Week-ending 10 December 2021
This week the European Court of Human Rights handed down 14 rulings with regard to Russia, 13 of which found violations by the Russian State. The violations found were of Convention Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture), 5 (liberty and security of person), 6 (fair trial), 10 (freedom of expression), 41 (just satisfaction) and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property).
7 December 2021
Art 5 § 4 • Review of lawfulness of detention • Domestic courts’ failure to consider substance of first applicant’s appeals against decisions rejecting his release applications contrary to Constitutional Court’s position
Art 8 • Family life • Ratione personae • Applicants not directly affected by statutory restrictions on family visits due to failure to use right as frequently as was permitted under domestic law
A violation of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention in respect of the first applicant on account of the domestic court’s failure to consider the substance of his appeals against the decisions of 5 October, 2 November and 7 December 2016; a) that the respondent State is to pay the first applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 1,250 (one thousand two hundred and fifty euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 850 (eight hundred and fifty euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the first applicant, in respect of costs and expenses, to be paid into the first applicant’s representative’s bank account.
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its substantive and procedural limbs; a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention; a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention on account of entrapment by State agents; a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 26,000 (twenty-six thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
Art 1 P1 • Respect des biens • Illégalité de la saisie-vente sans indemnisation, non encore exécutée, des immeubles de la requérante ordonnée judiciairement par suite de la condamnation pénale de son ex-époux
Il y a eu violation de l’article 1 du Protocole no 1 à la Convention; a) que l’État défendeur doit verser à la requérante, dans les trois mois à compter du jour où l’arrêt sera devenu définitif conformément à l’article 44 § 2 de la Convention, 5 000 EUR (cinq mille euros), à convertir dans la monnaie de l’État défendeur, au taux applicable à la date du règlement, plus tout montant pouvant être dû par la requérante à titre d’impôt sur cette somme, pour dommage moral.
KISHKAREV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its substantive limb in respect of Mr Kishkarev, Mr Petryayev, Mr Lavrov, Mr Koveshnikov, Mr Lankin and Mr Kakaulin on account of inhuman and degrading treatment to which they were subjected, and in respect of Mr Shiraliyev and Mr Bogdanov and on account of torture to which they were subjected; a violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its procedural limb in respect of all applicants; a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention in respect of Mr Petryayev, Mr Bogdanov, Mr Lavrov and Mr Lankin; the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, plus any tax that may be chargeable, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
KONSTANTINOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
A violation of Article 41 of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable.
Il y a eu violation de l’article 6 § 2 de la Convention; a) que l’État défendeur doit verser à la requérante, dans un délai de trois mois les sommes suivantes, à convertir dans la monnaie de l’État défendeur au taux applicable à la date du règlement: 1 500 EUR (mille cinq cents euros), plus tout montant pouvant être dû sur cette somme à titre d’impôt, pour dommage moral; 248 EUR (deux cent quarante‑huit euros), plus tout montant pouvant être dû sur cette somme par la requérante à titre d’impôt, pour frais et dépens.
PRONYAKIN AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
A violation of Article 10 of the Convention in respect of each applicant; the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
A violation of the substantive and procedural aspects of Article 2 of the Convention in respect of Mr Magomed Gorchkhanov; a violation of Article 5 of the Convention in respect of Mr Magomed Gorchkhanov; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, except for the payment in respect of costs and expenses: (i) EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 60,000 (sixty thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (iii) EUR 2,500 (two thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses, to be paid into the bank account of the applicant’s representatives in the Netherlands as indicated by the applicant.
A violation of Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) and (d) of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 1,100 (one thousand one hundred euros) plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
A violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 2,600 (two thousand six hundred euros), to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non‑pecuniary damage.
SPORYKHIN AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its substantive limb on account of the alleged ill-treatment by the State officers in respect of Mr Sporykhin, Mr Murskiy, Mr Knyazevich, Mr Amakhanov and Mr Gmyrya, and a violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its procedural limb in respect of all of the applicants; a violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention on account of unreasonable length of pre-trial detention in respect of Mr Amakhanov and Mr Gmyrya; a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, plus any tax that may be chargeable, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
A violation of Article 5 § 1 (f) and Article 5 § 4 of the Convention in respect of all the applicants; the State is to pay, within three months, the sums indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable, awarded in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
YAKUT REPUBLICAN TRADE-UNION FEDERATION v. RUSSIA
Art 11 • Form and join trade unions • Trade-union federation ordered to expel a grassroots union of working prisoners because of a statutory ban on their unionisation • Freedom of a trade union to join a federation and freedom of a federation to admit a trade union protected by Art 11 • Prison work not equivalent to employment • Trade-union freedom difficult to exercise in detention • Insufficient European consensus • Wide margin of appreciation not overstepped
No violation of Article 11 of the Convention.
YEFIMOV AND YOUTH HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP v. RUSSIA
Art 10 • Freedom of expression • Unjustified prosecution for hate speech and placement on list of terrorists and extremists for publishing a note criticising the Russian Orthodox Church • Court analysis of Art 10 requirements in absence of assessment by domestic authorities
Art 11 (+ Art 10) • Freedom of association • Requirement to remove person suspected of an extremist offence from participation in the applicant association and its subsequent dissolution not prescribed by law
A violation of Article 10 of the Convention in respect of the first applicant; a violation of Article 11 of the Convention, read in the light of Article 10, in respect of both applicants; (a) that the respondent State is to pay the first applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
