Last Updated on February 25, 2021 by LawEuro
FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF MALYUK AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Application no. 16014/18 and 3 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
25 February 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Malyukand Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Ivana Jelić, President,
Ganna Yudkivska,
Arnfinn Bårdsen, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 4 February 2021,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine 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 Ukrainian 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 excessive length of their pre-trial detention.In applications nos. 5773/20 and 12606/20 the applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
I. 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.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally that their pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. They relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 5 § 3
“3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be … entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”
7. The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been stated in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000‑XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006‑X, with further references).
8. In the leading cases of Kharchenko v. Ukraine, no. 40107/02, 10 February 2011, and Ignatov v. Ukraine, no. 40583/15, 15 December 2016, 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 length of the applicants’ pre-trial detention was excessive.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
III. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
11. In applications nos. 5773/20 and 12606/20 the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, 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. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in Kotiy v. Ukraine, no. 28718/09, § 55, 5 March 2015, andTymoshenkov. Ukraine, no. 49872/11, §§ 286-287, 30 April 2013.
IV. 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, Ignatov, cited above, § 57), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
14. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the applications admissible;
3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
5. 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 25 February 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.signature_p_1} {signature_p_2}
Liv Tigerstedt Ivana Jelić
Acting Deputy Registrar President
_______________
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention
(excessive length of pre-trial detention)
| No. | Application no. Date of introduction |
Applicant’s name Year of birth |
Represen-tative’s name and location | Period of detention | Length of detention | Specific defects | House arrest | Other complaints under well-established case-law |
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage per applicant (in euros)[1] | Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application (in euros)[2] |
| 1. | 16014/18 23/03/2018 |
Ivan Ivanovych MALYUK 1973 |
Dmytro Viktorovych Yagunov Kyiv |
18/05/2016 to 17/08/2018 |
2 years and 3 months | fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice | 1,400 | 250 | ||
| 2. | 48692/19 09/09/2019 |
Ivan Viktorovych DOMASENKO 1996 |
Oleksandr Dmytrovych Gayday Kyiv |
15/03/2018 to 21/11/2019 |
1 year and 8 months and 7 days | fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice |
24 hours house arrest from 23/09/2019 to 21/11/2019 |
1,100 | 250 | |
| 3. | 5773/20 18/01/2020 |
OlenaMykhaylivna OLEOLENKO 1977 |
Maksym Oleksandrovych Sosyedko Dnipro |
14/09/2017 pending |
More than 3 years and 3 months and 25 days | fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to assess the applicant’s personal situation reducing the risks of re-offending, colluding or absconding; |
Art. 5 (5) – lack of, or inadequate compensation, for the violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention – The applicant complains that she could not receive compensation for the unreasonably long detention. | 2,700 | 250 | |
| 4. | 12606/20 24/02/2020 |
Denis Viktorovich BIRYUKOV 1983 |
Tamara Igorivna Gorbachevska Kharkiv |
21/02/2015 to 29/01/2020 |
4 years and 11 months and 9 days | fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; | 24 hours from 04/10/2019 to 28/112019, 10 hours during the night from 28/11/2019 to 29/01/2020 |
Art. 5 (5) – lack of, or inadequate compensation, for the violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention – The applicant complains that he could not receive compensation for the unreasonably long detention. | 3,900 | 250 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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