21113/21;42307/21;49175/21;49365/21;53975/21;55645/21;55655/21;56500/21;59266/21;2069/22;2138/22;4500/22;6203/22;7515/22;8027/22;8265/22;12281/22;13885/22;39911/22;39914/22;39977/22;40528/22;40705/22;41668/22;41674/22;41677/22;46302/22;46328/22

THIRD SECTION CASE OF LEKIASHVILLI AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 21113/21 and 27 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 18 September 2025       This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.   In the case of Lekiashvilli and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Diana Kovatcheva, President,  Canòlic Mingorance Cairat,  Vasilka Sancin, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 28 August 2025, 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 disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, notably in connection with their participation in various public events in breach of COVID-19-related restrictions. They 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. 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). ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION 7.  The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies in connection with their participation in various public events in breach of COVID-19-related restrictions, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention. 8.  The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see Kudrevičius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey, no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006‑XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova, no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009). It further refers to Nemytov and Others, no. 1257/21 and 2 Others, 27 May 2025, in so far as the application by the authorities of the COVID-19-related restrictions to assemblies are concerned. 9.  In the leading cases of Nemytov and Others, cited above, Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014, and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, 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 as to 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 interferences with the applicants’ freedom of assembly were not “necessary in a democratic society”. 11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW 12.  Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and its Protocols, 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. 13.  Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in Glukhin v. Russia, no. 11519/20, §§ 64-91, 4 July 2023, concerning processing of applicants’ personal biometric data by using highly intrusive facial recognition technology in administrative-offence proceedings in order to identify, locate and arrest them; Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO), Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, concerning the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention. REMAINING COMPLAINTS 14.  Some applicants raised further additional complaints under the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative-offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 11 and 13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 15.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see in particular Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY, Decides to join the applications; Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022; Declares the complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remainder of the applications; Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention; Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and the Protocols thereto as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table); 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; 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 18 September 2025, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.    Viktoriya Maradudina Diana Kovatcheva  Acting Deputy Registrar President      APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention (disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth   Representative’s name and location Name of the public event Location Date Administrative / criminal offence Penalty Final domestic decision Court Name Date Other complaints under well-established case-law Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]     21113/21 06/04/2021 Yelena Nikolayevna LEKIASHVILLI   Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Yaroslavl   23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO detention for 10 days Yaroslavl Regional Court 28/01/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 7 p.m. on 23/01/2021 and 11 a.m. on 25/01/2021. 5,000     42307/21 04/08/2021 Yegor Timofeyevich NECHAYEV   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Anti-war rally   St Petersburg   27/02/2022 article 20.2.2. § 1 of CAO detention for 3 days St Petersburg City Court 12/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 10.50 p.m. on 27/02/2022 and 4 a.m. on 28/02/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.   5,000     49175/21 28/09/2021 Yelena Olegovna SAVELYEVA   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg Regional Court 13/04/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,   Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 12.50 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 00.10 a.m. on 01/02/2021.     4,000     49365/21 22/09/2021 Anna Alekseyevna KRASILNIKOVA   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 08/06/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 2.50 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 01 a.m. on 01/02/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceeding. 4,000     53975/21 17/10/2021 Maksim Vyacheslavovich SAMOYLOV   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 20/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 3.10 p.m. on 31/01/2021 and 1 a.m. on 01/02/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000     55645/21 22/10/2021 Leonid Igorevich KOVALEV   MOO MEMORIAL Human Rights Centre St Petersburg Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO detention for 8 days St Petersburg City Court 28/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 10.10 p.m. on 21/04/2021 until 6 p.m. on 22/04/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings   Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO.   5,000     55655/21 22/10/2021 Mikhail Nikolayevich ALEKSEYEV   MOO MEMORIAL Human Rights Centre St Petersburg Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO detention for 5 days St Petersburg City Court 06/07/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,   Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO,   Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. on 21/04/2021 until 4.05 p.m. on 22/04/2021. 