Published on 26 June 2023
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 6519/21
Tatyana Georgiyevna MARTYNOVA against Russia
and 8 other applications
(see list appended)
PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
Following a preliminary examination of the admissibility of the applications on 1 June 2023, the Court decided, under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, that notice of the applications should be given to the Government of Russia.
In the applications marked by an asterisk, other complaints were raised. This part of the applications has been struck out of the Court’s list of cases or declared inadmissible by the Court, sitting in a single-judge formation, assisted by a rapporteur as provided for in Article 24 § 2 of the Convention.
In the enclosed list of applications, whenever an applicant is referred to using initials, this indicates that the Court has authorised anonymity for that person, whose identity will not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4).
For further information on the procedure following communication of an application brought against Russia, subject of well-established case law of the Court, please refer to the Court’s website.
SUBJECT MATTER
The applications concern complaints raised under Article 8 § 1 of the Convention relating to unlawful search which are the subject of well-established case law of the Court (see Misan v. Russia, no. 4261/04, 2 October 2014 and Kruglov and Others v. Russia, nos. 11264/04 and 15 others, 4 February 2020).
APPENDIX – STATEMENT OF FACTS
List of applications raising complaints under Article 8 § 1 of the Convention
(unlawful search)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Type of search
Premises
Date of the search authorisation
Name of issuing authority
Date of the search
Means of exhaustion
Specific defects
Other relevant information
Other complaints under well-established case-law
6519/21
28/12/2020
Tatyana Georgiyevna MARTYNOVA
1963
Valeriy Valeryevich Volokh
Moscow
Search of the flat
16/07/2020, investigator, 17/06/2020 Khamovnicheskiy District Court of Moscow
16/07/2020
Moscow City Court, 21/09/2020
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect
25412/21*
16/04/2021
Ilya Vasilyevich ARISHCHENKOV
1988
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Artamonov
Moscow
Search of the flat
02/09/2020, investigator, 04/09/2020, Chertanovskiy District Court
02/09/2020
Moscow City Court rejected the applicant’s appeal on 01/12/2020
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
The applicant is an entrepreneur, who provides legal services (no evidence of being a Bar member). The investigation concerns Art. 159 § 4 of the Criminal Code (aggravated fraud). The Chertanovskiy District Court declared the lawfulness of the search ex post facto.
32407/21
05/06/2021
Roman Konstantinovich KAMENEV
1979
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Brester
Krasnoyarsk
Search under the OSAA, the applicant’s flat
09/12/2020, the Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk
date of the search -10/12/2020. The applicant filed a cassation appeal against the judgment of 09/12/2020 seeking the full review of the decision to issue a search warrant. On 17/02/2021 the 8th Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction upheld the decision of 09/12/2020.
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no evidence supporting the search authorisation
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law - a judicial decision authorising operational-search measures under the OSAA was not amenable to a review by a higher court and no other remedies in respect of this decision were available (see Avanesyan v. Russia,
no. 41152/06, §§ 30-36, 18 September 2014)
32550/21*
27/05/2021
Ilya Valeryevich KUPTSOV
1989
Roman Mikhaylovich Kashirin
Pskov
Search of the flat
24/02/2021, Investigator of the Novgorod Region Department of the Federal Security Service, 02/03/2021 Novgorodskiy District Court of the Novgorod Region
25/02/2021
domestic courts declared ex post facto the lawfulness of the search. Novgorod Regional Court, 15/04/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: lawyer not allowed to assist the applicant during the search, no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
50368/21*
22/09/2021
Giya Enverovich KAKABADZE
1960
Dmitriy Vladimirovich Zubarev
Vladivostok
Search of the flat
court search warrant of 05/02/2021 issued by the Pervorechenskiy District Court of Vladivostok
06/02/2021
the Primorye Regional Court, 23/03/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect
50369/21*
22/09/2021
Maksim Aleksandrovich KHOZYAYKIN
1986
Kseniya Nikolayevna KHOZYAYKINA
1985
Kira Maksimovna KHOZYAYKINA
2009
Dmitriy Vladimirovich Zubarev
Vladivostok
Search of the flat
05/02/2021 Pervorechenskiy District Court of Vladivostok
06/02/2021
Primorye Regional Court, 23/03/2021
no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no evidence supporting the search authorisation, no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
The applicants are a human rights defender and his wife and daughter. Their flat was searched within criminal proceedings against participants of Otpuskay manifestations.
55440/21
26/10/2021
Yuliya Valeryevna KULIKOVA
1977
Denis Yevgenyevich Kozyrev
Lipovitsy
Search, of the offices rented by the applicant, under the Code of Criminal Procedure
14/04/2021, Investigator of the Volokolamsk Town Circuit, 26/04/2021 Volokolamsk Town Court of the Moscow Region
14/04/2021
the applicant complained to the domestic courts under article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Final - Moscow Regional Court, 24/06/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect, no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no reasons given why any relevant objects or documents might be found during the search
57275/21*
17/11/2021
Yevgeniya Eduardovna LITVINOVA
1960
Vitaliy Viktorovich Cherkasov
St Petersburg
Search of the flat
31/01/2021, investigator
31/01/2021 Kuybyshevskiy District Court of St Petersburg, 02/02/2021
St Petersburg City Court, 28/05/2021
no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect, no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no reasons given why any relevant objects or documents might be found during the search, no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law - in conjunction with Article 8 related to the search
58638/21
10/11/2021
Yelena Anatolyevna GRECHINA
1975
Denis Anatolyevich Matyukhin
Taganrog
Search of the applicant’s flat
21/07/2021 Taganrog Town Court
06/08/2021
the decision of 21/07/2021 was not amenable to appeal
no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no evidence supporting the search authorisation, no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law - in respect of search authorisation.