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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> SOLDATOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 10881/21 (Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 929 (23 November 2023)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/929.html
Cite as: [2023] ECHR 929
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FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF SOLDATOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 10881/21 and 37 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
23 November 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Soldatov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Branko Lubarda, President,
Armen Harutyunyan,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 2 November 2023,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
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 about their confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
- 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.
- Jurisdiction
6. The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68-73, 17 January 2023).
- ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION
7. The applicants complained principally about their confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.
Some applicants also complained that they had not been afforded an effective domestic remedy in respect of their grievances under Article 3, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention.
8. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in a metal cage in the courtroom in the context of their trial. In the leading cases of Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), and Vorontsov and Others v. Russia, nos. 59655/14 and 2 others, 31 January 2017, the Court already dealt with the issue of the use of metal cages in courtrooms and found that such a practice constituted in itself an affront to human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention. Similar finding was reached by the Court in respect of the practice of confinement of defendants in metal cages at remand prisons for the purposes of their participation in court hearings carried out via a video link (see Karachentsev v. Russia, no. 23229/11, §§ 50-54, 17 April 2018).
9. The Court has also dealt with the issue of the use of glass cabins in courtrooms and found that under certain circumstances such a practice could also disclose a violation of Article 3 of the Convention (see Yaroslav Belousov v. Russia, nos. 2653/13 and 60980/14, §§ 123-28, 4 October 2016, where extreme overcrowding inside the glass cabin led the Court to the conclusion of a violation of Article 3 of the Convention, and Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia, no. 38004/12, §§ 144-50, 17 July 2018, where similar conclusion was reached by the Court against the background of the glass dock having been constantly surrounded by armed police officers and court ushers and a guard dog having been present next to it in the courtroom).
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' confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin before the court during the criminal proceedings against them amounted to degrading treatment.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
12. Having regard to its finding above, the Court does not consider it necessary to deal separately with the applicants' complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (see Valyuzhenich v. Russia, no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).
- OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
13. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given 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.
14. 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 N.T. v. Russia, no. 14727/11, §§ 32-57, 2 June 2020, concerning inadequate conditions of detention under strict imprisonment regime; 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 inadequate conditions of transport and lack of an effective remedy in that respect; Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, §§ 108-11, 27 November 2012, as regards unreasonably long detention on remand; Idalov, cited above, §§ 154-58, as regards lengthy review of detention matters; Nakhmanovich v. Russia, no. 55669/00, §§ 85-98, 2 March 2006, as regards unreasonable duration of the criminal proceedings; and Gorlov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, §§ 58-110, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees and lack of an effective remedy in that respect.
- APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. 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."
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Vorontsov and Others, cited above), the Court considers that the finding of a violation in applications nos. 4935/22 and 44999/22 will constitute in itself sufficient just satisfaction (see Ivanov and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 44363/14 and 2 others, § 12, 4 June 2020, and Puzanov v. Russia [Committee], nos. 26895/14 and 2 other applications, § 13, 15 September 2022). It further finds reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table to the remaining applicants.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
- Decides to join the applications;
- Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;
- Declares the applications admissible;
- Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the applicants' placement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin before the court during the criminal proceedings against them;
- Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
- Holds 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 placement in a metal cage and/or glass cabin during court hearings;
- Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants in applications nos. 4935/22 and 44999/22;
- Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the remaining 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 23 November 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Branko Lubarda
