European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF GALSTYAN AND MEDVEDEV v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 50796/12 and 38594/18)

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

STRASBOURG

10 June 2021

 

 

 

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

 

In the case of Galstyan and Medvedev v. Russia,

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

          Darian Pavli, President,
          Dmitry Dedov,
          Peeter Roosma, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 20 May 2021,

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 Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

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 permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities. The 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.      The government’s request to strike applicatoin no. 50796/12 out of its list of cases

6.  As regards application no. 50796/12, the Government submitted a declaration whereby they acknowledged that from 28 January 2014 to 6 November 2015 the conditions of the applicant’s detention in remand prison no. IZ-47/1 in St Petersburg had not complied with the requirements set out in Article 3 of the Convention and that he had not had an effective remedy in that respect in contravention of Article 13 of the Convention. They offered to pay the applicant 7,375 euros (EUR) and invited the Court to strike the application out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amount would be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay that amount within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on it, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. The payment would constitute the final resolution of the case.

7.  The applicant informed the Court that he agreed to the terms of the declaration.

8.  The Court finds that, following the applicant’s express agreement to the terms of the declaration made by the Government, the case, as regards the complaint under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention in respect of the applicant’s detention from 28 January 2014 to 6 November 2015 should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.

9.  The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify the continued examination of this part of the application.

10.  In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike this part of application no. 50796/12 out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.

III.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8 of the Convention

11.  The applicants complained of the permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 8 of the Convention, which reads, in so far as relevant, as follows:

“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private ... life ... .

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others”

12.  The Court has already established, in an earlier case against Russia, that the national legal framework governing the placement of detainees under permanent video surveillance in penal institutions falls short of the standards set out in Article 8 of the Convention (see Gorlov and Others v. Russia (nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019). In Gorlov and Others the Court summed up the general principles concerning the detainees’ right to respect for private life reiterating that placing a person under permanent video surveillance whilst in detention was to be regarded as a serious interference with the individual’s right to respect for his or her privacy (ibid., §§ 81-82). It has further concluded that the national law cannot be regarded as being sufficiently clear, precise or detailed to have afforded appropriate protection against arbitrary interference by the authorities with the detainees’ right to respect of their private life (ibid., §§ 97-98).

13.  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. It considers, regard being had to the case-law cited above, that in the instant case the placement of the applicants under permanent video surveillance when confined to their cells in pre-trial and post-conviction detention facilities was not “in accordance with law”.

14.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 8 of the Convention.

IV.  OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW

15.  Mr Medvedev (application no. 38594/18) submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well‑established case-law of the Court (see the 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 well-established case-law (see Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103-08, 22 May 2012, and Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-156, 9 April 2019, concerning conditions of detention during transport and lack of an effective remedy in that respect; and Gorlov and Others, cited above, related to the lack of an effective remedy for a complaint about permanent video surveillance).

V.    REMAINING COMPLAINTS

16.   The applicants also raised other complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

17.  The Court has examined the applications and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

VI.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

18.  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.”

19.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law related to just satisfaction for a violation of Article 3 of the Convention in respect of poor conditions of transport of detainees (see, Pukhachev and Zaretskiy v. Russia, nos. 17494/16 and 29203/16, §§ 14-16, 7 November 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the applicant, Mr Medvedev, the sum indicated in the appended table. As regards the just satisfaction for the finding of a violation of Article 8 of the Convention in respect of both applicants, the Court reiterates its finding in Gorlov and Others, cited above, in particular § 120, which imposed on the respondent State a legal obligation, under Article 46 of the Convention, to implement, under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers, such measures as they consider appropriate to secure the right of the applicants and other persons in their position to respect of their private life, and considers that the finding of a violation constitutes a sufficient just satisfaction in this regard.

20.  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.      Decides to strike application no. 50796/18 in the part concerning the conditions of detention in remand prison no. IZ-47/1 in St Petersburg 28 January 2014 to 6 November 2015 and the absence of an effective remedy in this respect out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention;

3.      Declares the complaints concerning the permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;

4.      Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 8 of the Convention concerning the permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities;

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

6.      Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, Mr Medvedev, within three months, the amount 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;

7.      Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction in respect of the applicants’ complaint under Article 8 of the Convention.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 10 June 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Viktoriya Maradudina                                                            Darian Pavli

Acting Deputy Registrar                                                            President

 

 

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 8 § 1 of the Convention

(permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities)