Přehled
Rozsudek
THIRD SECTION
CASE OF KUZNETSOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 38930/17 and 3 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
9 February 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kuznetsov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Ioannis Ktistakis,
Andreas Zünd, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 19 January 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
- 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.
- ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. 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, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑65, 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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 122‑41, ECHR 2016, and Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 36‑40, 7 April 2005).
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
- OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
11. Some applicants submitted other complaints under the Convention. Having regard to the facts of the cases, the submissions of the parties, and its findings above, the Court considers that it has examined the main legal question raised in the present applications and that there is no need to give a separate ruling on the remaining complaints (see Centre for Legal Resourceson behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 156, ECHR 2014).
- APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
12. 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.”
13. 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, nos. 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,
- Decides to join the applications;
- Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction admissible and finds that it is not necessary to examine the remaining complaints raised by the applicants;
- Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction;
- 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 9 February 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli
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 | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] |
38930/17 31/07/2017 | Roman Nikolayevich KUZNETSOV 1977 | IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 15/05/2015 to 01/07/2016 1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 17 day(s) IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 01/07/2016 to 01/07/2017 1 year(s) and 1 day(s) IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 01/07/2017 pending More than 5 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 29 day(s) | 170 inmate(s) 1.4-1.5 m² 0 toilet(s) 120 inmate(s) 1.5-1.9 m² 5 toilet(s) 70 inmate(s) 2 m² | lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, overcrowding no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, overcrowding lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, overcrowding | 12,500 | |
41805/17 20/05/2017 | Aleksey Vladimirovich CHUKHROV 1980 | IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region 17/10/2016 to 07/06/2017 7 month(s) and 22 day(s) IK-17 Krasnoyarsk Region 05/07/2017 pending More than 5 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 25 day(s) | 52 inmate(s) less than 2 m² 2 toilet(s) <2 m² | lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding | 12,500 | |
4401/18 11/12/2017 | Roman Yevgenyevich IVANCHENKOV 1975 | IK-11 Nizhny Novgorod Region 01/02/2016 pending More than 6 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 29 day(s) | 150 inmate(s) 1.5 m² 8 toilet(s) | lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding | 12,500 | |
9148/19 26/12/2018 | Yevgeniy Petrovich MATVEYEV 1966 | IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 15/01/2018 to 14/08/2018 7 months IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region 20/09/2018 pending More than 4 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 10 day(s) | 115 inmate(s) <2 m² 2 m² | overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, mouldy or dirty cell | 12,500 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.