FIRST SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 58316/14
Iryna Volodymyrivna ZOSIM against Ukraine and Russia
and 12 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 14 November 2017 as a Committee composed of:
Kristina Pardalos, President,
Ksenija Turković,
Pauliine Koskelo, judges,
and Renata Degener, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the decision to grant priority to the above applications under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court,
Having regard to the interim measure indicated to the respondent Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court in certain cases,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS
1. The cases have been communicated to the respective Governments for information on various dates.
2. The facts of the cases, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
3. The applicants are Ukrainian nationals. Their relatives lived in Donetsk Region or served military service as members of Ukrainian armed forces in the area of armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
4. On various dates the applicants’ relatives were allegedly abducted in the course of events in eastern Ukraine. Subsequently the applicants learned that their relatives were held in captivity by members of separatist forces.
5. Some of the persons concerned have been released on various dates between December 2014 and July 2015 (applications no. 72457/14 – date of release approximately 07/12/2014; 6999/15 – date of release 21/02/2015; 7548/15 – date of release 27/08/2015 and 19147/15 – date of release 04/07/2015); the fate of the others remains unknown (58316/14; 68833/14; 70950/14; 74660/14; 75343/14; 5564/15; 8873/15 and 19422/15).
COMPLAINTS
6. The applicants complained under Articles 3, 4, 5, and 13 of the Convention that their relatives had been abducted and had been unlawfully detained in captivity by members of separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine, and that they were ill-treated while in detention and compelled to forced labour. They also complained about lack of effective domestic remedies.
THE LAW
7. The Court considers that, in accordance with Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court, the applications should be joined, given their similar factual and legal background.
8. By letters sent in May and June 2017 the applicants’ lawyers informed the Court that the applicants did not intend to pursue their applications before the Court.
9. Before taking a decision to strike a particular case out of its list, the Court must verify whether respect for human rights as defined in Article 37 of the Convention requires it to continue the examination of the case. In so far as relevant, Article 37 provides:
“1. The Court may at any stage of the proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that
(a) the applicant does not intend to pursue his application; ...
However, the Court shall continue the examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto so requires.”
10. The Court must also consider whether there are any circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case (Article 37 § 1 in fine). This includes cases where an applicant wishes to withdraw his or her application (see, mutatis mutandis, Tyrer v. the United Kingdom, no. 5856/72, 25 April 1978, §§ 24-27). Such circumstances exist when the continued examination of an application would contribute to elucidating, safeguarding and developing the standards of protection under the Convention (see, for example, Karner v. Austria, no. 40016/98, § 27, ECHR 2003‑IX). This will include when there is a new issue of concern or when there is a paucity of case-law on a particular subject (see, Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, no. 25965/04, §§ 199 and 200, ECHR 2010 (extracts)).
11. In the present case the Court notes that some of the applicants’ relatives were released from detention. It further observes that the applicants, all of them being represented by lawyers in the proceedings before the Court, expressly stated that they no longer wished to pursue their applications. It further notes that a number of cases concerning similar facts and raising similar issues under the Convention have been brought before the Court and is currently pending before it. The Court will therefore have an opportunity to determine legal issues involved in these cases.
12. In view of the above, it is appropriate to discontinue the application of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court in respect of the applications nos. 58316/14, 68833/14, 74660/14, 75343/14, 5378/15, 5564/15 and 8873/15.
13. In the light of the foregoing, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.
Done in English and notified in writing on 7 December 2017.
Renata DegenerKristina Pardalos
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Appendix
No.
Application no.
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
58316/14
22/08/2014
Iryna Volodymyrivna ZOSIM
13/03/1985
Novograd-Volynskyy
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
68833/14
22/10/2014
Liliya Volodymyrivna KAMBAROVA
03/11/1981
Novograd-Volynslyy
Alina Viktorivna PAVLYUK
70950/14
06/11/2014
Olersandr Oleksandrovych SHMALIY
16/04/1993
Babaykivka
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
72457/14
18/11/2014
Tetyana Milentiyivna YAROSHENKO
07/03/1969
Voznesensk
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
74660/14
28/11/2014
Natalya Vasylivna NEVERTIY
03/04/1968
Yuzhnoukrayinsk
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
75343/14
03/12/2014
Lidiya Georgiyivna SAMOYLOVA
10/03/1948
Solone
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
5378/15
27/01/2015
Zhanna Mykolayivna USHAKOVA
22/02/1971
Kharkiv
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
5564/15
28/01/2015
Iryna Ruslanivna SHCHERBINA
20/10/1997
Gaysyn
Alina Viktorivna PAVLYUK
6999/15
05/02/2015
Vira Oleksiyivna GASHCHENKO
07/07/1966
Kyiv
Alina Viktorivna PAVLYUK
7548/15
10/02/2015
Viktor Arseniyovych KUZMYCH
06/06/1964
Shchaslyve
Alina Viktorivna PAVLYUK
8873/15
13/02/2015
Alla Dmytrivna DANILOVA
20/05/1959
Cherkasy
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
19147/15
22/04/2015
Nadiya Petrivna ARTEMCHUK
09/10/1960
Popilnya
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
19422/15
23/04/2015
Tetyana Mykolayivna FEDORCHENKO
18/01/1976
Pavlivka
Oleg Igorovych VEREMIYENKO
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy