Přehled
Rozhodnutí
THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 13232/18
TELEGRAM MESSENGER LLP and TELEGRAM MESSENGER INC.
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 24 April 2025 as a Committee composed of:
Diana Kovatcheva, President,
Úna Ní Raifeartaigh,
Mateja Đurović, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 14 March 2018,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant companies, Telegram Messenger Limited Liability Partnership (hereinafter, “Telegram Messenger LLP”) and Telegram Messenger Inc., which own and operate Telegram Messenger, were represented by Ms A. Chiganov-Zalesskaya, a lawyer practising in St Petersburg.
The applicants’ complaints under Articles 6, 10 and 13 of the Convention concerned their prosecution under the Code of Administrative Offences for refusing to comply with a disclosure order issued by the Federal Security Service, as well as the judicial proceedings ordering the blocking of Telegram Messenger in Russia. They also complained of the absence of any effective remedy in domestic law. These complaints were communicated to the Russian Government, which submitted observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were subsequently forwarded to the applicants, who were invited to submit their own observations by 16 May 2022. No response was received to the Court’s letter.
On 24 May 2022 the Registry of the Court sent a letter to the applicants’ representative via the Court’s Electronic Communication Service platform (eComms), with a copy by email to the office of Telegram’s CEO, Mr Pavel Durov, informing them that the period allowed for the submission of the applicants’ observations had expired and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicants’ attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances indicate that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. The letter was downloaded by the representative via eComms, but no response was received.
THE LAW
In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention and the Protocols thereto, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application.
Accordingly, the case should be struck out of the list.
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 15 May 2025.
Viktoriya Maradudina Diana Kovatcheva
Acting Deputy Registrar President