KAVTARADZE v. GEORGIA and 1 other application

Published on 21 July 2025

FOURTH SECTION

Applications nos. 42790/23 and 24108/24
Tornike KAVTARADZE against Georgia
and Zurab Girchi JAPARIDZE and Nika MOSIASHVILI against Georgia
lodged on 4 December 2023 and 9 August 2024 respectively
communicated on 1 July 2025

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The applications concern the applicants’ alleged ill-treatment by the police in the course of their arrest and immediately thereafter on 7 March 2023 (application no. 24108/24) and 26 May 2023 (application no. 42790/23), respectively, and the alleged ineffectiveness of the subsequent criminal investigations. All three applicants sustained various injuries as a result of the alleged ill-treatment.

Criminal proceedings were promptly initiated under Article 333 § 3 (b) of the Criminal Code (abuse of power using violence). The applicants allege, however, that the investigations have not been conducted in an adequate or efficient manner. They were denied victim status, and their various procedural requests – including, among others, the reclassification of the alleged criminal offence from Article 333 (abuse of power) to 144(3) (inhuman and degrading treatment) – were rejected.

To date, not a single police officer involved in the incident of 7 March 2023 has been identified, and the proceedings have been stagnant for months, with no investigative actions carried out. The applicants rely on Article 3 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1.  Have the applicants been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see Mikiashvili v. Georgia, no. 18996/06, 9 October 2012; Dvalishvili v. Georgia, no. 19634/07, 18 December 2012; Gogaladze v. Georgia, no. 8971/10, 18 July 2019)?

2.  Having regard to the procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment (see paragraph 131 of Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, ECHR 2000-IV), were the investigations in the present cases by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?

APPENDIX