5,000     56500/21 27/10/2021 Aleksandr Mikhaylovich SUKHANOV   MOO MEMORIAL Human Rights Centre St Petersburg Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO detention for 7 days St Petersburg City Court 27/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. on 21/04/2021 until 2.30 p.m. on 22/04/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 5,000     59266/21 12/11/2021 Aliya Ramilevna ILYASOVA   Mikhaylova Varvara Dmitriyevna St Petersburg Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   St Petersburg   23/01/2021 St Petersburg Government Decree of 13/03/2020 related to anti-COVID-19 measures fine of RUB 4,000 Kuybyshevskiy District Court of St Petersburg 13/05/2021     3,500   2069/22 15/12/2021 Stanislav Yuryevich YAVORSKIY   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 22/06/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 3,500   2138/22 15/12/2021 Viktoriya Aleksandrovna POPUGAYEVA   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally “Free Navalnyy”   St Petersburg   21/04/2021 article 20.2.2. § 1 of CAO detention for 2 days St Petersburg City Court 17/06/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 3,500   4500/22 24/12/2021 Sergey Savelyevich FEDEYEV   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally " Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 29/06/2021   3,500   6203/22 30/12/2021 Aleksandr Vitalyevich BLINOV   Sutormina Yekaterina Leonidovna St Petersburg Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 02/09/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 1.28 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 7 p.m. on 01/02/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   7515/22 27/01/2022 Anita Aleksandrovna FRANTSKEVICH       Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Voronezh   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Voronezh Regional Court 27/07/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.35 p.m. until 11.40 p.m. on 21/04/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   8027/22 26/01/2022 Maksim Sergeyevich AGAFONOV   Kochenkov Viktor Valeryevich Izhevsk Rally “Free Navalnyy”   Izhevsk   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of 10,000 RUB Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic 26/07/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8 p.m. until 11.40 p.m. on 21/04/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   8265/22 02/02/2022 Yuliya Yevgenyevna CHAPURINA   Kuroptev Aleksey Mikhaylovich Balashikha Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Arkhangelsk   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 11,000 Arkhangelsk Regional Court 03/08/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,   Art. 8 (2) - restrictions on the right to private life of participants in public assemblies - use of facial recognition technology for the identification of the applicant as a participant of a rally and her subsequent conviction. 4,000   12281/22 24/02/2022 Ramunas Gintaro RIMIDIS   Maltsev Konstantin Aleksandrovich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2.2. § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 31/08/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 12.40 p.m. on 31/01/2021 and 3.00 a.m. on 01/02/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.     4,000   13885/22 28/02/2022 Arina Vladimirovna MIKHEYEVA   Prosvirkina Kseniya Dmitriyevna Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   St Petersburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 31/08/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,   Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 3.10 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 04.30 a.m. on 01/02/2021. 4,000   39911/22 19/07/2022 Nikolay Yuryevich RABOVSKIY   Magomedova Luiza Magomedovna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   24/02/2022 article 20.2.2. § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 19/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 8.40 p.m. on 24/02/2022 and 02.39 a.m. on 25/02/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   39914/22 29/07/2022 Darya Vladimirovna ULBASHEVA   Magomedova Luiza Magomedovna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   24/02/2022 article 20.2.2. § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 19/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 8 p.m. on 24/02/2022 and 02.08 a.m. on 25/02/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   39977/22 05/08/2022 Artem Andreyevich UGRYUMOV   Nepovinnova Yana Andreyevna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)     St Petersburg   26/02/2022 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg 21/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 8.50 p.m. on 26/02/2022 and 02.29 a.m. on 27/02/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   40528/22 08/08/2022 Marat Faizovich NUREYEV   Nepovinnova Yana Andreyevna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   26/02/2022 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO detention for 8 days St Petersburg City Court 21/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 8.50 p.m. on 26/02/2022 and 4.20 a.m. on 27/02/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 5,000   40705/22 10/08/2022 German Aleksandrovich VERSILOV   Nepovinnova Yana Andreyevna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)     St Petersburg   28/02/2022 article 20.2.2. § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 24/05/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 11.15 p.m. on 28/02/2022 and 04.20 a.m. on 01/03/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   41668/22 09/08/2022 Yekaterina Sergeyevna BROSALINA   Magomedova Luiza Magomedovna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO detention for 10 days St Petersburg City Court 14/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 6 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and 4.34 a.m. on 07/03/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,   Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. 5,000   41674/22 09/08/2022 Mariya Igorevna ASTASHINA   Magomedova Luiza Magomedovna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO detention for 1 day St Petersburg City Court 12/05/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 7 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   41677/22 09/08/2022 Anton Aleksandrovich FEDOROV   Magomedova Luiza Magomedovna St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 19/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report between 00.06 a.m. and 07.46 a.m. on 28/02/2022,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   46302/22 03/09/2022 Anastasiya Olegovna KHLYUBTSEVA   Shiolashvili Mikhail Germanovich St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 05/05/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2022 for compiling an offence report,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   46328/22 03/09/2022 Leonid Vladimirovich NIKOLAYEV   Shiolashvili Mikhail Germanovich St Petersburg Anti-war protest (against war in Ukraine)   St Petersburg   24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 17/05/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 24/02/2022 for compiling an offence report,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 4,000   [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.