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant's name Year of birth | Representative's name and location | Name of the court Date of the relevant judgment | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
28/05/2021 | Anton Borisovich SOLDATOV 1987 | Dunayeva Alla Igorevna Chelyabinsk | Fourth Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction 30/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
06/07/2021 | Anna Tamazovna KVASHINA 1990 |
| Sokolskiy District Court of the Vologda Region 03/02/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
20/12/2021 | Yuriy Vitalyevich ADRIANOV 1975 | Polonskiy Aleksandr Viktorovich Volgograd | Kirovskiy District Court of Volgograd (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
|
| 7,500 | |
12/12/2021 | Mikhail Yevgenyevich KOTLYAROV 1990 |
| Tosno Town Court of the Leningrad Region, Leningrad Regional Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
| Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - from 28/02/2020 - pending as of 16/09/2022; Tosno Town Court of the Leningrad Region, Leningrad Regional Court; last extension of pre-trial detention - 13/07/2021, upheld by the Leningrad Regional Court on appeal on 19/08/2021; fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint; collective detention orders;
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - decision of 13/07/2021 extending the applicant's detention on remand was upheld on appeal on 19/08/2021
| 9,750 | |
30/12/2021 | Artur Ilyasovich ABDULMUTALIBOV 1987 | Finashkin Andrey Yuryevich Kursk | Kurskiy District Court of the Kursk Region 01/07/2021 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - the applicant was transported on numerous occasions between the remand prison and the courthouse in a single-prisoner cubicle measuring 0.5 sq. m. Due to the absence of free convoy cells at the courthouse the applicant was held in the prison van until the start of the hearings and during court breaks. There was no toilet in the van, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air. It appears that the most recent occasion of transport was on 30/12/2021 | 8,500 | |
20/12/2021 | Ilnur Amirovich FAYZULIN 1995 | Alekseyeva Natalya Vasilyevna Krasnoyarsk | Tsentralnyy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 16/11/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
02/04/2022 | Vadim Valeryevich ANIKEYEV 1982 |
| Arkhangelsk Regional Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
| Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - by van between the remand prison and the Arkhangelsk Regional Court on 456 occasions between 25/01/2017 and ongoing as of 16/09/2022, 0.32 sq. m of personal space, van ceiling height 1.5 m, handcuffing, absence of safety belts, inadequate temperatures, transport took 50 minutes one way, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric and natural light, overcrowding, passive smoking;
Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - Proceedings pending since 14/11/2014 and at least until 16/09/2022; the applicant challenged the length of the proceedings before the domestic courts and was awarded RUB 70,300 (approximately EUR 800), final decision 15/09/2022;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | - | |
03/04/2022 | Pavel Petrovich PETROVSKIY 1964 |
| Kirovskiy District Court of St Petersburg, Kuybyshevskiy District Court of St Petersburg, St Petersburg City Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - Transport on multiple occasions between 24/01/2019 and 31/03/2022, between 0.2 and 0.25 sq. m. of personal space, transport time - 2 hours per one-way trip, absence of toilet; poor conditions in assembly cells on the days of transport (20 to 30 inmates confined in the cell measuring 15 sq. m, no ventilation in the cell, the window could not be opened, no hot food on the days of transport, poor sanitary conditions). | 8,500 | |
26/12/2021 | Vitaliy Vyacheslavovich KOREPANOV 1992 |
| Severodvinsk Town Court of the Arkhangelsk Region 17/01/2022 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - by van and train, 06/05/2021 - 17/12/2021, overcrowding (0.49 sq. m per person in the van and 0.29 sq. m per person on the train), absence of toilet on a 20-hour train ride, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, passive smoking;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 8,500 | |
14/01/2022 | Aleksandr Borisovich OZEL 1991 | Krikun Leonid Leonidovich St Petersburg | Tver Regional Court 14/07/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
30/05/2022 | Roman Alekseyevich MOKRUSHNIKOV 1992 |
| Norilsk Town Court 23/05/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
19/02/2022 | Vladimir Valeryevich ZAVALIY 1975 | Golubenko Andrey Yevgenyevich Nea Skiony | Murmansk Regional Court 10/12/2021 | Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - SIZO-1 Murmansk, 21/05/2021 - 29/01/2022, opposite-sex operators, detention in different cells with video surveillance, video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of permanent video surveillance in detention facilities | 7,500 | |
31/01/2022 | Ivan Sergeyevich LISICHNIKOV 1978 | Tsarenkov Mikhail Maisovich Molodezhnyy | Tsentralniy District Court of Chita, Zabaykalskiy Regional Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
| Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - detention on remand, 14/10/2020 - pending as of 16/09/2022, Tsentralniy District Court of Chita, Zabaykalskiy Regional Court: fragility of the reasons employed by the courts, use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice, failure to examine the possibility, as the case progressed, of applying other measures to secure attendance at the trial | 9,750 | |
