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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> SOROKIN AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 73825/13 (Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : Fourth Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 593 (27 June 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2024/593.html
Cite as: [2024] ECHR 593
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FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF SOROKIN AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 73825/13 and 23 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
27 June 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Sorokin 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 6 June 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 restrictions on the location, time or manner of conduct of public events. Some applicants also raised complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (marked with an asterisk in the appended table).
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 the restrictions on the location, time or manner of conduct of public events. 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).
9. In the leading case of Lashmankin and Others v. Russia, nos. 57818/09 and 14 others, 7 February 2017, and, more recently, in Pleshkov and Others v. Russia, nos. 29356/19 and 31119/19, 21 November 2023, 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 interferences with the applicant s' freedom of assembly were either based on legal provisions which did not meet the Convention's "quality of law" requirements, or were not "necessary in a democratic society".
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention.
- remaining complaints
12. Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 13 of the Convention concerning the lack of effective domestic remedy for their complaints of restrictions on the right to freedom of assembly.
13. In view of the findings in paragraph 10 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints (see Pleshkov and Others, cited above, §§ 71-72).
- APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
14. Having regard to the nature of the applicants' complaints, the Court considers that the finding of a violation constitutes sufficient just satisfaction for any non-pecuniary damage the applicants may have suffered (see, among recent authorities, Pleshkov and Others, cited above, § 76, and the cases cited therein; see also, mutatis mutandis, Alekseyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 14988/09 and 50 others, § 29, 27 November 2018).
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 admissible and decides that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints under Article 13 of the Convention;
- Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention concerning the restrictions on the location, time or manner of conduct of public events;
- Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 27 June 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
{signature_p_1} {signature_p_2}
Viktoriya Maradudina Branko Lubarda
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention
(restrictions on the location, time or manner of conduct of public events)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant's name Year of birth
| Representative's name and location | Location Date of the public event planned | Restrictions applied | Final domestic decision (type of procedure) Date Name of the court | |
02/06/2013
| Sergey Vladimirovich SOROKIN 1958
Ernest Aleksandrovich MEZAK 1976
Dmitriy Borisovich SAKHAROV 1961
| Mezak Ernest Aleksandrovich Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou | Rally for fair elections
Teatralnaya Square, Syktyvkar
26/02/2012 | enhanced security measures taken by the police at the venue of the rally | Notification procedure
Supreme Court of the Komi Republic 03/12/2012 | |
05/10/2017 | Petr Aleksandrovich KARMANOV 1995 | Vorobyev Viktor Viktorovich Moscow | Protests against replacement of trolleybuses with buses
Centre of Moscow between 25-29 April and 4-8 May 2016
| proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 21/03/2017 (received by post on 06/04/2017)
| |
02/12/2017 | Mikhail Albertovich VOROSHILOV 1960 |
| Pushkin Square, Moscow
30/10/2016 | prohibition on holding the planned public assembly | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 22/08/2017
| |
23/05/2018 | Sergey Sergeyevich BABINETS 1988 | Vanslova Yekaterina Nizhniy Novgorod | Rally to support victims of torture
Bolshaya Pokrovskaya str., Nizhniy Novgorod
26/06/2017 | proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 28/03/2018
| |
23/12/2013 | Aleksandr Dmitriyevich PEREDRUK 1991
Dmitriy Valeryevich OSTRYAKOV 1984
| Peredruk Aleksandr Dmitriyevich St Petersburg | Political rally
Marsovo Pole, St Petersburg
01/06/2017
Political rally
Nevskiy Prospekt, St Petersburg
10/07/2013 | proposal to change the location
general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (general ban on holding public events at the Nevskiy Prospekt)
| Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, 15/01/2018
notification procedure Murmansk Regional Court 02/10/2013 | |
16/09/2018 | Vera Petrovna TERESHONKOVA 1958
Viktor Grigoryevich TORLOPOV 1963
| Mezak Ernest Aleksandrovich Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou | Memorial service
Stefanovskaya square, Syktyvkar
30/07/2017 | general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (prohibition to organise public events at Stefanovskaya square) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 16/03/2018
| |
14/09/2018 | Polina Vladimirovna KOSTYLEVA 1977 | Peredruk Aleksandr Dmitriyevich St Petersburg | Political rally
Marsovo Pole, St Petersburg
