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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> SOKOLOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 2097/22 (Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : Fourth Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 270 (28 March 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2024/270.html
Cite as: [2024] ECHR 270
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FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF SOKOLOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 2097/22 and 24 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
28 March 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Sokolov 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 7 March 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. 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 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 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. Some 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); 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 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 28 March 2024, 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 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 charges | 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] | |
14/12/2021 | Pavel Valeryevich SOKOLOV 1996 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Krasnoyarsk
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 17/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
13/12/2021 | Aleksey Aleksandrovich SHIRYAYEV 1994 | Konstantin Mikhaylovich Zinovyev Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
23/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 16/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 23/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
| 4,000 | |
10/12/2021 | Artem Vitalyevich ANKUDIMOV 1994 | Olimpiada Valentinovna Usanova Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 10/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
09/12/2021 | Irina Nikolayevna SOKOVA 1999 | Konstantin Mikhaylovich Zinovyev Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
21/04/2021 | article 20.2 § 2 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 10/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 21/04/2021 until 22/04/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
20/12/2021 | Andrey Yuryevich ILLARIONOV 1971 | Yevgeniy Vyacheslavovich Antokhin Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 01/07/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
28/12/2021 | Yegor Anatolyevich FILIMONOV 1985 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 29/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
09/12/2021 | Yekaterina Dmitriyevna MARKOVA 2002 | Konstantin Mikhaylovich Zinovyev Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
31/01/2021
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 10/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
09/12/2021 | Vadim Yevgenyevich SEROV 1986 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Volgograd
21/04/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Volgograd Regional Court 09/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 21/04/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
09/12/2021 | Filipp Nikolayevich KOZLOV 1984 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
23/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 09/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 23/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
21/12/2021 | Nikolay Gennadyevich BAKHALKHANOV 1995 | Yelena Yuryevna Pershakova Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Krasnoyarsk
23/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 24/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 23/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
27/12/2021 | Aleksandr Sergeyevich KUZIKOV 1973 | Yelena Yuryevna Pershakova Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Perm
31/01/2021
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Perm Regional Court 05/07/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
27/12/2021 | Svetlana Ruslanovna SHILO 1969 | Yelena Yuryevna Pershakova Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | detention of 3 days | Moscow City Court 05/07/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 31/01/2021 until 01/02/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
02/12/2021 | Danila Andreyevich BARYSHNIKOV 1988 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Ufa
21/04/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Supreme Court of the Bashkortostan Republic 02/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 21/04/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
11/12/2021 | Lyubov Nikolayevna BORMOTOVA 1983 | Sofya Zurabovna Sharangiya Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 03/06/2021 (final judgment served on the applicant on 11/06/2021) | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
16/12/2021 | Yegor Igorevich TORGOV 1998 | Konstantin Mikhaylovich Zinovyev Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
23/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 16/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 23/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
15/12/2021 | Anatoliy Nikolayevich MIGUNOV 1989 | Andrey Olegovich Valenkov Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Nizhniy Novgorod
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 16/06/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
02/02/2022 | Nikita Vyacheslavovich GULYAYEV 2001 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
23/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 03/08/2021 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 3,500 | |
22/03/2022 | Ilya Sergeyevich FESHCHENKO 1994 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 11/10/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
17/04/2022 | Vasiliy Grigoryevich CHERKASOV 2000 |
| Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
21/04/2021
| article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 21/10/2021 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
| 3,500 | |
20/04/2022 | Konstantin Sergeyevich SOKOLOV 1995 |
| Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 17/01/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
15/04/2022 | Igor Dmitriyevich RODIONOV 1991 |
| Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 25/10/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
14/04/2022 | Karina Ashotovna TAMRAZYAN 2001 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksyenova Kolomna | Protest against constitutional amendments
Moscow
15/07/2020 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 15/10/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 15/07/2020 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
26/04/2022 | Pavel Nikolayevich VIRGUSH 1993 | Nataliya Andreyevna Baranova Moscow | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Novosibirsk
31/01/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 12,000 | Novosibirsk Regional Court 28/10/2021 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
18/05/2022 | Petr Mikhaylovich SINITSYN 1985 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg
24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 2 of CAO | detention of 9 days | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 03/03/2022 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
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 | |
18/05/2022 | Olga Gennadyevna GREBENKINA 1995 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Yekaterinburg
21/04/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 10/02/2022 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.