24712/21;28055/21;33807/21;42732/21;45346/21;45486/21;49393/21;49641/21;52926/21;7496/22;33529/22;39700/22;41001/22;43626/22

FOURTH SECTION CASE OF KUZMIN AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 24712/21 and 13 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 5 September 2024     This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Kuzmin and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Branko Lubarda, President,  Armen Harutyunyan,  Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 4 July 2024, 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.  On different dates the applicants were taken to police stations as administrative suspects of offences related to public events. They were subsequently convicted of various administrative offences. 5.  The applicants complained of the unlawful detention (deprivation of liberty). They also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention. THE LAW JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS 6.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment. Jurisdiction 7.  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 5 § 1 of the Convention 8.  The applicants complained that the administrative escorting and arrest procedures and their ensuing detention had been in breach of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention. 9.  The Court has previously examined complaints brought by persons arrested and detained in similar circumstances in Russia. Having examined the applicable domestic regulations, the Court established that, under the Russian law, the escorting to a police station and ensuing detention there for the purpose of preparing an administrative arrest record would be permissible only if such record could not be drawn up at the place where the alleged offence had been discovered. The law also required that such escorting and detention be an “exceptional case” and necessary for the prompt and proper examination of the alleged administrative case or to secure the enforcement of any penalty to be imposed (see, for example, Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, and Navalnyy v. Russia [GC], nos. 29580/12 and 4 others, § 71, 15 November 2018), and that the use of these measures be properly documented (see Fortalnov and Others v. Russia, nos. 7077/06 and 12 others, §§ 76-79, 26 June 2018; Kalyapin v. Russia, no. 6095/09, § 76, 23 July 2019; and Timishev v. Russia [Committee], no. 47598/08, § 21, 28 November 2017). The authorities’ failure to comply with these requirements, in the Court’s view, led to it finding a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention (see the cases mentioned above, as well as Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, and Ryabinina and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 50271/06 and 8 other applications, § 35, 2 July 2019). 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’ escorting, arrest and detention were contrary to domestic law requirements and the “lawfulness” guarantee of Article 5 of the Convention (see the appended table). 11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW 12.  The 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 in the light of its findings in 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 (CAO); Elvira Dmitriyeva v. Russia, nos. 60921/17 and 7202/18, §§ 77-90, 30 April 2019, as to administrative conviction for making calls to participate in public assemblies; Kasparov v. Russia, no. 53659/07, §§ 66-69, 11 October 2016, concerning prevention of assembly participation by the arrest and detention; and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention. REMAINING COMPLAINTS 14.  In view of the above findings, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with the applicants’ 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, Biryuchenko and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 1253/04 and 2 others, § 96, 11 December 2014, and, mutatis mutandis, Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court considers 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 the facts that took place before 16 September 2022; Declares the complaints under Article 5 of the Convention about the unlawful detention and other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court, as indicated in the appended table, admissible and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints raised by some of the applicants; Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention concerning the unlawful detention (deprivation of liberty); Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and its Protocols 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; (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 5 September 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.    Viktoriya Maradudina Branko Lubarda  Acting Deputy Registrar President   APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention (unlawful detention (deprivation of liberty)) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth   Representative’s name and location Start date of unauthorised detention End date of unauthorised detention Specific defects Other complaints under well-established case-law Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]     24712/21 19/04/2021 Pavel Vladimirovich KUZMIN Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius 30/01/2021 6.35 p.m. 31/01/2021 unspecified time Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO and no written record of the administrative arrest (Art. 27.4 CAO). Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision take by the Tver Regional Court on 04/02/2021;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Tver, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 10 days, final decision take by the Tver Regional Court on 04/02/2021. 5,000     28055/21 17/05/2021 Vadim Valeryevich OSTANIN Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul 23/01/2021 9 a.m. 25/01/2021 8.30 a.