07/10/2017 | failure to propose an alternative location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 29/03/2018
| |
01/10/2018
| Anastasiya Yuryevna RONZHINA 1996
Georgiy Andreyevich BORODIN 1998
Pavel Anatolyevich POTASHOV 1998
Darya Viktorovna SHCHERBININA 1996
| Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Voronezh
08/07/2017 and 09/07/2017 | prohibition on holding the planned public assembly | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 05/05/2018 | |
01/04/2019 | Alina Vladimirovna MARTINOVICH 1994 | Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Entrance to the Gorky Park, Moscow
17/07/2017 and 18/07/2017
| prohibition on holding the planned public assembly | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 29/10/2018 | |
02/04/2019 | Danil Vasilyevich NOVIKOV 1990 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Protest against retirement age hike
Prospekt Revolutsii, Voronezh
09/09/2018 | prohibition on holding the planned public assembly | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 18/02/2019
| |
26/06/2019 | Stanislav Nikolayevich KOPYLOV 1983 | Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius | Rally against retirement age hike
Prospekt Oktyabrskoy Revolutsii, Stavropol
01/07/2018 | proposal to change the time, proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 18/01/2019 | |
03/07/2019 | Aleksandr Gennadyevich SUSTOV 1989
Yelena Sergeyevna PONOMAREVA 1973
| Zubarev Dmitriy Vladimirovich Vladivostok | Political rally
Central square, Vladivostok
26/01/2019 | general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (regional ban on holding public events in the vicinity of churches and other places of worship) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 16/03/2020 | |
03/07/2019 | Serafima Vadimovna CHERNOUSOVA 1993
Regina Nikolayevna DZUGKOYEVA 1981 | Zubarev Dmitriy Vladimirovich Vladivostok | Rally and march to commemorate the death of B. Nemtsov
Waterfront Sports Harbour, Vladivostok
27/02/2019
| general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (regional ban on holding public events in the vicinity of sports organisations) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 16/03/2020 | |
15/07/2019 | Arkadiy Alekseyevich CHAPLYGIN 1978 |
| Rally calling for decriminalisation of marijuana
St Petersburg
05/05/2018 | prohibition on holding the planned public assembly | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 22/01/2019
| |
09/11/2020 | Aleksandr Gennadyevich SUSTOV 1989
Yevgeniy Ivanovich LYASHENKO 1986
| Zubarev Dmitriy Vladimirovich Vladivostok | Political rally
Railway Station Square Vladivostok
17/08/2019 | general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (regional ban on holding public events near the railway stations) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 19/10/2020 | |
14/12/2020 | Ilya Sergeyevich VAGIN 1985 | Mikhaylova Varvara Dmitriyevna St Petersburg | Political rally
Lubyanskaya Square, Moscow
05/10/2019
Political rally
Pushkinskaya Square, Moscow
14/09/2019
| proposal to change the location
proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 15/06/2020
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 15/06/2020 | |
22/01/2021 | Grigoriy Nikolayevich KABLIS 1976
Vyacheslav Sergeyevich SLYUSAREV 1986
| Mezak Ernest Aleksandrovich Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou | Protest against construction of a landfill in Shiyes
Stefanovskaya Square, Syktyvkar
02/06/2019 | general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (regional ban on holding public events in Stefanovskaya Square in Syktyvkar) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 22/07/2020 | |
24/01/2021 | Olga Aleksandrovna IVANTSEVA 1965 | Tiunov Sergey Yuryevich Yekaterinburg | Political rally
Yekaterinburg
06/09/2019 | proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 03/12/2020
| |
21/03/2021
| Konstantin Aleksandrovich KOTOV 1985
Svetlana Anatolyevna PCHELINTSEVA 1973
Lev Aleksandrovich PONOMAREV 1941
Irina Aleksandrovna YATSENKO 1981
Oleg Aleksandrovich YELANCHIK 1990
| Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Moscow | Political march
Centre of Moscow
13/05/2019 | proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 05/11/2020 | |
07/04/2021 | Svetlana Igorevna SHMELEVA 1982 | Eysmont Mariya Olegovna Moscow | Political rally
Several locations in the centre of Moscow
07/04/2019 | general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (impossibility to hold a public event anywhere in the centre of Moscow) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 07/10/2020
| |
18/06/2021 | Veronika Konstantinovna ESSEN 1994 | Peredruk Aleksandr Dmitriyevich St Petersburg | Climate change rally
Several locations in the centre of Moscow
14/02/2020 | proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 21/12/2020
| |
15/09/2021 | Mariya Vladimirovna CHISTYAKOVA 1996 | Valenkov Andrey Olegovich Nizhniy Novgorod | Artistic performance against 2020 amendments to the Russian Constitution
Bolshaya Pokrovskaya street, Nizhniy Novgorod
21/03/2020
| proposal to change the location, general prohibition on holding public events at certain locations (regional ban on holding public events at Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street) | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 17/03/2021 | |
24/02/2022 | Dmitriy Aleksandrovich SIDENKO 1999 |
| Rally to support political prisoners
Several locations in Tomsk
08/12/2019 | proposal to change the location | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 13/09/2021
| |
28/09/2023 | Yelena Valentinovna MAKEY 1972 |
| Protest against politically motivated criminal prosecution of people
Square Truda, Yekaterinburg
06/04/2022 | prohibition on holding the planned public assembly | Judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 29/05/2023
|