant in a metal cage in the courtrooms of the Syktyvkar Town Court of the Komi Republic, between 26/04/2017 and 06/04/2018;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
8,500
41533/18
18/08/2018
Valeriy Borisovich GUSEV
1969
van
01/08/2018 to
07/08/2018
0.3 m²
overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
42036/18
17/08/2018
Vladimir Vladimirovich NEFEDOV
1983
train, van
01/08/2018 to
07/08/2018
0.3 m²
inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
44214/18
02/06/2018
Aleksey Sergeyevich VORONOV
1982
van, train, transit cell
15/04/2018 to
24/04/2018
0,4 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
44301/18
17/08/2018
Roman Leonidovich ANDREYEV
1980
van, train
01/08/2018 to
07/08/2018
0.3 m²
inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
44303/18
17/08/2018
Dmitriy Aleksandrovich AFINOGEYEV
1972
van, train
01/08/2018 to
07/08/2018
0.3 m²
inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
44386/18
27/08/2018
Anton Nikolayevich PYATKOV
1989
train
10/01/2019 to
12/02/2019
2 m²
inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
51316/18
15/10/2018
Igor Yuryevich LUCHKO
1984
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma
van
17/04/2018 to
17/04/2018
van
20/04/2018 to
20/04/2018
van
25/04/2018 to
25/04/2018
0.4 m²
0.2 m²
0.6 m²
overcrowding
overcrowding
overcrowding
1,000
51414/18
11/10/2018
Sergey Aleksandrovich VEREMEYUK
1987
Aleksey Mikhaylovich Urlashov
St Petersburg
train, van, transit cell
04/04/2018 to
13/04/2018
0.25 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
52908/18
01/11/2018
Natig Nushiravan ogly GULIYEV
1979
Valeriy Vladimirovich Shukhardin
Moscow
transit cell, train
26/04/2018 to
05/05/2018
0.25-0.33 m²
constant electric light, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
53656/18
09/06/2018
Andrey Mikhaylovich YUDOV
1982
van
30/10/2018 to
30/10/2018
0.32 m²
lack of fresh air, overcrowding
1,000
54119/18
01/11/2018
Andrey Alekseyevich KOBRIN
1974
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma
train, van
10/05/2018 to
12/05/2018
0.6 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
54733/18
06/11/2018
Nikolay Petrovich OGORODNIKOV
1966
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma
train, transit cell
25/10/2018 to
27/10/2018
overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
55052/18
01/11/2018
Denis Sergeyevich CHIRKOV
1985
train
11/08/2018 to
11/08/2018
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, inadequate temperature
1,000
55972/18
15/03/2019
Vitaliy Viktorovich BANADYKOV
1973
van, train
29/10/2012 to
16/11/2018
inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of security belts
1,000
56421/18
19/11/2018
Dmitriy Nikolayevich CHEKMAREV
1989
Dmitriy Andreyevich Alekseyenko
Nizhniy Novgorod
van
29/03/2017 to
21/09/2018
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air
1,000
57293/18
15/11/2018
Dmitriy Valeryevich BORISOV
1985
Nadezhda Valeryevna Radnayeva
Sofia
train
22/05/2018 to
23/05/2018
0.3 m²
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
57373/18
19/11/2018
Mikhail Aleksandrovich KORZHUYEV
1982
train
27/07/2018 to
30/07/2018
insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, overcrowding
1,000
59821/18
10/12/2018
Radmir Shayarkhanovich DZHENALIYEV
1989
train, transit cell, van
22/08/2018 to
12/11/2018
overcrowding, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
1335/19
10/12/2018
Khasan Bekmukhametovich KHADZHIMUKHTAROV
1957
train
23/08/2018 to
21/09/2018
van, train
13/01/2019 to
15/01/2019
overcrowding, passive smoking, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of ventilation, no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
2602/19
24/12/2018
Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich KOSHELEVSKIY
1980
train (Saratov - Nizhniy Novgorod), transit cell (SIZO-1 Nizhniy Novgorod)
09/08/2018 to
20/08/2018
insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air
1,000
2925/19
30/11/2018
Denis Mikhaylovich POLIKANOV
1987
train, transit cell
13/08/2018 to
16/08/2018
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of potable water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
1,000
3042/19
31/12/2018
Timur Muslimovich TIKHONOV
1996
Roza Saidovna Magomedova
Moscow
train
16/07/2018 to
07/11/2018
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
3249/19
26/12/2018
Roman Yuryevich BARZILO
1978
train, van, transit cell
12/09/2018 to
15/11/2018
0.4 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
3313/19
10/12/2018
Igor Nikolayevich RONZHIN
1976
train, van
05/09/2018 to
07/09/2018
overcrowding, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
3345/19
25/12/2018
Aleksandr Valeryevich KHODAKOV
1989
train
12/05/2018 to
14/08/2018
lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
4447/19
19/12/2018
Andrey Mikhaylovich ARNATSKIY
1986
train, transit cell, van
20/06/2019 to
15/07/2019
inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, overcrowding, passive smoking, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
4464/19
03/12/2018
Pavel Viktorovich DASHIN
1981
Natalya Anatolyevna Anikina
Moscow
transit cell, van
25/05/2018 to
28/11/2018
0.5 m²
lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
4610/19
12/01/2019
Yuriy Anatolyevich GORELOV
1977
Denis Vasilyevich Ganeshin
Orenburg
train, transit cell
26/10/2018 to
12/11/2018
0.3 m²
inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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