THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 47311/09
Ramil Ayazbayevich KHASANOV against Russia
and 2 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 12 May 2020 as a Committee composed of:
Georgios A. Serghides, President,
Erik Wennerström,
Lorraine Schembri Orland, judges,
and Olga Chernishova, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS and Procedure
The applicants are Russian nationals who live in different regions of Russia. Between 2008 and 2011 they were convicted of various criminal offences. Their personal details and information relevant to the criminal proceedings against them appear in the annexed Table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) of the Convention about their absence from appeal proceedings in their criminal case were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).
The Government were represented by Mr M. Galperin, Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights.
RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
The relevant domestic legal provisions governing, at the material time, a defendant’s participation in appeal proceedings in a criminal case were summarised in the Court’s judgment in the case of Kozlitin v. Russia, no. 17092/04, §§ 22-36, 14 November 2013.
The lawJoinder of the applications
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.Complaints under Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) of the Convention
The applicants complained that their absence from the appeal proceedings in their criminal cases was contrary to the requirements of Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) of the Convention, which, insofar as relevant, read as follows:
“1. In the determination of ... any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair ... hearing ... by [a] ... tribunal ...
3. Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights:
...
(c) to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require; ...”
The Government submitted that all three applicants had been assisted by professional lawyers and had been duly apprised of the requirement to request participation in the appeal hearings by the trial courts, however failed to do so. In particular, on 29 December 2008 the first applicant, Mr Khasanov (application no. 47311/09), had asked the appeal court to examine the case in his absence. During the appeal hearing, his representative had not asked to secure the presence of the first applicant. The second and third applicants, Mr Tereshchenko (application no. 7081/12) and Mr Klemenkov (application no. 14409/16), had only requested for their lawyers to take part in the appeal hearings, but did not seek their personal participation. The Government further submitted that all three applicants had subsequently filed supervisory appeals which had not contained any reference to the applicants’ absence from the appeal hearing.
The applicants did not comment on the Government’s observations.
The Court observes that under Russian law of criminal procedure, as in force at the material time, a defendant was entitled to participate in the hearing in person or by video link, on condition that he made a special request to that effect. The Court has already held that a requirement to lodge a special request to take part in the appeal hearing would not in itself contradict the guarantees of Article 6 of the Convention if the procedure was clearly set out in the domestic law, as was in the cases at hand (see Samokhvalov v. Russia, no. 3891/03, § 56, 12 February 2009, and Sibgatullin v. Russia, no. 32165/02, § 45, 23 April 2009).
The Court furthermore recalls that in the case of Borisov v. Russia (no. 12543/09, §§ 35-41, 13 March 2012) it found that the applicant, who had been assisted by a professional lawyer of his own choosing and had been duly informed of the requirement to request participation in the appeal hearing, but failed to do so, through his own conduct had implicitly waived that right.
The Court notes that the applicants were represented by counsel at all stages of the proceedings. The first applicant (application no. 47311/09) explicitly waived his right to participate in the appeal hearing. The second and third applicants (applications nos. 7081/12 and 14409/16) failed to inform the Russian authorities of their wish to attend the appeal hearings personally, and thus, through their conduct, implicitly waived that right.
Moreover, none of the applicants explained in their submissions why it was important for them to be personally present in a courtroom and what specific statements or evidence, distinct from those made by their counsel, they wished to lay before the appeal courts. Accordingly, there is no indication that the adversarial character of the proceedings was compromised.
Consequently, the Court concludes that there has been no violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 6 § 3 (c) as regards the applicants’ absence from the appeal hearing.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 11 June 2020.
Olga ChernishovaGeorgios A. Serghides
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix
No.
Application
no.
Lodged on
Applicant’s name
date of birth
Representative’s name and location
First instance judgment (court, date)
Appeal judgment (court, date)
Comments
47311/09
18/08/2009
Ramil Ayazbayevich
KHASANOV
1988
Leninskiy District Court of Astrakhan
24/12/2008
Astrakhan Regional Court
19/02/2009
The applicant was absent from the appeal hearing on 19/02/2009
7081/12
19/12/2011
Boris Dmitriyevich TERESHCHENKO
1966
Vasiliy Ivanovich GURYANOV
Novosibirsk
Kirovskiy District Court of Novosibirsk
23/08/2011
Novosibirsk Regional Court
09/11/2011
The applicant was absent from the appeal hearing on 09/11/2011
14409/16
20/03/2012
Aleksandr Alekseyevich KLEMENKOV
1976
Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk
05/07/2011
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
27/10/2011
The applicant was absent from the appeal hearing on 27/10/2011
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