European Court of Human Rights

 

 

FIRST SECTION

CASE OF BAGAUTDINOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 48041/16 and 17 others –

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

23 March 2023

 

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

In the case of Bagautdinov and Others v. Russia,

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

          Lətif Hüseynov, President,
          Ivana Jelić,
          Erik Wennerström, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 2 March 2023,

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 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.     THE GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST TO STRIKE OUT APPLICATIONs Nos. 77574/17 and 1989/18 UNDER ARTICLE 37 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION

6.  The Government submitted unilateral declarations in cases nos. 77574/17 and 1989/18 which did not offer a sufficient basis for finding that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention does not require the Court to continue examination of the cases (Article 37 § 1 in fine). The Court rejects the Government’s request to strike the applications out and will accordingly pursue its examination of the cases (see Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no.26307/95, § 75, ECHR 2003‑VI).

III.   ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

7.  The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.

8.  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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, 20 October 2016; 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 extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “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, §§ 36–40, 7 April 2005).

9.  In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

10.  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.

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

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

12.  The applicant in application no. 15724/18 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 a violation of the Convention in the light of its well-established case-law (see Gorlov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees).

V.     REMAINING COMPLAINTS

13.  In addition, the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

14.  The Court has examined these 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.

15.  Finally, some applicants also complained under Article 13 of the Convention about the lack of remedies to complain about poor conditions of detention. The Court does not consider it necessary to examine the complaint separately (see, for similar approach most recently, Satyr and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 70387/16 and 14 others, 12 January 2023).

VI.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

16.  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.”

17.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014 and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, no. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1.      Decides to join the applications;

2.      Rejects the Government’s request to strike applications nos. 77574/17 and 1989/18 out of its list of cases under Article 37 § 1 of the Convention on the basis of the unilateral declaration which they submitted;

3.      Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction and other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, finds that it is not necessary to examine separately the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention concerning the lack of an effective domestic remedy to complain about poor detention conditions, and dismisses the remainder of applications as inadmissible;

4.      Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction;

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 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 during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 23 March 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

      Viktoriya Maradudina                                             Lətif Hüseynov
    Acting Deputy Registrar                                                President

 

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention after conviction)

