Communicated on 4 December 2020
Published on 21 December 2020
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 10669/18
Dmitriy Aleksandrovich YUMAYEV against Russia
and 2 other applications
(see list appended)The circumstances of the cases
The applicants are all Russian nationals living in various regions of the Russian Federation. Between 2017 and 2018 they were convicted of different criminal offences. When convicting them the domestic courts relied, inter alia, on the applicants’ statements of surrender and confession and in case of Mr Sergeyev (application no. 42426/18) as well as on his explanations, altogether made in the absence of a lawyer and before having been notified of their procedural rights. The applicants’ personal details and information about their convictions appear in the Appendix.Relevant domestic law and practiceGeneral overview
The relevant domestic law and practice in respect of confession statements given in the absence of a lawyer are summarised in the case of Turbylev v. Russia (no. 4722/09, §§ 46-56, 6 October 2015).Recent developments
On 29 November 2016 the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation gave Ruling no. 55, section 10 of which provides that before admitting in evidence a statement of surrender and confession referred to by the prosecution the trial court should examine, among other things, whether prior to that confession the defendant was informed of his rights, including the right not to incriminate himself and the right to a lawyer and whether he was given the opportunity to effectively exercise them.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complain under Article 6 § 3 (c) of the Convention in conjunction with Article 6 § 1 that their rights of defence in criminal proceedings were violated, as their initial confessions in the form of statements of surrender and confession – which formed the basis of their criminal conviction – were obtained in breach of their right to a lawyer.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Did the applicants have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charges against them, in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention? In particular, having regard to the fact that the applicants were not assisted by a lawyer when they made statements to the police and to the principles adopted by the Grand Chamber in the cases of Ibrahim and Others v. the United Kingdom ([GC], no. 50541/08 and 3 others, §§ 255-65, 13 September 2016 and Beuze v. Belgium ([GC], no. 71409/10, §§ 120‑50, 9 November 2018, has there been a breach of Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) of the Convention?
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Date of birth
Place of residence
Nationality
Represented by
Applicant’s conviction
Evidence obtained allegedly in violation of the right to legal assistance and used for conviction
Applicant’s procedural status
when making self-incriminating statements
10669/18
14/02/2018
Dmitriy Aleksandrovich YUMAYEV
1991
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Russian
Vladimir Andreyevich KASHPRUK
Convicted on 29/05/2017
by the South-Sakhalinskiy Town Court
of drug dealing and and attempted drug dealing in conspiracy,
upheld on appeal
on 09/11/2017
by the Sakhalinsk Regional Court
A statement of surrender and confession
given at the Sakhalinsk Region Department of the Federal Drug Control Service
(УФСКН РФ по Сахалинской области)
at 10.00 p.m. on 06/08/2014
Reiterated on 06/08/2014
in an interview as an accused
in the presence of a State-appointed lawyer Mr Ch.
Refused to confirm or refute his confession statement on 26/01/2015
in the interview as a suspect
in the presence of a lawyer of own choosing Mr T. in view of the intention to conclude a plea bargain
Arrested
at 10 a.m.
on 06/08/2014
Brought to the Sakhalinsk Region Department of the Federal Drug Control Service
(УФСКН РФ по Сахалинской области)
Access to a lawyer given
at around 11.00 p.m.
on 06/08/2014
(State-appointed lawyer Mr Ch.)
Released
at around 3 a.m.
on 07/08/2014
42426/18
23/08/2018
Mikhail Valeryevich SERGEYEV
1972
Volchanets
Russian
Aleksandr Vadimovich SHPALOV
Convicted on 09/11/2017
by the Primorskiy Regional Court
of murder in conspiracy,
upheld on appeal
on 15/03/2018
by the Supreme Court of Russia
A statement of surrender and confession and explanations
given at the police department in Vladivostok, Primorskiy Region (оперативный отдел полиции г. Владивостока Приморского края)
at 02.00 p.m. on 19/07/2016
Reiterated on 19/07/2016
in the interview as a suspect and reconstruction of the crime
in the presence of a State-appointed lawyer Mr K., and on 20/07/2016 in the interview as an accused in the presence of the same lawyer
Arrested
at 07.30 a.m.
on 19/07/2016
Brought to the police department in Vladivostok, Primorskiy Region
(оперативный отдел полиции г. Владивостока Приморского края)
Access to a lawyer
at 03.15 p.m.
on 19/07/2016
(State-appointed lawyer Mr K.)
Arrest record drawn up
at 03.15 p.m.
on 19/07/2016
6847/19
29/12/2018
Sergey Aleksandrovich KUTKIN
1986
Irbit
Russian
Convicted on 27/04/2018 by the Irbitskiy District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region
of sexual assault,
upheld on appeal
on 24/07/2018
by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court
A statement of surrender and confession
given at the Irbitskiy police station of the Ministry of the Interior (Ирбитский ОВД МВД России)
at 07.58 p.m. on 09/09/2017
Reiterated on 10/09/2017
in the interview as an accused
in the presence of a lawyer
Presented himself to the Irbitskiy police station of the Ministry of the Interior
(Ирбитский ОВД МВД России)
at the investigator’s request
at 06.00 p.m.
on 09/09/2017
Arrest record drawn up
at 11.59 p.m.
on 09/09/2017
Access to a lawyer given
on 10/09/2017
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