European Court of Human Rights

 

 

FOURTH SECTION

CASE OF MARTIROSYAN v. ARMENIA

(Application no. 50837/20)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

STRASBOURG

9 February 2023

 

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

In the case of Martirosyan v. Armenia,

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

          Anja Seibert-Fohr, President,
          Armen Harutyunyan,
          Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 19 January 2023,

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

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in an application against Armenia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 30 October 2020.

2.  The applicant was represented by Mr A. Hayrapetyan, a lawyer practising in Gyumri.

3.  The Armenian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the application.

THE FACTS

4.  The applicant’s details and information relevant to the application are set out in the appended table.

5.  The applicant complained of the excessive length of his pre-trial detention. He also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

I.        ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 3 of the Convention

6.  The applicant complained principally that his pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. He relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”

7.  The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000‑XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006‑X).

8.  In the case of Muradkhanyan v. Armenia, no. 12895/06, 5 June 2012, 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 length of the applicant’s pre-trial detention was excessive.

10.  This complaint is therefore admissible and discloses a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.

II.     Remaining complaint

11.  As to the complaint under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, the Court considers that it has examined the main legal questions raised in the application. It thus considers that the complaint is admissible but that there is no need to give a separate ruling on it (compare Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 156, ECHR 2014, and Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev v. Russia, nos. 11082/06 and 13772/05, § 525, 25 July 2013).

III.   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, the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1.      Declares the application admissible;

2.      Holds that this application discloses a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention;

3.      Holds that there is no need to examine separately the complaint under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention;

4.      Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, 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 9 February 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

                       

      Viktoriya Maradudina                                           Anja Seibert-Fohr

    Acting Deputy Registrar                                                President

 

 

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention

(lack of relevant and sufficient reasons for excessively lengthy detention)