72645/16;24326/17;37868/17;55566/19

FIFTH SECTION CASE OF HOVHANNISYAN AND OTHERS v. ARMENIA (Applications nos. 72645/16 and 3 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 26 February 2026   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Hovhannisyan and Others v. Armenia, The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Andreas Zünd, President,  Diana Sârcu,  Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 5 February 2026, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.  The case originated in applications against Armenia 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 Armenian 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 relevant and sufficient reasons for detention. 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 5 § 3 of the Convention 6.  The applicants complained of the lack of relevant and sufficient reasons for detention. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention. 7.  In respect of applications nos. 72645/16, 24326/17 and 55566/19, the Government claimed that the applicants had failed to exhaust the domestic remedies. Having examined the Government’s arguments, the Court does not discern sufficient grounds to accept their objections, which must therefore be rejected (compare Arzumanyan v. Armenia, no. 25935/08, §§ 30-32, 11 January 2018; Ghavalyan v. Armenia, no. 50423/08, § 101, 22 October 2020; and Avushyan v. Armenia [Committee], no. 34684/13, § 18, 31 January 2023). 8.  The Court reiterates that, according to its established case-law under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, the persistence of a reasonable suspicion that the person arrested has committed an offence is a condition sine qua non for the lawfulness of the continued detention, but after a certain lapse of time it no longer suffices. In such cases, the Court must establish whether the other grounds given by the judicial authorities continued to justify the deprivation of liberty. Where such grounds were “relevant” and “sufficient”, the Court must also ascertain whether the competent national authorities displayed “special diligence” in the conduct of the proceedings. The Court has also held that justification for any period of detention, no matter how short, must be convincingly demonstrated by the authorities. When deciding whether a person should be released or detained, the authorities are obliged to consider alternative measures for ensuring this person’s appearance at trial. The requirement for the judicial officer to give “relevant” and “sufficient” reasons for the detention – in addition to the persistence of reasonable suspicion – applies already at the time of the first decision ordering detention on remand, that is to say “promptly” after the arrest (see, among other authorities, Buzadji v. the Republic of Moldova [GC], no. 23755/07, §§ 87 and 102, 5 July 2016). 9.  In the leading case of Ara Harutyunyan v. Armenia (no. 629/11, §§ 48 et seq., 20 October 2016), 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 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 domestic courts failed to provide relevant and sufficient reasons for the applicants’ pre-trial detention. 11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.    APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 12.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Ara Harutyunyan, cited above, § 66), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table and dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction in applications nos. 72645/16, 37868/17 and 55566/19. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,      Decides to join the applications;      Declares the applications admissible;      Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the lack of relevant and sufficient reasons for detention;      Holds  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.      Dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction in applications nos. 72645/16, 37868/17 and 55566/19. Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 February 2026, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.  Viktoriya Maradudina Andreas Zünd  Acting Deputy Registrar President       APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention (lack of relevant and sufficient reasons for detention) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth Representative’s name and location Period of detention Court which issued detention order/ examined appeal Specific defects Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage per applicant (in euros)[1] Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application (in euros)[2]     72645/16 28/10/2016 Ani HOVHANNISYAN   Simonyan Liparit Yerevan 03/05/2016 - 13/01/2017 Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun District Court of Yerevan    Criminal Court of Appeal fragility of the reasons employed by the courts 1,000     24326/17 27/03/2017 Artak GALSTYAN   Sargsyan Susanna Yerevan 26/05/2016 - 26/12/2016 Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun District Court of Yerevan    Criminal Court of Appeal fragility of the reasons employed by the courts 1,000     37868/17 17/05/2017 Garo YEGNUKIAN   Hayrapetyan Tigran Yerevan 20/07/2016 - 04/10/2017 Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan    Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun District Court of Yerevan    Criminal Court of Appeal fragility of the reasons employed by the courts 1,200     55566/19 15/10/2019 Susanna PETROSYAN   Tumasyan Edgar Yerevan 07/09/2018 - 07/07/2019 First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan    Criminal Court of Appeal fragility of the reasons employed by the courts 1,200   [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants. [2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.