5660/18;7452/18;10316/18;10752/18;11372/18;11856/18;17052/18;18996/18;26850/18;30834/18;34777/18;36015/18;37099/18;41498/18;49529/18;49743/18;52596/18

THIRD SECTION CASE OF PLATONOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 5660/18 and 16 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 15 September 2022   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Platonov and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Darian Pavli, President,  Andreas Zünd,  Mikhail Lobov, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 25 August 2022, 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 lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. 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. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 of the Convention 6.  The applicants complained of the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which reads as follows: Article 6 § 1 ““In the determination of ... any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair ... hearing ... by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.” 7.  The relevant principles of the Court’s case-law concerning the requirement of impartiality under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention can be found in the leading case of Karelin v. Russia (no. 926/08, §§ 51‑57, 20 September 2016, with further references). In that case the Court assessed the national rules of administrative procedure and concluded that the statutory requirements allowing for the national judicial authorities to consider an administrative offence case which falls within the ambit of Article 6 of the Convention under its criminal limb, in the absence of a prosecuting authority, was incompatible with the principle of objective impartiality set out in Article 6 of the Convention. 8.  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 the complaints in the present case. 9.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 10.  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.” 11.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Kuratov and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 24377/15 and 2 others, 22 October 2019), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table. 12.  The Court further considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY, Decides to join the applications; Declares the applications admissible; Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings; 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 15 September 2022, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.  Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli  Acting Deputy Registrar President       APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth   Representative’s name and location Penalty Date of final domestic decision Name of court Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]     5660/18 27/12/2017 Konstantin Borisovich PLATONOV Dimitriyev Dmitriy Sergeyevich Orenburg  suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 6 months, administrative fine of RUB 30,000 20/09/2017, Orenburzhskiy District Court of the Orenburg Region 1,000     7452/18 18/01/2018 Sergey Stepanovich SMIRNOV Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 10 months 23/01/2018, Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region 1,000     10316/18 13/02/2018 Aleksandr Yevgenyevich BORISENKOV Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk suspension of the driving licence for 6 months  09/02/2018, Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region 1,000     10752/18 15/02/2018 Sergey Gennadyevich FROLOV Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 7 months 13/02/2018, Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region, 1,000     11372/18 21/02/2018 Yelena Aleksandrovna SIVKOVA Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk suspension of the driving licence for a year 12/02/2018, Konoshskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk Region 1,000     11856/18 20/02/2018 Andrey Aleksandrovich SVECHNIKOV Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk in the proceedings leading to the judgment of the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk: administrative fine of RUB 30,000   in the proceedings leading to the judgment of the Lomonosovskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk: administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 7 months 24/04/2018, Oktyabrskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk     30/01/2018, Lomonosovskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk 1,300     17052/18 27/03/2018 Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich PONOMAREV Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 8 months 19/03/2018, Lomonosovskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk 1,000     18996/18 02/04/2018 Vladimir Gennadyevich GLADYSHEV Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 7 months 27/03/2018, Solombalskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk 1,000     26850/18 30/05/2018 Radik Faritovich ARSLANOV Sultanov Marat Azatovich Udachnyy administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 6 months 26/04/2018, Mirninskiy District Court of the Sakha Republic 1,000   30834/18 08/06/2018 Nikolay Mikhaylovich IGNATYEV Sultanov Marat Azatovich Udachnyy administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 6 months 05/02/2018, Mirninskiy District Court of the Sakha Republic 1,000   34777/18 09/07/2018 Denis Vladimirovich AVTYUSHCHENKO Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 7 months 28/06/2018, Volskiy District Court of Saratov Region 1,000   36015/18 12/07/2018 Karen Vachaganovich GARIBYAN Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk suspension of the driving licence for 6 months 15/06/2018, Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region 1,000   37099/18 23/07/2018 Igor Anatolyevich PACHURIN Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 7 months 19/06/2018, Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region 1,000   41498/18 10/08/2018 Aleksey Aleksandrovich OBREZKOV Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk in the proceedings leading to the judgment of the Kineshma Town Court of the Ivanovo Region: administrative detention of 5 days   in the proceedings leading to the judgment of the Pinezhskiy District Court of the Arkhangelsk Region: administrative fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 6 months 31/07/2018, Kineshma Town Court of the Ivanovo Region     28/09/2018, Pinezhskiy District Court of the Arkhangelsk Region 1,300   49529/18 10/10/2018 Fedor Aleksandrovich FABIANO Piskunov Dmitriy Igorevich Moscow administrative detention of 7 days 16/04/2018, Moscow City Court   1,000   49743/18 13/10/2018 Igor Vladimirovich PEPELYAYEV Kovalskiy Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kurgan suspension of the driving licence for a year 02/07/2018, Kurgan Town Court of the Kurgan Region   1,000   52596/18 30/10/2018 Vyacheslav Nikolayevich INDEYEV Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk suspension of the driving licence for 1 year and 8 months, administrative fine of RUB 30,000 29/10/2018, Volskiy District Court of the Saratov Region 1,000     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.