Communicated on 29 January 2015
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 1115/10
Nailya Zakirovna UDUT
against Russia
lodged on 11 November 2009
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Ms Nailya Zakirovna Udut, is a Russian national, who was born in 1958 and lives in the village of Iskateley in the Nenetskiy Autonomous Region.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
A. Death of the applicant’s daughter and investigation thereof
On 8 May 2007 the applicant’s daughter (Z.) was found dead.
On the same day the law-enforcement bodies of the Nenetskiy Autonomous Region were informed of Z.’s suicide.
On 31 May and 18 June 2007 the applicant complained to the Nenetskiy Regional Prosecutor’s Office seeking to have criminal proceedings opened against her son-in-law (Ch.) who allegedly incited Z.’s death by regular beatings and other violent actions.
Between 18 May 2007 and 14 October 2009 nineteen decisions were taken by the investigator to refuse the institution of the criminal proceedings into Z.’s death. Eighteen of them were subsequently set aside by the supervising prosecutor, and the most recent one - by the court, as unlawful and unsubstantiated. On each occasion it was noted that the instructions given to the investigator by the prosecutor and the head of the criminal investigations department for carrying out procedural measures aimed at establishing the circumstances mentioned in the applicant’s complaint and the circumstances of Z.’s death had not been complied with.
In the meantime, on 8 May 2008 it has been established by the investigator that Ch.’s actions contained elements of a criminal offence under Article 117 § 1 of the Criminal Code (infliction of physical sufferings through regular beatings) in respect of Z. in the period between 19 June 2006 and 8 May 2007. The relevant material was submitted for inquiry to the Nenetskiy Autonomous Region police department.
At least seventeen decisions were taken by the police department refusing the institution of criminal proceedings against Ch. under Article 117 § 1 of the Criminal Code, all of which were set aside by the supervising prosecutor as unlawful and unsubstantiated. The most recent decision contained in the case file dated 26 March 2010 was set aside on 5 April 2010.
On 13 November 2009 the applicant complained to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office about the failure of the criminal investigations department and the police department to carry-out comprehensive and prompt inquiries into the death of her daughter.
On the same day the first deputy prosecutor of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office held that the failure to comply with the law and the requirement of promptness in carrying out the inquiry into Z.’s death by the officers of the criminal investigations department and the police department had violated the applicant’s rights.
The current state of proceedings is unknown.
B. Civil claim for damages
In April 2009 the applicant brought civil proceedings against the Ministry of Finance seeking to recover non-pecuniary damages caused to her by the failure of the domestic authorities to investigate her daughter’s death.
On 5 June 2009 the Naryan-Mar Town Court dismissed the applicant’s claim.
On 16 July 2009 the Nenetskiy Autonomous Regional Court upheld the judgment on appeal.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains with reference to Article 13 of the Convention about the failure of the domestic authorities to carry out an effective investigation into her daughter’s death.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
Did the investigation in respect of the applicant’s daughter’s death comply with the requirements under Article 2 of the Convention? In particular, was that investigation conducted promptly and free of deficiencies capable of undermining the authorities’ ability to establish the cause of the victim’s death and to identify the perpetrator or perpetrators, if any (see Hasan Çalışkan and Others v. Turkey, no. 13094/02, § 51 et seq., 27 May 2008, and Anusca v. Moldova, no. 24034/07, 18 May 2010)?
The Government are requested to produce the entire investigation file pertaining to the circumstances in question and to inform the Court of the current state of proceedings in the case.
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