No.	Application no. Date of introduction	Applicant’s name Year of birth	Facility Start and end date Duration	Inmates per brigade Sq. m per inmate Number of toilets per brigade	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]
	48041/16 01/08/2016	Ruslan Rafailovich BAGAUTDINOV 1986	IK-1 Komi Republic 09/01/2014 pending More than 8 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 20 day(s)	200 inmate(s) 3.3 m² 4 toilet(s)	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food		12,500
	67362/17 08/08/2017	Maksim Stanislavovich SANDOMIROV 1983	IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 27/11/2013 to 22/09/2017 3 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 27 day(s)   IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 01/07/2018 to 23/11/2018 4 month(s) and 23 day(s)	2 m²           2.25 m²	overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to running water, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to shower, unsanitary conditions, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, bad odour in cells		6,800
	69436/17 16/08/2017	Khuler Eduardovich BOPUY-OOL 1993	IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 10/10/2016 to 01/03/2017 4 month(s) and 20 day(s)   IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 22/03/2017 to 03/08/2017 4 month(s) and 13 day(s)   IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 10/08/2017 to 22/12/2017 4 month(s) and 13 day(s)	2.6 m²         2.6 m²         2.9 m²	no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food     see above         see above		5,600
	74195/17 12/06/2018	Aleksandr Sergeyevich ANISHCHENKO 1987	IK-43 Krasnoyarsk Region 27/10/2011 to 01/04/2019 7 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 6 day(s)	3 m²	no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to warm water, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, no sewage system in the detention facility		7,500
	77574/17 19/10/2017	Aleksandr Vladimirovich PANKOV 1981	IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod 30/06/2014 pending More than 8 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 8 day(s)	145 inmate(s) 2 m² 5 toilet(s)	no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease		12,500
	1989/18 07/12/2017	Maksim Vladimirovich KARTAVSHCHIKOV 1982	IK-29 Kirov Region 12/02/2014 to 15/04/2020 6 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 4 day(s)	2.7 m²	no ventilation, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of requisite medical assistance, centralized radio in brigade, poor quality of food, lack of privacy for toilet		12,300
	7911/18 30/01/2018	Aleksey Sergeyevich BYANKIN 1985	IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 04/09/2016 pending More than 6 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 25 day(s)	150 inmate(s) 2 m²	overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of privacy for toilet		12,500
	10839/18 12/02/2018	Aleksandr Vladimirovich USPENSKIY 1987	IK-5 Ivanovo Region 01/07/2013 to 27/02/2018 4 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 27 day(s)	105 inmate(s) 2.9 m² 5 toilet(s)	overcrowding, passive smoking, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, lack of privacy for toilet, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air		5,300
	11705/18 14/02/2018	Mikhail Valeryevich KUZNETSOV 1970	IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 01/12/2009 to 02/07/2021 11 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 2 day(s)	150 inmate(s) 3 m² 6 toilet(s)	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower		12,500
	13956/18 07/05/2018	Andrey Mikhaylovich KUZNETSOV 1971	IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 19/02/2014 to 01/10/2018 4 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 13 day(s)	100 inmate(s) 3.3 m² 4 toilet(s)	lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of warm clothes		6,300
	14026/18 12/02/2018   and     14051/18 01/03/2018	Maksim Viktorovich GRIGORYEV 1978	IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 01/07/2016 to 16/01/2018 1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 16 day(s)   IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 17/11/2018 to 25/04/2019 5 month(s) and 9 day(s)	180 inmate(s) 4 m² 7 toilet(s)       140 inmate(s) 3 m² 8 toilet(s)	no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, inadequate clothing      lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding		2,900
	15724/18 14/03/2018	Nachyn Danilovich IRGIT-OOL 1981	IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 09/01/2018 pending More than 4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 22 day(s)	70 inmate(s) 3.35 m² 4 toilet(s)	no or restricted access to toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities	Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - 09/01/2018 - pending; in brigade no. 13 IK‑5 Krasnoyarsk Region; opposite-sex operators; detention in different cells with video surveillance	12,500
	17929/18 28/03/2018	Sergey Fedorovich BORONIN 1989	IK-5 Ivanovo Region 01/07/2015 to 07/06/2018 2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 7 day(s)	108 inmate(s) 2.8 m² 4 toilet(s)	inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, passive smoking, overcrowding, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease		5,800
	27003/18 14/05/2018	Elmar Anerbekovich ISALIYEV 1995	IK-5 Kirov Region 18/09/2017 to 07/07/2018 9 month(s) and 20 day(s)	105 inmate(s) 2.4 m² 7 toilet(s)	overcrowding, leaking roof, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, insufficient number of toilets and wash basins, no or restricted access to warm water		4,400
	27813/18 28/05/2018	Maksim Sergeyevich YERSHOV 1992	IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region 31/07/2017 to 22/12/2021 4 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 23 day(s)	120 inmate(s) 2 m²	overcrowding, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell		12,500
	40660/18 06/08/2018	Andrey Vladimirovich PUGACHEV 1982	IK-8 Komi Republic 08/08/2014 to 11/09/2022 8 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 4 day(s)	140 inmate(s) 2–2.5 m² 5 toilet(s)	overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, scarce surface of the walking ward, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, inadequate temperature, lack of or no ventilation, lack of natural light, lack of or inadequate furniture		12,500
	59425/18 04/03/2019	Denis Valeryevich IVANOV 1985	IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 27/04/2018 pending More than 4 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 2 day(s)	100 inmate(s) 2.7 m² 6 toilet(s)	overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to warm water.		12,500