Published on 20 November 2023
FIFTH SECTION
Application no. 48829/18
Yuriy Gavrylovych SAVELYEV against Ukraine
and 7 other applications
(see list appended)
communicated on 3 November 2023
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASES
The applications concern the applicants’ complaints under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention and Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention, and the absence of an effective domestic remedy for the above complaints, in breach of Article 13 of the Convention.
The applicants are crew members of a fishing boat, the N., registered in Crimea by the Russian authorities (its registration was considered to be void under Ukrainian legislation). On 25 March 2018 the Ukrainian Border Service stopped the boat in the Azov Sea, as the boat did not have valid registration documents, and escorted it to the port of Berdyansk. According to the applicants, their identity documents were seized and they were ordered to stay on the boat and could not leave it. On 6 April 2018 the Prymorskyi District Court of Mariupol found the applicants guilty of a breach of the rules on entering the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and imposed fines on them in various amounts. There is no information as to whether the applicants appealed against those decisions.
In addition, a criminal investigation into a breach of the rules on entering/leaving the territory of Ukraine was instituted against the captain of the boat, Mr G. (application no. 49233/18). On 4 April 2018 he was arrested by the investigator and on 6 April 2018 the local court decided to detain the applicant with the possibility of release on bail. On 10 April 2018 his lawyer paid bail, and the applicant was released.
The applicants’ lawyer lodged complaints with the investigating judge by virtue of Article 206 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see Vadym Melnyk v. Ukraine, nos. 62209/17 and 50933/18, § 57, 16 September 2022) regarding the unlawfulness of their detention. The complaints were rejected without consideration of the merits by the Berdyansk Local Court of Zaporizhzhya Region on 2 April 2018. On 5 May 2018 that decision was quashed on appeal and the case was remitted for a fresh consideration. On various dates the courts reconsidered the applicants’ complaints and dismissed them as unsubstantiated. The applicants state that, in the meantime, they were released on 6 April 2018.
The applicants complain under Article 5 of the Convention that they were unlawfully deprived of their liberty as a result of their detention on the boat from 25 March to 6 April 2018. They furthermore raised a complaint under Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention that, for the same reasons, their freedom of movement was restricted.
They also complain under Article 13 of the Convention that they had no effective domestic remedy in respect of their complaints under Article 5 of the Convention and Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Is Article 5 of the Convention applicable in relation to the applicants’ stay on the boat between 25 March and 6 April 2018? What was the applicants’ legal status, and did they have the right to leave the boat during that time? The Government are invited to submit relevant documents confirming the applicants’ legal status, their arrest and release, if any.
2. Did the applicants have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their complaints under Article 5 § 1? If so, did they exhaust that remedy in order to comply with the requirements of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
3. Was the applicants’ stay on the boat from 25 March to 6 April 2018 in compliance with Article 5 of the Convention?
4. Is Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention applicable in relation to the same events?
5. Did the applicants have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their complaints under Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention as required by Article 13? If so, did they exhaust that remedy in order to comply with the requirements of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
6. Was there a violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention as a result of their stay on the boat between 25 March and 6 April 2018?
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Case name
Lodged on
Applicant
Year of Birth
Represented by
1.
48829/18
Savelyev v. Ukraine
05/10/2018
Yuriy Gavrylovych SAVELYEV
1956
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
2.
48902/18
Chmykhalov v. Ukraine
05/10/2018
Pavlo Sergiyovych CHMYKHALOV
1985
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
3.
49033/18
Taranets v. Ukraine
03/10/2018
Volodymyr Dmytrovych TARANETS
1960
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
4.
49042/18
Bazhanov v. Ukraine
03/10/2018
Dmytro Mykolayovych BAZHANOV
1997
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
5.
49043/18
Umilyenov v. Ukraine
05/10/2018
Viktor Yuriyovych UMILYENOV
1962
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
6.
49050/18
Fedyshen v. Ukraine
03/10/2018
Viktor Ivanovych FEDYSHEN
1971
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
7.
49233/18
Gorbenko v. Ukraine
09/10/2018
Volodymyr Mykolayovych GORBENKO
1976
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL
8.
49424/18
Umilyenov v. Ukraine
05/10/2018
Yuriy Viktorovych UMILYENOV
1988
Anton Yuriyovych ZHURAVEL