16/02/2022 | Aynur Azatovich YAKUPOV 1989 | Abdrashitov Elik Yevgenyevich Orel | Vakhitovskiy District Court of Kazan, Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan 22/12/2021 | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - 07/04/2020 -22/12/2021; Vakhitovskiy District Court of Kazan, Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan, Fourth Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction: fragility of the reasons employed by the courts, failure to assess the applicant's personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding, fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed, failure to examine the possibility, as the case progressed, of applying other measures to secure attendance at the trial, collective detention orders | 9,750 | |
26/04/2022 | Aleksandr Ivanovich BURAVENKO 1994 |
| Ezhvinskiy District Court of Syktyvkar 31/01/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
10/02/2022 | Yuriy Vladimirovich GRUDININ 1959 | Kiryanov Aleksandr Vladimirovich Taganrog | Leninskiy District Court of Rostov-on-Don 24/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
04/02/2022 | Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich DEMCHENKO 1980 |
| Sysolskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi, Priluzskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 13/08/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
17/03/2022 | Aleksandr Sergeyevich ZAYCHENKO 1989 |
| Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 24/01/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
28/03/2022 | Pavel Vladimirovich GORINOV 1982 |
| Kanashskiy District Court of the Republic of Chuvashia 01/10/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
20/03/2022 | Nurlan Vyacheslavovich USHAKOV 1988 |
| Belozerskiy District Court of the Vologda Region, Oktyabrskiy District Court of Orsk, the Orenburg Region 24/02/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
28/03/2022 | Vladimir Yuryevich CHEKULDAYEV 1977 |
| Ivdel Town Court, Sorskiy District Court of the Republic of Khakassia, Abakan Town Court 24/03/2022 |
| 2,100 | |
12/04/2022 | Natalya Yuryevna TOMILOVA 1964 | Abdrashitov Elik Yevgenyevich Orel | Kirovskiy District Court of Kazan 27/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
23/03/2022 | Leonid Vasilyevich FILIPPOV 1990 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Shumerlinskiy District Court of the Republic of Chuvashia, Supreme Court of the Republic of Chuvashia 28/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
21/03/2022 | Andrey Sergeyevich VELICHKO 1989 |
| Syktyvdinskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 01/02/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
27/04/2022 | Yevgeniya Igorevna MAKARENKO 1996 |
| Solntsevskiy District Court of Moscow 19/04/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
26/04/2022 | Vasiliy Leonidovich GUZ 1985
|
| Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi 28/12/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
13/04/2022 | Aleksandr Anatolyevich SOKOLYUK 1981 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk, Lomonosovskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk Regional Court 14/10/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
18/04/2022 | Yevgeniy Gennadyevich GERASIMOV 1982 |
| Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 17/03/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
22/04/2022 | Denis Ruslanovich SULEYMANOV 1995 | Kanayev Valeriy Viktorovich Diveyevo | Arzamas Town Court of the Nizhniy Novgorod Region 13/01/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
04/05/2022 | Dmitriy Yuryevich ISAYEV 1974 |
| Perm Regional Court 18/01/2022 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention under strict imprisonment regime - the applicant has been serving his life imprisonment under strict regime since 25/10/1999 - pending as of 16/09/2022: confined to his cell (along with one or two other inmates) for twenty-two-and-a-half hours a day, lack of purposeful activity, extremely limited outside exercise, isolation from the rest of the prison community. Brought proceedings in order to have the regime of his detention altered with a milder one, but the domestic courts held that the domestic law did not provide for the possibility for those sentenced to life imprisonment to have the regime of their detention reviewed;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention | 9,750 | |
03/03/2022 | Mikhail Vsevolodovich SPIRIN 1995 |
| Justice of the Peace of the Dimitrovskiy Court Circuit of Syktyvkar 15/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
10/05/2022 | Sergey Anatolyevich BROZYANSKIY 1982 |
| Krasnoyarsk Regional Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
03/06/2022 | Maksudbek Dilshadovich KHUSANBAYEV 2001 | Zubitskiy Pavel Nikolayevich Moscow | Naro-Fominsk Town Court of Moscow Region, Moscow Regional Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
| Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - Naro-Fominsk Town Court of Moscow Region, 22/02/2022 - reviewed by Moscow Regional Court, 29/03/2022; Naro-Fominsk Town Court of Moscow Region, 01/04/2022 - reviewed by Moscow Regional Court, 17/05/2022;
Art. 5 (3) - lack of relevant and sufficient reasons for detention - the applicant was arrested on suspicion of extortion on 12/01/2022 and detained on remand on 14/01/2022: fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint | 9,750 | |
20/06/2022 | Andrey Olegovich DUBROVIN 1986 |
| Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnodar, Krasnodar Regional Court (Pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
22/06/2022 | Yevgeniy Igorevich AFANASIYEV 1983 | Ayrapetyan Narine Pavlovna Stavropol | Kochyubeyevskiy District Court of the Stavropol Region, Stavropol Regional Court 23/03/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
12/08/2022 | Ivan Sergeyevich PRIKHODKOV 1991 | Sheykina Marina Sergeyevna Chita | Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction 12/04/2022 |
| 7,500 | |
12/08/2022 | Yegor Sergeyevich AFANASYEV 1989 | Sheykina Marina Sergeyevna Chita | Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction 12/04/2022
|
| 7,500 | |
10/09/2022 | Aleksandr Vasilyevich KASARAKIN 1970 | Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna Strasbourg | Oktyabrskiy District Court of Ulan-Ude, Supreme Court of the Republic of Buryatia 12/05/2022 |
| - |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.