FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF MIKLASHEVSKAYA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 2107/18 and 27 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
20 April 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Miklashevskaya 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 30 March 2023,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
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 participants or organisers of public assemblies. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
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).
7. The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as participants or organisers 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.
12. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, 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. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-64, 13 February 2018; Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018; Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, and Teslenko and Others v. Russia, nos. 49588/12 and 3 others, §§ 72-74 and 81-82, 5 April 2022, as to administrative escorting to and/or detention in a police station beyond three hours for non-custodial offences, without substantiating the impossibility to compile an offence report at the rally venue or any exceptional circumstances or another valid ground under the Code of Administrative Offences (CAO) or continued detention after the offence report was compiled; and Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the lack of a prosecuting party in criminal proceedings under the CAO.
13. In view of the findings in paragraphs 11 and 12 above, there is no need to examine the other aspects of the complaints raised by some applicants under Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention.
14. 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.”
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,
(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 20 April 2023, 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)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant’s name Year of birth
| Representative’s name and location | Name of the public event Location Date | Administrative charges | 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] | |
2107/18 26/12/2017 | Yelena Georgievna MIKLASHEVSKAYA 1995 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 26/06/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
2199/18 26/12/2017 | Roman Eldarovich GUST (BAKHTIAROV) 1995 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 26/06/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
2379/18 22/12/2017 | Maksim Nikolayevich KOVALENKO 1975 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 22/06/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
2383/18 22/12/2017 | Kirill Sergeyevich KOZLOV 1994 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 22/06/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 26-27/03/2017 detention in a police station 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 | |
2389/18 22/12/2017 | Aleksey Aleksandrovich MARKOV 1975 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 22/06/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
2394/18 28/12/2017 | German Romanovich KONONOV 1996 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 28/06/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
2442/18 28/12/2017 | Anastasiya Mikhaylovna KORSHUNKOVA 1980 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 10/07/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 26/03/2017 escorting to a police station 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 | |
7567/18 27/01/2018 | Roman Viktorovich PINAYEV 1989 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO | fine of RUB 1,000 | Moscow City Court 28/07/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
10846/18 26/02/2018 | Igor Alekseyevich GALITSKIY 1966 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 06/10/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
12805/18 16/02/2018 | Denis Viktorovich PINAYEV 1985 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO | fine of RUB 1,000 | Moscow City Court 18/08/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
12806/18 07/03/2018 | Anton Alekseyevich YERMACHKOV 1997 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 08/09/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
13603/18 14/03/2018 | Stepan Borisovich IZYURGOV 1995 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 20/09/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
13607/18 14/03/2018 | Nikita Aleksandrovich KRUCHININ 1997 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 14/09/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
16262/18 13/03/2018 | Vyacheslav Nikolayevich NIKITIN 1989 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 18/09/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
16992/18 31/03/2018 | Ilya Vitalyevich NAUMOV 1996 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 02/10/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
17090/18 02/04/2018 | Vasiliy Vladimirovich GOLOBOKOV 1978 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 02/10/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 26-27/03/2017 escorting to and detention in a police station for and after 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 | |
17107/18 02/04/2018 | Aleksandra Sergeyevna ALEKSEYEVA 1995 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | LGBT-rights event
Moscow
11/05/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 02/10/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 11/05/2017 escorting to and detention in a police station 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 | |
17476/18 04/04/2018 | Anna Dmitriyevna TELNOVA 1999 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 24/10/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 26/03/2017 escorting to and detention a police station 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 | |
17774/18 27/03/2018 | Aleksandr Rastyamovich TAGIROV 1988 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 28/09/2017 |
| 3,500 | |
21846/18 16/04/2018 | Aleksey Vadimovich TRUKHANOV 1993 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
St Petersburg
26/03/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | St Petersburg City Court 02/11/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
23849/18 04/05/2018 | Kirill Dmitriyevich KARPOV 1996 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Yaroslavl
07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Yaroslavl Regional Court 09/11/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
24443/18 12/05/2018 | Kamran Rustamovich DYUGUSHEV 1993 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Leafleting to support A. Navalnyy
Cherepovets
21/09/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 25 hours of community work | Vologda Regional Court 13/11/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
24469/18 14/05/2018 | Bogdan Anatolyevich VASILENKO 1995 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
12/06/2017 | Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO | fine of RUB 500 | Moscow City Court 20/03/2018 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
24480/18 14/05/2018 | Andrey Ivanovich ZAKHARCHENKO 1990 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Moscow
12/06/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 20/12/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 12/06/2017 escorting to and detention in a police station for compiling an offence report (which was only compiled on 15/06/2017),
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
24985/18 16/05/2018 | Yuriy Aleksandrovich SKRYABIN 1974 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Leafleting to support A. Navalnyy
Cherepovets
21/09/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 20 hours of community work | Vologda Regional Court 16/11/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
25873/18 21/05/2018 | Semen Sergeyevich OSIPOV 1994 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Yaroslavl
07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Yaroslavl Regional Court 21/11/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
26987/18 29/05/2018 | Vyacheslav Andreyevich LOBANOV 1998 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Yaroslavl
07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Yaroslavl Regional Court 30/11/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
10537/20 17/02/2020 | Anton Yevgenyevich MALISHEVSKIY 1999 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Rally for fair elections to Mosgorduma
Moscow
03/08/2019 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 12,000 | Moscow City Court 06/11/2019 | 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.