Last Updated on October 26, 2023 by LawEuro
The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions during transport. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding cramped and defective conditions during the transit of prisoners. It reiterates in particular that a strong presumption of a violation arises when detainees are transported in conveyances offering less than 0.5 square metres of space per person, regardless of whether such cramped conditions result from an excessive number of detainees being transported together or from the restrictive design of compartments. As regards longer journeys, factors such as a failure to arrange an individual sleeping place for each detainee or to secure an adequate supply of drinking water and food or access to the toilet seriously aggravate the situation of prisoners during transfers and are indicative of a violation of Article 3.
FIRST SECTION
CASE OF ZAYCHENKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 3341/19 and 29 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
26 October 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Zaychenko and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Péter Paczolay, President,
Gilberto Felici,
Raffaele Sabato, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 October 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 dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Russian Government were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. A 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 detention during their transport. Some applicants also raised a complaint under Article 13 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. 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).
III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
7. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.
8. The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions during transport. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding cramped and defective conditions during the transit of prisoners (see Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 124-27, 9 April 2019). It reiterates in particular that a strong presumption of a violation arises when detainees are transported in conveyances offering less than 0.5 square metres of space per person, regardless of whether such cramped conditions result from an excessive number of detainees being transported together or from the restrictive design of compartments (ibid., § 125). As regards longer journeys, factors such as a failure to arrange an individual sleeping place for each detainee or to secure an adequate supply of drinking water and food or access to the toilet seriously aggravate the situation of prisoners during transfers and are indicative of a violation of Article 3 (ibid., § 127).
9. In the leading case of Tomov and Others (cited above), 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 applicants’ conditions of detention during their transport were inadequate.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
IV. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. The applicants whose names are listed in the appended table also complained under Article 13 of the Convention of the lack of an effective remedy for their complaints about poor conditions of detention during transport. 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 a violation of the Convention in the light of its findings in Tomov and Others (cited above, §§ 143-56).
V. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
13. 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.”
14. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Pukhachev and Zaretskiy v. Russia, nos. 17494/16 and 29203/16, 16 November 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;
3. Declares the applications admissible;
4. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
5. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention, taken in conjunction with Article 3, in respect of the applicants who relied on that provision (see the appended table);
6. 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 26 October 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Péter Paczolay
Acting Deputy Registrar President
____________
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention during transport)
| No. | Application no.
Date of introduction |
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
|
Representative’s name and location | Means of transport
Start and end date |
Sq. m per inmate | Specific grievances | Other complaints under well‑established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[i] |
| 1. | 3341/19
14/12/2018 |
Viktor Aleksandrovich ZAYCHENKO
1990 |
|
van
16/05/2018 to 20/11/2018 |
0.2 m²
|
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, overcrowding | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 2. | 6793/19
29/12/2018 |
Pavel Pavlovich YAKOVETS
1980 |
|
van
11/07/2018 to 11/07/2018
van 09/09/2018 to 09/09/2018 |
lack of fresh air, overcrowding
lack of fresh air, overcrowding |
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 3. | 8289/19
30/01/2019 |
Aleksandr Valentinovich BONDAREV
1986 |
|
train
18/12/2018 to 17/01/2019 |
no or restricted access to toilet | 1,000 | ||
| 4. | 9068/19
28/01/2019 |
Kazbek Salikhovich KARABASHEV
1993 |
|
train, van
25/08/2018 to 18/09/2018 |
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, insufficient number of sleeping places | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 5. | 11256/19
27/06/2019 |
Khusan Sarvarovich MURTAZOV
1987 |
Alla Vladimirovna Fabritskaya
Taganrog |
train, van
12/01/2019 to 29/01/2019
|
1.5 m²
|
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 6. | 20668/19
01/04/2019 |
Vladimir Nikolayevich BELYY
1983 |
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary |
train, transit cell, van
18/12/2018 to 17/01/2019 |
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food
