THIRD SECTION
CASE OF VYATCHIN AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 7177/16 and 8 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
12 January 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Vyatchin and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Ioannis Ktistakis,
Andreas Zünd, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 8 December 2022,
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 Russian 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. Some 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 3 OF THE CONVENTION6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. 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.”
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, 20 October 2016; Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI; and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑65, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 36–40, 7 April 2005).
8. In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, 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. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS11. Mr Novikov (application no. 46368/17) also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
12. The Court has examined these complaints 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.
13. It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
14. Some applicants also complained under Article 13 of the Convention in relation to the lack of effective remedies to complain about poor detention conditions. The Court does not consider necessary to examine these complaints separately.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION15. 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.”
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014, and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, no. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 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;Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction admissible, finds that it is not necessary to examine separately the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention and declares the remainder of application no. 46368/17 inadmissible;Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction;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 12 January 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention after conviction)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Inmates per brigade
Sq. m per inmate
Number of toilets per brigade
Specific grievances
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
7177/16
20/01/2016
Lev Nikolayevich VYATCHIN
1965
Gavrilitsa Irina Aleksandrovna
Krasnoyarsk
IK-15 Norilsk
13/05/2014 to 13/08/2015
1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 1 day(s)
120 inmate(s)
6 toilet(s)
lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower
5,000
46368/17
19/06/2017
Aleksandr Yuryevich NOVIKOV
1978
IK-2 Tyumen Region
07/06/2016 to 30/12/2016
6 month(s) and 24 day(s)
50 inmate(s)
2 m²
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, overcrowding in the educational room, lack of windows, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, violation of sanitary rules in the kitchen, no or restricted access to warm water
3,300
77809/17
23/10/2017
Yevgeniy Ivanovich NOVIKOV
1984
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
20/03/2017 to 24/07/2017
4 month(s) and 5 day(s)
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
07/08/2017 to 20/11/2017
3 month(s) and 14 day(s)
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
19/12/2017 to 27/03/2018
3 month(s) and 9 day(s)
120 inmate(s)
2 m²
2 m²
2 m²
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of requisite medical assistance
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of requisite medical assistance
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of requisite medical assistance
4,800
80379/17
27/10/2017
Andrey Stanislavovich DAVYDOV
1970
IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region
11/02/2013 to 30/04/2020
7 year(s) and 2 month(s) and
20 day(s)
132 inmate(s)
2.9-3.7 m²
4 toilet(s)
overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of privacy for toilet
12,500
12367/18
11/07/2018
Vitaliy Sergeyevich VLASKIN
1984
IK-34 Krasnoyarsk Region
17/05/2017 to
10/10/2018
1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and
24 day(s)
140 inmate(s)
4 m²
4 toilet(s)
no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease
5,800
18023/18
28/03/2018
Dmitriy Sergeyevich KLOCHKOV
1996
IK-5 Ivanovo Region
01/11/2015 to 06/05/2018
2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 6 day(s)
104 inmate(s)
2.7-2.9 m²
6 toilet(s)
overcrowding, insufficient number of toilets and wash basins, 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 restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, passive smoking
5,500
21722/18
28/04/2018
Umedzhon Muminovich MAKHKAMOV
1988
IK-42 Krasnoyarsk Region
15/05/2013 to 08/11/2017
4 year(s) and 5 month(s) and
25 day(s)
2 m²
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to toilet
5,000
43190/18
30/08/2018
Sergey Gennadyevich ISTOMIN
1982
Shirokov Oleg Valeryevich
Nizhniy Tagil
IK-54 Sverdlovsk Region
08/12/2014 - pending
More than 7 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 26 day(s)
100 inmate(s)
2 m²
5 toilet(s)
poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light
12,500
12163/19
26/01/2019
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich TOMILOV
1987
IK-1 Komi Republic
29/09/2015 - pending
More than 7 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 5 day(s)
130 inmate(s)
1.6-2.1 m²
6 toilet(s)
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, insufficient number of toilets and wash basins, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to potable water
12,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.