THIRD SECTION
CASE OF YELISTRATOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 24453/17 and 32 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
10 November 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Yelistratov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Andreas Zünd,
Frédéric Krenc, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 20 October 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 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. They 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 in the remand prison and the courthouse. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. The Court notes that all or some of the applicants were detained in overcrowded cells in remand prison IZ-1 in Kazan for lengthy periods and were held for hours in the cramped holding cells (convoy cells), without access to fresh air or natural light, in the basement of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016; and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑59, 10 January 2012) in which the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
8. 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.
9. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW10. 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, §§ 122-39, ECHR 2014 (extracts) and Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia, no. 38004/12, §§ 145-50 and 166-72, 17 July 2018, as regards detention in a metal cage or glass cabin during court hearings and inability to communicate freely and privately with a lawyer during the trial; Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, §§ 108-11, 27 November 2012, as regards unreasonably long detention on remand; Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 154‑58, 161‑65, 22 May 2012, as regards an excessive length of detention review proceedings; Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 114-56, 9 April 2019, concerning poor conditions of transport of detainees and absence of an effective remedy to complain about poor transport conditions; Volkov and Adamskiy v. Russia, nos. 7614/09 and 30863/10, §§ 56-61, 26 March 2015, as regards the failure to provide the applicants with legal aid lawyers; and Mukhametov and Others v. Russia, nos. 53404/18 and 3 others, §§ 39‑42, 14 December 2021 and Pavlova v. Russia, no. 8578/12, §§ 31‑33, 18 February 2020, as regards restrictions on family visits in the remand prison and the lack of an effective remedy in this regard.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION11. 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.”
12. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Ananyev and Others, cited above, § 172), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
13. The Court further 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,
Decides to join the applications;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;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);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 10 November 2022, 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)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
24453/17
06/03/2017
and
76929/17
04/10/2017
and
81812/17
01/11/2017
and
7312/18
16/01/2018
and
9727/18
06/01/2018
and
5193/19
08/01/2019
Andrey Vyacheslavovich YELISTRATOV
1994
Yefremova Yekaterina Viktorovna
Moscow
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial and in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer by a prison van after 18/11/2016 on numerous occasions between the detention facility and the courthouse;
Art. 5 (3) – excessive length of pre-trial detention – the applicant was detained on remand since 29/09/2014 without sufficient reasons;
Art. 5 (4) – excessive length of judicial review of detention – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan failed to examine speedily the applicant’s appeals against the detention orders of 21/02/2017 (upheld on appeal on 23/05/2017), 16/05/2017 (upheld on appeal on 20/06/2017), and 08/08/2017 (upheld on appeal on 08/09/2017),
01/11/2017 (upheld on appeal on 19/12/2017);
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
9,500
32552/17
21/03/2017
and
28123/18
16/05/2018
and
39955/18
10/08/2018
Nikolay Aleksandrovich SAVELCHEV
1989
Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna
Strasbourg
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial and in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 5 (3) – excessive length of pre-trial detention – the applicant was detained on remand since 14/04/2015 without sufficient reasons;
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
10,000
33208/17
15/04/2017
and
4745/18
08/12/2017
and
8936/18
27/12/2017
and
41544/18
18/08/2018
Aynur
Nailovich GARIFULLIN
1993
Maralyan
Anna
Strasbourg
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms - holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial and in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 5 (3) – excessive length of pre-trial detention – the applicant was detained on remand since 30/09/2014 without sufficient reasons;
Art. 5 (4) – excessive length of judicial review of detention – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan failed to examine speedily the applicant’s appeals against the detention orders of 16/05/2017 (upheld on appeal on 23/06/2017) and 08/08/2017 (upheld on appeal on 08/09/2017);
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
10,000
34408/17
06/03/2017
and
82102/17
17/11/2017
and
9835/18
02/02/2018
and
27907/18
24/05/2018
and
39843/18
09/08/2018
Vladimir Aleksandrovich SAVELCHEV
1990
Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna
Strasbourg
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 5 (3) – excessive length of pre-trial detention – the applicant was detained on remand since 06/03/2015 without sufficient reasons;
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law – in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
9,500
34663/17
15/04/2017
and
81200/17
02/11/2017
and
2763/18
15/12/2017
Maksim Yevgenyevich IONOV
1982
Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna
Strasbourg
and
Bokareva Valentina Aleksandrovna
Moscow
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 5 (4) – excessive length of judicial review of detention – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan failed to examine speedily the applicant’s appeals against the detention orders of 16/05/2017 (upheld on appeal on 14/07/2017), 08/08/2017 (upheld on appeal on 08/09/2017) and 01/11/2017 (upheld on appeal on 15/12/2017)
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel during the trial hearings;
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (c) – unfair criminal proceedings due to lack of legal representation – no legal-aid counsel appointed to represent the applicant on appeal;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law – in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
9,500
46573/17
01/05/2017
and
5153/18
05/12/2017
and
34695/18
10/07/2018
Aleksandr Ivanovich ARZAMASOV
1990
Druzhkova
Olga Vladimirovna
Moscow
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial and in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 5 (3) – excessive length of pre-trial detention – continued detention on remand after 12/10/2017 without valid reasons;
Art. 5 (4) – excessive length of judicial review of detention – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan failed to examine speedily the applicant’s appeals against the detention orders of 09/10/2017 and 15/11/2017, and against the detention orders of 16/05/2017 (upheld on appeal on 14/07/2017) and 08/08/2017 (upheld on appeal on 12/09/2017);
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law – in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
9,500
76086/17
25/09/2017
and
27752/18
30/05/2018
and
34962/18
03/07/2018
and
41548/18
18/08/2018
Aleksey Yevgenyevich MISHIN
1991
Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna
Strasbourg
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial and in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 5 (4) – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan failed to examine speedily the applicant’s appeals against the detention orders of 21/02/2017 (upheld on appeal on 23/05/2017), 16/05/2017 (upheld on appeal on 04/07/2017), and 08/08/2017 (upheld on appeal on 08/09/2017);
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
9,500
76213/17
25/09/2017
and
23047/18
10/04/2018
and
24927/18
06/12/2017
and
34440/18
07/07/2018
Irek
Ilshatovich SADRIYEV
1994
Maralyan
Anna
Strasbourg
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfers by a prison van in the period between 20/03/2018 and 03/10/2018;
Art. 5 (4) – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan failed to examine speedily the applicant’s appeal against the detention order of 01/11/2017 (upheld on appeal on 15/12/2017);
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with legal-aid counsel;
Art. 8 (1) – restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities;
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law – in respect of conditions of detention during transport and restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities
9,500
3576/19
26/12/2018
Ismagil Rasikhovich VALEYEV
1994
Bokareva Valentina Aleksandrovna
Moscow
Art. 3 – use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – holding the applicant in a glass dock throughout the trial and in a metal cage during the appeal hearing;
Art. 3 – inadequate conditions of detention during transport – transfer between a remand prison and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan during the trial and preparation of the appeal;
Art. 6 (1) and Art. 6 (3) (b) – unfair trial due to lack of adequate time and facilities for preparation of the defence – restrictions on conferring with a legal-aid counsel
9,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.