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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> VAKULKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 52365/22 (Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : Third Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 249 (21 March 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2024/249.html
Cite as: [2024] ECHR 249
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THIRD SECTION
CASE OF VAKULKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 52365/22 and 32 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
21 March 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Vakulko and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Peeter Roosma, President,
Ioannis Ktistakis,
Andreas Zünd, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 22 February 2024,
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 of the disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. They 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 ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION
7. The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention.
8. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see Kudrevičius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey, no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006-XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova, no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009).
9. In the leading cases of Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014 and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, the Court has 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 as to 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 interferences with the applicants' freedom of assembly were not "necessary in a democratic society".
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention.
- OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. The applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and its Protocols, 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.
13. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention.
- REMAINING COMPLAINTS
14. Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative-offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 10 and 13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.
- APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
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 complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints under Article 6 of the Convention;
- Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention;
- Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and the Protocols thereto as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
- 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 21 March 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Peeter Roosma
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention
(disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant's name Year of birth
| Representative's name and location | Name of the public event Location Date | Administrative / criminal offence | Penalty | Final domestic decision Court Name Date | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
01/11/2022 | Georgiy Alekseyevich VAKULKO 2000 | Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022
Political protest
Moscow 12/04/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000
fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 05/07/2022
Moscow City Court 09/11/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and from 2.44 p.m. until 9 p.m. on 12/04/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings in which the final decision was taken on 05/07/2022. | 4,000 | |
29/11/2022 | Tatyana Mikhaylovna RUSIYANOVA 1966 | Bushmakov Aleksey Vladimirovich Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 30 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 21/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 26/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
01/12/2022 | Aleksey Samuilovich ZINGER 1988 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 02/03/2022
Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000
fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 13/10/2022
Moscow City Court 03/08/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.40 p.m. on 02/03/2022 to 2 a.m. on 03/03/2022 and from 3.50 p.m. until 7.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings in which the final decision was taken on 03/08/2022. | 4,000 | |
10/01/2023 | Kseniya Radikovna SAFINA 1994 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 29/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.10 p.m. on 26/02/2022 until 12.30 a.m. on 27/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
08/01/2023 | Mariya Aleksandrovna FROLOVA 1976 | Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow | Anti-war protest
Moscow 24/02/2022
Anti-war protest
Moscow 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000
fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 25/11/2022
Moscow City Court 09/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. on 24/02/2022 and from 8.16 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 12 p.m. on 28/02/2022;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings in which the final decision was taken on 09/09/2022. | 4,000 | |
16/01/2023 | Yevgeniy Andreyevich RUDYKH 1990 | Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul | Anti-war protest
Moscow 03/03/2022
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 31/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.20 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on 03/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
09/01/2023 | Yekaterina Pavlovna SOSNOVSKAYA 1991 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 13/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 31/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.35 p.m. until 11.50 p.m. on 13/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
18/01/2023 | Eldar Valiyarovich ROMASHKIN 1994 |
| Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow 31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 29/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 1.35 p.m. until 10.40 p.m. on 31/01/2021. | 4,000 | |
06/01/2023 | Yuriy Lvovich LETUNOVSKIY 1979 |
| Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 05/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.15 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1 a.m. on 07/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
18/01/2023 | Maksim Viktorovich DEREVYANKIN 1968 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 19/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.45 p.m. to 11.35 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
18/01/2023 | Kseniya Alekseyevna MELNIKOVA 1976 | Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow | Anti-war protest
Moscow 27/02/2022
Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000
fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 19/09/2022
Moscow City Court 23/11/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.10 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 4.20 a.m. on 28/02/2022 and from 4.09 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
23/01/2023 | Yuliya Aleksandrovna KLIMOVA 1996 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow
06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 18,000 | Moscow City Court 23/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.20 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1.30 a.m. on 07/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
27/01/2023 | Aleksandra Andreyevna AGEYEVA 1995 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City court 27/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 6 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 2.30 a.m. on 28/02/2022 | 4,000 | |
22/01/2023 | Yelizaveta Mikhaylovna TSYGANKOVA 2002 | Solovyev Leonid Alekseyevich Moscow | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 17/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
10/02/2023 | Anna Mikhaylovna DUBKOVA 1998 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 19.3 § 1 of CAO | detention for 15 days | Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 5.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1 p.m. on 07/03/2022;
Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. | 5,000 | |
06/02/2023 | Dmitriy Ivanovich GOLOVIN 1990 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 12,000 | Moscow City Court 05/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 3 p.m. until 7.40 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
27/01/2023 | Yuriy Valeryevich RYABININ 1963 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 27/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.40 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 7 a.m. on 28/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
21/01/2023 | Irina Alekseyevna BELYAYEVA 1997 |
| Anti-war protest
Novosibirsk 24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Novosibirsk Regional Court 21/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.40 p.m. until 10.50 p.m. on 24/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
20/01/2023 | Yekaterina Borisovna BORISOVA 1987 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 13/03/2022
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 03/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 2 p.m. until 6.50 p.m. on 13/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
10/02/2023 | Liliya Aydarovna SADREYEVA 1988 | Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino | Anti-war protest
Moscow 25/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 13/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 9.25 p.m. on 25/02/2022 until 2.15 a.m. on 26/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
10/02/2023 | Kseniya Viktorovna SHESTAKOVA 1988 | Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino | Anti-war protest
Moscow 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence repot from 4 p.m. until 9.20 p.m. on 26/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
10/02/2023 | Pavel Valeryevich BOBYLEV 1986 | Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino | Anti-war protest
Moscow 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.10 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 26/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
10/02/2023 | Yelizaveta Bogdanovna MAMONOVA 1998 | Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino | Anti-war protest
Moscow 24/02/2022
Anti-war protest
Moscow 26/02/2022
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000
fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 25/10/2022
Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. until 10.45 p.m. on 26/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
17/01/2023 | Darya Sergeyevna PAVLENKO 2022 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 03/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.12 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 12.02 a.m. on 07/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
15/02/2023 | Aleksandr Yevgenyevich GURYASHKIN 1980 | Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul | Anti-war protest
Moscow 24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 05/12/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 25/02/2022. | 4,000 | |
25/01/2023 | Galina Stepanovna BILDEYEVA 1948 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 27/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.20 p.m. until 6 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
16/02/2023 | Tatyana Aleksandrovna VASILYEVA 1996 | Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 17/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
16/02/2023 | Ruslan Rysbekovich BAYNAZAROV 1997 | Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 25/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
27/01/2023 | Yelena Mikhaylovna KUKHLEVSKAYA 1979 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 13/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 27/09/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. on 13/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
07/02/2023 | Yekaterina Maksimovna NIKOLAYEVA 2001 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 07/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
01/02/2023 | Dmitriy Nikolayevich LEN 1961 |
| Protest against "foreign agent" legislation
Moscow 29/08/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 03/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station from 5.20 p.m. until 9.20 p.m. on 29/08/2021. | 4,000 | |
13/02/2023 | Irina Gaikovna PETROSYAN 2002 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 13/10/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 5 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022. | 4,000 | |
06/07/2023 | Alla Igorevna FROLOVA 1965 | Okushko Tatyana Borisovna Strasbourg | Anti-war protest
Moscow 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 21/03/2023 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 5.10 p.m. until 8.45 p.m. on 26/02/2022. | 4,000 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.