Communicated on 2 June 2016
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 66152/14
Yevgeniya Vitalyevna KUZMINA against Russia
and 8 other applications
(see list appended)
The applicants are Russian nationals. The application numbers, the dates the applications were lodged, the applicants’ names, their personal details and the names of their legal representatives are set out in the Appendix below.
The facts of the cases, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
The applicants were convicted in criminal proceedings of drug‑related offences. The principal evidence against them came from operational experiments or test purchases conducted in accordance with section 6 of the Operational-Search Activities Act.
At their trials the applicants claimed that the offences in question had been committed as a result of entrapment by the authorities. They also alleged the involvement of agents provocateurs. Their allegations were dismissed.
The respective judgments, which became final, were issued on the dates and by the courts indicated in the Appendix below.
A. Relevant domestic law and practice, international instruments and comparative law
For a summary of relevant domestic law and practice, see Lagutin and Others v. Russia (nos. 6228/09, 19123/09, 19678/07, 52340/08 and 7451/09, §§ 62-67, 24 April 2014).
The Council of Europe’s instruments on the use of special investigative techniques are outlined in Ramanauskas v. Lithuania ([GC], no. 74420/01, §§ 35-37, ECHR 2008).
A comparative analysis of the national systems of authorisation of undercover operations in the Council of Europe member States is summarised in Veselov and Others v. Russia (nos. 23200/10, 24009/07 and 556/10, §§ 50-63, 2 October 2012).
B. Relevant Committee of Ministers documents
In the framework of the execution of the judgments in Vanyan v. Russia, (no. 53203/99, 15 December 2005), Khudobin v. Russia (no.59696/00, ECHR 2006‑XII (extracts)) and Veselov and Others (cited above) – the “Vanyan” group of cases – on 12 May 2014 the Russian authorities provided an action report on 30 April 2014 (see DH-DD(2014)616) and an action plan in the case of Veselov and Others on 23 March 2014 (see DH‑DD(2014)485).
The action report, under the heading “General measures ... concerning the definition of the term of ‘entrapment’ and authorisation of a covert operation by an independent body”, did not contain any submissions about the system of authorisation of covert operations.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complain under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that they were convicted of criminal offences which they claim they only committed because they were incited to do so by an agent provocateur.
QUESTIONS to the parties
1. Having regard to the principles established in the Court’s judgments concerning police entrapment (see Vanyan v. Russia, no. 53203/99, 15 December 2005; Veselov and Others v. Russia, nos. 23200/10, 24009/07 and 556/10, 2 October 2012; Bannikova v. Russia, no. 18757/06, 14 October 2010; and Lagutin and Others v. Russia (nos. 6228/09, 19123/09, 19678/07, 52340/08 and 7451/09, §§ 89‑101, 24 April 2014), did each of the applicants have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charges against him or her, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?
2. Do the present cases reveal a continuation of the problem highlighted in the judgments of Veselov and Others and Lagutin and Others (both cited above), in particular the absence of a clear and foreseeable procedure for authorising test purchases and operational experiments? Does this situation amount to a continuing structural problem?
APPENDIX
No.
Application
nos.
Lodged on
Applicant name
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
Final judgment
66152/14
24/09/2014
Yevgeniya Vitalyevna KUZMINA
30/07/1977
Moscow
Aleksandr Pavlovich ANTONOV
Moscow City Court,
28 April 2014
76054/14
10/02/2015
Vladislav Mikhaylovich KHAKHUBIYA
14/09/1984
Lipetsk
Lipetsk Regional Court,
16 September 2014
77426/14
30/04/2015
Vadim Mikhaylovich KOTSUBA
04/02/1983
Kansk, Krasnoyarsk Region
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court,
27 November 2014
15189/15
13/03/2015
Viktor Mikhaylovich PANIN
12/10/1987
Yoshkar-Ola
Irina Vladimirovna KHRUNOVA
Moscow City Court,
16 October 2014
23497/15
30/04/2015
Sergey Aleksandrovich KARLASH
19/04/1967
Krasnodar
Irina Vladimirovna KHRUNOVA
Krasnodar Regional Court,
5 November 2014
23896/15
06/05/2015
Yaroslav Olegovich YEMLEVSKIY
01/06/1990
Ivanteyevka, Saratov Region
Saratov Regional Court,
18 November 2014
28472/15
25/05/2015
Makhmud Kosimovich YARMUKHAMEDOV
24/03/1975
Kalyazin, Tver Region
Vladislav Yuryevich IVANOV
Tver Regional Court,
11 March 2015
29068/15
05/06/2015
Igor Anatolyevich VOYCHALIS
31/03/1981
Novomalorossiyskaya, Krasnodar Region
Krasnodar Regional Court,
18 February 2015
30920/15
19/06/2015
Maksim Aleksandrovich KOSTROMIN
29/12/1988
Toguchin, Novosibirsk Region
Nikita Sergeyevich VOLKOV
Novosibirsk Regional Court,
17 April 2015
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy