European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

THIRD SECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASE OF RUBLEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

 

(Applications nos. 62594/15 and 3 others - see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

16 February 2017

 

 

 

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.




In the case of Rublev and Others v. Russia,

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

          Helena Jäderblom, President,
          Dmitry Dedov,
          Branko Lubarda, judges,
and Karen Reid, Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 26 January 2017,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2.  The applications were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).

THE FACTS

3.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

4.  The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

I.  JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

II.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

6.  The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 3

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

7.  The Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90-94, ECHR 2000-XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139-165, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, § 39, 7 April 2005, and Ananyev and Others, cited above, §§ 145-147 and 149).

8.  In the leading cases of Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, 10 January 2012, and Butko v. Russia, no. 32036/10, §§ 54-64, 12 November 2015, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

9.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention were inadequate.

10.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.

III.  REMAINING COMPLAINTS

11.  In applications nos. 31823/16 and 31829/16 the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, in accordance with the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in Ananyev and Others (cited above, §§ 100-119, pertaining to the absence of an effective remedy to complaint about the conditions of detention in Russia) and Idalov v. Russia [GC] (no. 5826/03, §§ 103-108, 22 May 2012, concerning the conditions of transport of detainees).

IV.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

12.  Article 41 of the Convention provides:

“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”

13.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, 10 January 2012, and Butko v. Russia, no. 32036/10, § 68, 12 November 2015), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

14.  The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1.  Decides to join the applications;

 

2.  Declares the applications admissible;

 

3.  Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;

 

4.  Holds that there has been a violation as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);

 

5.  Holds

(a)  that 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;

(b)  that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 16 February 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

       Karen Reid                                                                   Helena Jäderblom
Registrar                                                                              President

 




APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention)

No.	Application no. Date of introduction	Applicant name Date of birth	Facility Start and end date Duration	Sq. m. per inmate	Specific grievances	Other complaints under well-established case-law	Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]
1.	62594/15 29/02/2016	Andrey Ivanovich Rublev 23/08/1975	IK-2 Zabaikalskiy krai 12/02/2015 pending More than 1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 12 day(s)	180 inmate(s) 1 m²	overcrowding, lack of toilets and hand basins		7,500
2.	19657/16 11/03/2016	Sergey Ivanovich Nechayev 15/08/1974	FKU IK-16, Murmashi, Murmansk Region 08/12/2013 to 26/04/2016 2 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 19 day(s)	11 inmate(s) 2.1 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, insufficient number of telephone calls		9,300
3.	31823/16 26/04/2016	Vladimir Nikolayevich Ostryakov 17/09/1984	IK-1 Syktyvkar 19/11/2015 pending More than 11 month(s) and 17 day(s)	48 inmate(s)	overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, inadequate temperature, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower	Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport   Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention	6,500
4.	31829/16 26/04/2016	Rinat Nurislamovich Karimov 17/07/1978	IK-I Syktyvkar 26/11/2015 pending More than 11 month(s) and 10 day(s)	48 inmate(s)	overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower	Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport     Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention	6,500

 

 




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[1].  Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.