32184/21;45609/21;46095/21;46413/21;48653/21;51710/21;53494/21;55882/21;572/22;839/22;3304/22;4498/22

THIRD SECTION CASE OF SOKOLOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 32184/21 and 11 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 11 December 2025     This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Sokolov and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, President,  Mateja Đurović,  Vasilka Sancin, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 20 November 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. Some of the applicants 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, 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 v. Russia (nos. 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. 11.  In particular, the Court acknowledges that wide margin of appreciation is allowed to the authorities dealing with the COVID-19 health crisis (see Nemytov and Others, cited above, §§ 115-17 and Central Unitaria de Traballadores/as v. Spain, no. 49363/20, § 81, 17 October 2024). At the time of relevant events, that is January-April 2021, the virus was still actively circulating and various COVID-19 related restrictions were still in place generally pursuing a pressing social need to protect individual and public health (see Nemytov and Others, cited above, § 139). However, the Court notes that the regime of strict lockdowns in the relevant regions was no longer in force, several COVID-19-related restrictions had been altered or eased, indoors and outdoors sports, cultural, entertainment and other events could be held, albeit with some restrictions. Under these circumstances, no sufficient justification has been advanced as to why regional bans on all forms of protest were maintained, while leisure activities were allowed under certain conditions. Furthermore, the judicial decisions imposing sanctions on the applicants in the present cases lacked a meaningful proportionality analysis. Therefore, the fines and administrative detention orders by the domestic courts had been disproportionate to the aim pursued, and the domestic authorities overstepped the wide margin of appreciation afforded to them (see, mutatis mutandis, Nemytov and Others, cited above, §§ 136-51). Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant cases the interferences with the applicants’ freedom of assembly were not “necessary in a democratic society”. 12.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW 13.  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. 14.  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 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); 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; 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 15.  Some applicants raised further additional complaints under various provisions of the Convention. In view of the findings in paragraphs 9-14 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 16.  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 remaining complaints; 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; (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 11 December 2025, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.    Viktoriya Maradudina Úna Ní Raifeartaigh  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 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]     32184/21 11/06/2021 Grigoriy Nikolayevich SOKOLOV   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Blagoveshchensk   23/01/2021   article 20.2 § 5 of CAO         and       article 20.6.1 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000         and       fine of RUB 3,000 Amur Regional Court 02/04/2021     and       Amur Regional Court 02/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - arrest, escorting to a police station and detention on 23/01/2021 in excess of three hours for the sole purpose of drawing a record of administrative offence,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings   4,000     45609/21 31/08/2021 Anton Igorevich OBROSOV   Mikhaylova Varvara Dmitriyevna St Petersburg Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Blagoveshchensk   23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO       and   article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000       and   fine of RUB 2,000 Amur Regional Court 12/03/2021           Amur Regional Court 01/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. on 23/01/2021,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings   4,000     46095/21 03/09/2021 Yelena Yuryevna IPATOVA   Mikhaylova Varvara Dmitriyevna St Petersburg Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Severodvinsk   23/01/2021 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Arkhangelsk Regional Court 04/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - arrest and detention on 23/01/2021 for the purpose of drawing up an administrative offence record,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings   4,000     46413/21 18/08/2021 Ayyyskhan Ivanovich ALEKSEYEV   Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Yakutsk   31/01/2021 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 5,000 Supreme Court of Sakha (Yakutia) Republic 19/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention – arrest, escorting to a police station, detention for and after compiling the offence record (pending trial) from 31/01/2021 to 02/02/2021, hearings in the applicant’s administrative-offence case,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - both sets of proceedings   Art. 10 (1) - conviction for making calls to participate in public events - calls on the internet for a rally in support to Mr A. Navalny scheduled for 23/01/2021, administrative conviction under Art. 20.2 § 2 of the CAO, fine of RUB 10,000, final decision: Supreme Court of Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, 19/03/2021 4,000     48653/21 24/09/2021 Daniil Igorevich KORPUSOV   Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Tver   23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Tver Regional Court 31/03/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000     51710/21 07/10/2021 Maksim Andreyevich KOLMAKOV   Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Yaroslavl   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Yaroslavl Regional Court 14/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to a police station for the purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence, from 12.30 p.m. on 31/01/2021, for 2 hours,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000     53494/21 07/10/2021 Aleksey Alekseyevich KULAKOV   Dubrovina Marina Alekseyevna Novorossiysk Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Novorossiysk   31/01/2021 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO administrative detention of 3 days Krasnodar Regional Court 07/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - arrest, escorting to a police station, detention between 31/01/2021 and 01/02/2021 as administrative suspect, pending trial, after the offence record had been compiled,   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 on 01/02/2021 was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO   5,000     55882/21 05/11/2021 Yekaterina Sergeyevna SHVETSOVA   Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Kirov   23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 5,000 Kirov Regional Court 18/05/2021   4,000     572/22 23/11/2021 Aleksandr Olegovich PERSHIN   Miropoltsev Dmitriy Dmitriyevich Kaltan Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Novokuznetsk   23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Kemerovo Regional Court 16/06/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings   4,000   839/22 23/11/2021 Olesya Andreyevna VOYCHENKO   Miropoltsev Dmitriy Dmitriyevich Kaltan Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Novokuznetsk   23/01/2021   article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Kemerovo Regional Court 16/06/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings   4,000   3304/22 30/12/2021 Oleg Semenovich BESPALOV   Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Perm   21/04/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Perm Regional Court 20/07/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 23/04/2021 for compiling an offence report on account of the applicant’s participation in the rally of 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   4498/22 24/12/2021 Kirill Viktorovich KARMANOV   Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow Rally in support of A. Navalnyy   Blagoveshchensk   21/04/2021   article 20.2 § 5 of CAO     and     article 20.6.1 § 1 of the CAO fine of RUB 10,000     and     fine of RUB 1,000 Amur Regional Court 02/07/2021   and     Amur Regional Court 28/06/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - arrest, escorting to a police station on 21/04/2021 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence,   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - two sets of administrative offence proceedings   4,000     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.