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Altay Regional Court on 29/01/2021;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Barnaul, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 10 days, final decision taken by the Altay Regional Court on 29/01/2021;   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     33807/21 03/06/2021 Tatyana Vladimirovna GLINBERG Sabinin Andrey Vasilyevich Stavropol 28/01/2021 10 a.m. 29/01/2021 unspecified time Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Stavropol Regional Court 01/02/2021;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 31/01/2021 in Stavropol, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 5 days, final decision taken by the Stavropol Regional Court 01/02/2021;   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     42732/21 06/08/2021 Anna Pavlovna VELLIKOK Sirosh Fedor Yevgenyevich Moscow 29/01/2021 2.30 p.m. 30/01/2021 unspecified time Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Moscow City Court on 08/02/2021;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Moscow, Article 20.2 § 3 of CAO, detention for 14 days, final decision taken by the Moscow City Court on 08/02/2021;   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     45346/21 11/08/2021 Oleg Igorevich YEMELYANOV Nurgaleyev Danil Ilnurovich Kazan 23/01/2021 2.05 p.m. 25/01/2021 2 p.m.   Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Privolzhskiy District Court of Kazan on 07/09/2021, in another set of proceedings to which the applicant was a party;   Art. 10 (1) – conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Kazan, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 10 days, final decision taken by the Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic on 24/02/2021;   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     45486/21 30/08/2021 Vitaliy Anatolyevich POLYAKOV Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich Krasnoyarsk 23/01/2021 1 p.m. 23/01/2021 around 7 p.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Krasnoyarsk, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, fine of RUB 10,000, final decision taken by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court on 17/06/2021. 4,000     49393/21 23/09/2021 Aleksey Igorevich KORABELNIKOV Vertegel Feliks Yevgenyevich Krasnodar 22/01/2021 2.15 p.m. 23/01/2021 9 a.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Krasnodar Regional Court on 24/03/2021;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Krasnodar, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 5 days, final decision taken by the Krasnodar Regional Court on 24/03/2021;   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     49641/21 14/09/2021 Yekaterina Vadimovna VERESHCHAGINA Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul 20/04/2021 11.30 p.m. 21/04/2021 12.30 p.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO.   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;   Art. 11 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly - the applicant’s arrest and detention between 20/04/2021 and 21/04/2021 prevented her from taking part in the rally to support A. Navalnyy on 21/04/2021. She was found guilty and sentenced to 10 days’ detention, final decision was taken on 28/04/2021 by the Rostov Regional Court;   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     52926/21 22/10/2021 Kirill Valeryevich ISHUTIN Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius 21/04/2021 9.38 p.m. 22/04/2021 unspecified time Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO. Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings under Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO (final decision taken by the Vladimir Regional Court on 30/04/2021). 4,000   7496/22 30/12/2021 Liliya Fedorovna IVANOVA Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich Krasnoyarsk 30/01/2021 7.50 p.m. 01/02/2021 10.15 a.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO. Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court on 08/07/2021;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally to support A. Navalnyy on 23/01/2021 in Krasnoyarsk, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, fine of RUB 25,000, final decision taken by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court on 08/07/2021. 4,000   33529/22 27/04/2022 Nikolay Yuryevich KAVKAZSKIY Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow 24/02/2022 11.10 p.m. 25/02/2022 1 p.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO. Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Moscow City Court on 02/03/2022;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rally against Russia’s military attack on Ukraine on 24/02/2022 in Moscow, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 6 days, final decision taken by the Moscow City Court on 02/03/2022;    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   39700/22 05/08/2022 Danil Mikhaylovich SOFRONOV Mikhaylova Varvara Dmitriyevna St Petersburg 25/02/2022 3.35 p.m. 26/02/2022 9.30 a.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity; detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO. Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court on 06/04/2022;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - rallies against Russia’s military attack on Ukraine on 25/02/2022 in several Russian cities, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, detention for 7 days, final decision taken by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court on 06/04/2022. 5,000   41001/22 03/08/2022 Yuliya Nikolayevna KHARITONOVA Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow 01/03/2022 12.30 p.m. 01/03/2022 4.10 p.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity. Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in the appeal hearing in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Kaliningrad Regional Court on 05/04/2022;    Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - protest against Russia’s military attack on Ukraine on 24/02/2022 in Kaliningrad, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, fine of RUB 20,000, final decision taken by the Kaliningrad Regional Court on 05/04/2022. 4,000   43626/22 19/08/2022 Lyubov Mikhaylovna KORKINA     13/03/2022 1 p.m. 13/03/2022 5 p.m. Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity. Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - final decision taken by the Kirov Regional Court on 28/04/2022;   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - protest against Russia’s military attack on Ukraine on 13/03/2022 in Kirov, Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO, fine of RUB 20,000, final decision taken by the Kirov Regional Court on 28/04/2022. 4,000   [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.