ZHIRNOV proti Rusku

THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 71299/17
Andrey Yuryevich ZHIRNOV
against Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 6 October 2022 as a Committee composed of:

Darian Pavli, President,

Andreas Zünd,

Frédéric Krenc, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 20 September 2017,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant, Mr Andrey Yuryevich Zhirnov, was born in 1970.

The applicant’s complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction as well as under Article 13 concerning lack of any effective remedy in domestic law were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).

On 18 April 2018 the applicant died.

On 8 May 2020 the applicant’s contact person Ms M. Butrimenko informed the Registry that the applicant had died. On 30 July 2020 the applicant’s mother, Ms L. Zhirnova, expressed her interest in pursuing the proceedings before the Court in the applicant’s stead.

THE LAW

The Court must establish whether Ms Zhirnova has standing to pursue the application following the applicant’s death.

Where the applicant has died after the application was lodged, the Court has accepted that the next-of-kin or heir may in principle pursue the application, provided that he or she has sufficient interest in the case (see, for example, Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 97, ECHR 2014, with further references).

Having examined the materials submitted, the Court is unable to conclude that Ms Zhirnova has demonstrated sufficient interest in pursuing the present application. She does not appear to have been aware of the fact that the applicant lodged an application with the Court. Ms Zhirnova informed the Court of his death almost two years after it, without providing, however, any explanation for such a belated notification. Nor did she claim that she had suffered any consequences from the alleged violation of the applicant’s rights or that her intention to pursue the application before the Court had any moral dimension.

Against this background, the Court finds that the request to pursue the proceedings was submitted by a person who has failed to provide evidence of her legitimate interest to pursue the application (see, mutatis mutandis, Léger v. France (striking out) [GC], no. 19324/02, § 50, 30 March 2009, Moisă v. Romania (dec.), no. 30608/02, 16 November 2010, and most recently, V.B. v. Romania (dec.) [Committee], no. 71569/14, 14 December 2021).

Lastly, the Court considers that respect for human rights does not require it to continue the examination of the present case.

In the light of the foregoing, and in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention, the Court finds that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application and concludes that the application should be struck out of its list of cases.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Done in English and notified in writing on 27 October 2022.

Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli
Acting Deputy Registrar President