|
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 7. | 21139/19
05/04/2019 |
Maksim Vladimirovich GRUZDEV
1975 |
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma |
van, train
25/07/2019 to 09/08/2019 |
0.3-0.4 m²
|
overcrowding
|
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 8. | 24227/19
10/04/2019 |
Andrey Aleksandrovich SILANTYEV
1992 |
|
train, transit cell, van
29/12/2018 to 26/01/2019 |
1-2 m²
|
no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 9. | 24365/19
08/04/2019 |
Mikhail Yuryevich GLUKHAREV
1972 |
|
train, transit cell, van
24/02/2019 to 25/02/2019 |
0.2-0.5 m²
|
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 10. | 24788/19
16/04/2019 |
Eduard Grigoryevich TSATURYAN
1985 |
|
train, van, transit cell, (IZ-1 Ufa,
IZ-1 Ryazan, IZ-5 Rostov-on-Don, IZ-2 Pyatigorsk) 17/12/2018 to 17/01/2019 |
0.4-2.5 m²
|
no or restricted access to potable water, passive smoking, overcrowding, numerous occasions of transport, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 11. | 24838/19
16/04/2019 |
Aleksandr Vladimirovich POTUPA
1972 |
|
van, transit cell
21/12/2018 to 22/12/2018
train 22/12/2018 to 23/12/2018
train 27/12/2018 to 28/12/2018
|
0.2 m²
0.22 m²
|
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient electric light, handcuffing, insufficient number of sleeping places
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places |
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 12. | 25370/19
19/04/2019 |
Anton Petrovich YATSENKO
1983 |
|
train, transit cell, van
17/12/2018 to 17/01/2019 |
0.1-1 m²
|
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 13. | 26208/19
26/04/2019 |
Firdavsi Yeriyevich MERGANOV
1977 |
|
train, van, transit cell
17/12/2018 to 21/12/2018 |
0.4 m²
|
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, passive smoking | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 14. | 26647/19
07/05/2019 |
Sergey Borisovich SMIRENIN
1976 |
|
train, van
13/04/2019 to 13/04/2019 |
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of potable water | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 15. | 26878/19
23/04/2019 |
Aleksandr Yuryevich ZEMTSOV
1984 |
|
train, transit cell, van
19/12/2018 to 21/12/2018 |
0.3 m²
|
no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 16. | 27763/19
21/04/2019 |
Andrey Ivanovich SHAMRAYEV
1976 Eduard Aleksandrovich BULUKHOV 1980 |
|
train, van, transit cell, (both applicants)
24/12/2018 to 04/02/2019 |
no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, bunk beds | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 17. | 28229/19
13/05/2019 |
Yuriy Viktorovich KISELEV
1985 |
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma |
transit cell
02/12/2018 to 20/12/2018 |
0.8-1.8 m²
|
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places
|
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 18. | 29291/19
06/05/2019 |
Sergey Ivanovich KARIZHSKIY
1975 |
|
van, train
26/03/2019 to 16/04/2019 |
0.6 m²
|
insufficient number of sleeping places | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 19. | 30111/19
07/12/2019 |
Ibragim Sultanovich BEKMURZIYEV
1978 |
|
train, transit cell
28/06/2019 to 19/08/2019 |
0.3 m²
|
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, bunk beds, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 20. | 30339/19
20/05/2019 |
Pavel Vladimirovich TUROBOV
1967 |
|
train, transit cell, van
07/11/2019 to 17/11/2019 |
overcrowding | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 21. | 31315/19
29/05/2019 |
Andrey Vasilyevich FROLOV
1978 |
|
train, van, transit cell
17/12/2018 to 03/01/2019 |
0.3 m²
|
no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, passive smoking, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, inadequate temperature, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 22. | 31517/19
30/05/2019 |
Anton Sergeyevich GOLOVKO
1986 |
|
van, train
24/12/2018 to 29/01/2019 |
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet | 1,000 | ||
| 23. | 31897/19
27/05/2019 |
Sergey Igorevich DONETSKOV
1982 |
|
van, transit cell, train
17/12/2018 to 21/12/2018 |
0.3-0.4 m²
|
inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, passive smoking | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 24. | 31938/19
27/05/2019 |
Aleksandr Grigoryevich OBODETS
1981 |
|
train, transit cell, van
17/12/2018 to 21/12/2018 |
0.3-0.4 m²
|
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 25. | 32139/19
29/05/2019 |
Yuriy
Viktorovich KULIKOV 1983 |
|
train, transit cell, van
14/12/2018 to 10/01/2019 |
0.2-0.5 m²
|
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to toilet | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 26. | 32170/19
08/05/2019 |
Aleksandr Anatolyevich POLUMESTNYY
1979 |
|
train, transit cell, van
22/12/2018 to 04/02/2019 |
0.2-0.3 m²
|
overcrowding, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
| 27. | 32714/19
20/05/2019 |
Vyacheslav Yuryevich FEDOTOV
1985 |
|
train, van, transit cell
17/12/2018 to 10/01/2019 |
overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 28. | 33257/19
10/06/2019 |
Gennadiy
Petrovich SIBILEV 1968 |
|
train, transit cell, van
29/12/2018 to 25/01/2019 |
overcrowding, passive smoking, poor quality of potable water, numerous occasions of transport
|
Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 | |
| 29. | 33332/19
11/06/2019 |
Aleksandr Nikolayevcih IVCHENKO
1964 |
|
train, transit cell, van
21/12/2018 to 12/02/2019 |
insufficient number of sleeping places, passive smoking, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet | 1,000 | ||
| 30. | 33652/19
11/06/2019 |
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich ZAYTSEV
1970 |
|
train, transit cell, van
17/12/2018 to 24/01/2019 |
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet | Art. 13 – lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport | 1,000 |
[i] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
Leave a Reply