54470/21;56564/21;59469/21;59525/21;59535/21;59538/21;977/22;3020/22;8022/22;12279/22;13705/22;34656/22;36475/22;36545/22;51268/22

FIFTH SECTION CASE OF IVANOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 54470/21 and 14 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 22 February 2024   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Ivanov and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  María Elósegui, President,  Mattias Guyomar,  Kateřina Šimáčková, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 1 February 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.  The applicants complained of the disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. Some 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). 9.  In the leading cases of 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 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); 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.  Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative‑offence proceedings. In view of the findings in the above paragraphs, 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 the 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 under Article 6 of the Convention; 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 22 February 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.    Viktoriya Maradudina María Elósegui  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]     54470/21 14/10/2021 Artem Nikolayevich IVANOV Ivanova Tatyana Andreyevna Irkutsk Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Irkutsk   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Irkutsk Regional Court 25/05/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. on 31/01/2021;   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000     56564/21 29/10/2021 Polina Andreyevna GREBENNIKOVA Polyakov Daniil Alekseyevich Voronezh Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Voronezh   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Voronezh Regional Court 30/04/2021 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 the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report 4,000     59469/21 21/11/2021 Ivan Andreyevich MARTYANOV Kachanov Roman Yevgenyevich Yekaterinburg Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Yekaterinburg   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO 20 hours of community service Sverdlovsk Regional Court 25/05/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 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     59525/21 18/11/2021 Mark Yevgenyevich NEPSHA Antokhin Yevgeniy Vyacheslavovich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Moscow   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 25/05/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 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     59535/21 18/11/2021 Yuriy Yuryevich NEZAMEDINOV Antokhin Yevgeniy Vyacheslavovich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Moscow   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 25/05/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 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     59538/21 18/11/2021 Viktor Ivanovich KOGAN Antokhin Yevgeniy Vyacheslavovich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Moscow   02/02/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 21/05/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 12.30 p.m. until 9 p.m. on 02/02/2021;   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000     977/22 03/12/2021 Sergey Aleksandrovich SIMIN Vlasov Aleksey Valeryevich Tula Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Tula   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Tula Regional Court 17/05/2021 (the applicant received the full text of the final decision only on 03/06/2021) 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 the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report 4,000     3020/22 22/12/2021 Yekaterina Aleksandrovna CHERNENKO Valenkov Andrey Olegovich Nizhniy Novgorod Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Nizhniy Novgorod   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 24/06/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 1.05 p.m. until 6.55 p.m. on 31/01/2021;    Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000     8022/22 22/01/2022 Mikhail Alekseyevich PERSHIN Prosvirkina Kseniya Dmitriyevna Moscow Manifestation in support of Navalnyy   Krasnoyarsk   31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 22/07/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings     3,500   12279/22 24/02/2022 Sobirdzhon Berdiyevich VOKHIDOV Prosvirkina Kseniya Dmitriyevna Moscow Rally to support of Izat Amon   Moscow   02/04/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 27/08/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 02/04/2021 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   13705/22 28/02/2022 Denis Valeryevich MATVEYEV Markin Konstantin Aleksandrovich Velikiy Novgorod Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Moscow   23/01/2021     article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of 15,000 RUB Moscow City Court 29/09/2021 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings     3,500   34656/22 24/06/2022 Polina Dmitriyevna SHUBENTSEVA Ruchko Irina Yuryevna Yekaterinburg Anti-war protest (against the war in Ukraine)   Yekaterinburg   24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO detention for 10 days Sverdlovsk Regional Court 02/03/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. on 24/02/2022 ;   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 5,000   36475/22 12/07/2022 Igor Igorevich GURCHENOK Tyurina Kristina Olegovna Nizhniy Novgorod Manifestation against the war in Ukraine   Nizhniy Novgorod   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 8 of CAO detention for 14 days Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 17/03/2022 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 5,000   36545/22 10/02/2022 Sergey Leonidovich SERGEYEV Vlasov Aleksey Valeryevich Tula Rally against COVID vaccination   Tula   18/11/2021           article 20.2 § 2 of CAO fine of RUB 21,000 Tula Regional Court 23/12/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 18/11/2021 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   51268/22 19/10/2022 Valentin Igorevich GUDKOV Tiunov Sergey Yuryevich Yekaterinburg Anti-war protest (against the war in Ukraine)   Yekaterinburg   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO 20 hours of community work Sverdlovsk Regional Court 07/09/2022 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 3,500     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.