THIRD SECTION
CASE OF PAVLYUCHENKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 7236/18 and 23 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
25 May 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Pavlyuchenko and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Peeter Roosma, President,
Ioannis Ktistakis,
Andreas Zünd, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 4 May 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 and Protocols thereto, 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 other aspects of the complaints raised by some applicants under Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention, or under Article 11 (applications nos. 7463/18 and 32297/18).
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 25 May 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Peeter Roosma
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] | |
7236/18 22/01/2018 | Aleksey Georgiyevich PAVLYUCHENKO 1998 | Terekhov Konstantin Ilyich Moscow | Anticorruption rally
Vladivostok, 12/06/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Primorye Regional Court 16/08/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 12/06/2017 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 | |
7463/18 25/12/2017 | Igor Valentinovich SHARAPOV 1966 |
| Protest against the road tax system “Platon”
Khimki, 21/05/2017 | Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO
| fine of RUB 500
| Moscow Regional Court 29/06/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 21‑23/05/2017 escorting to and detention in a police station for and after compiling offence reports | 4,000 | |
13248/18 28/02/2018 | Petr Vladimirovich TROFIMOV 1970
| Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
St Petersburg, 12/06/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | St Petersburg City Court 29/08/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention – (i) on 12‑14/06/2017 escorting to and detention in a police station for and after compiling an offence report; (ii) on 10/06/2019 and 18/06/2019 escorting to and detention in a police station for (re-)compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in both sets of the administrative‑offence proceedings | 5,000, jointly in respect of both applications lodged by the applicant | |
62551/19 18/11/2019 | Peredruk Aleksandr Dmitriyevich St Petersburg | Political protest
St Petersburg, 07/06/2019 | Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | St Petersburg City Court 17/09/2019 | ||||
26188/18 18/05/2018 | Oleg Sergeyevich MASTRYUKOV 1992 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Distribution of leaflets to support A. Navalnyy
Moscow, 09/07/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 20/11/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 09/07/2017 escorting to a police station for compiling an offence report | 4,000 | |
27592/18 24/05/2018 | Olga Mikhaylovna YATSKOVA 1997 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Rostov-on-Don, 07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Rostov Regional Court 28/11/2017 |
| 3,500 | |
28369/18 08/06/2018 | Timur Vladimirovich NESKUCHAYEV 1997 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Distribution of leaflets to support A. Navalnyy
Moscow, 09/07/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 08/12/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 09/07/2017 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 | |
29525/18 13/06/2018 | Denis Islamovich BAKAYEV 1981 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Opposition rally
Moscow, 12/07/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 22/01/2018 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 12/07/2017 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 | |
29548/18 08/06/2018 | Anton Vladimirovich SIDOROV 1990 | Romanov Pavel Valeryevich Cheboksary | Opposition rally
Cheboksary, 29/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO | 32 hours of community work | Supreme Court of Chuvashia Republic 12/12/2017 |
| 3,500 | |
30493/18 18/06/2018 | Sergey Aleksandrovich KAZAKOV 1979 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Orenburg, 13/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO | 40 hours of community work | Orenburg Regional Court 19/12/2017 |
| 3,500 | |
32297/18 21/06/2018 | Vitaliy Aleksandrovich NAKONECHNIKOV 1982 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Moscow, 09/07/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 22/12/2017 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 09/07/2017 escorting to a police station for compiling an offence report | 4,000 | |
32587/18 25/06/2018 | Irina Aleksandrovna FAYZULINA 1976 | Laptev Aleksey Nikolayevich Moscow | Opposition rally
Berezniki, 07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Perm Regional Court 25/12/2017 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
34821/18 16/07/2018 | Timofey Igorevich DEMIDENKO 1991 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Anticorruption rally
Moscow, 12/06/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Moscow City Court 16/01/2018 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 12/06/2017 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 | |
35400/18 17/07/2018 | Irina Vladislavovna SAMARINA 1959 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Stavropol, 07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Stavropol Regional Court 17/01/2018 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings | 3,500 | |
36988/18 27/07/2018 | Anastasiya Mikhaylovna DEYNEKA 1998 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Rostov-on-Don, 24/12/2017 | Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO | 8 days of detention | Rostov Regional Court 27/01/2018 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings | 5,000 | |
37059/18 16/07/2018 | Albert Maratovich RAYANOV 1990
| Chernyavskaya Andzhelika Viktorovna Oktyabrskiy
| Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Novosibirsk, 30/09/2017
Rally against the pension reform
Novosibirsk, 09/09/2018 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO | fine of RUB 5,000
30 days of detention | Novosibirsk Regional Court 16/01/2018
Novosibirsk Regional Court 14/09/2018 |
| 5,000, jointly in respect of both applications lodged by the applicant | |
41917/18 17/08/2018 | Rally to support L. Volkov and A. Navalnyy
Novosibirsk, 07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 6,000 | Novosibirsk Regional Court 20/02/2018 | |||||
41375/18 29/07/2018 | Veronika Viktorovna OVSYANNIKOVA 1999 | Chernyavskaya Andzhelika Viktorovna Oktyabrskiy | Rally to support L. Volkov and A. Navalnyy
Novosibirsk, 07/10/2017
| Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Novosibirsk Regional Court 30/01/2018 |
| 3,500 | |
43224/18 30/08/2018 | Roman Yevgenyevich KARMATSKIY 1992 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Distribution of leaflets to support A. Navalnyy
Moscow, 20/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 06/03/2018 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 20/10/2017 escorting to a police station for compiling an offence report | 4,000 | |
46237/18 18/09/2018 | Anna Borisovna YEREMEYEVA 1994 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Rally to support A. Navalnyy
Rostov-on-Don, 24/12/2017 | Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO | fine of RUB 75,000 | Rostov Regional 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 | 4,500 | |
50929/18 09/10/2018 | Daniil Konstantinovich BEBEKIN 1999 | Chernyavskaya Andzhelika Viktorovna Oktyabrskiy | Rally to support L. Volkov and A. Navalnyy
Novosibirsk, 07/10/2017 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Novosibirsk Regional Court 10/04/2018 |
| 3,500 | |
54858/18 01/11/2018 | Genrikh En FON DESTIO 1995 | Sergeyeva Irina Vadimovna Moscow | Event to support Telegram
Moscow, 16/04/2018 | Article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 30/05/2018 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 16‑17/04/2018 detention in a police station 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 | |
58018/18 28/11/2018 | Nadezhda Nikolayevna CHURAKOVA 1961 | Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius | Distribution of leaflets to support A. Navalnyy
Moscow, 07/01/2018 | Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 06/06/2018 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 07/01/2018 escorting to a police station for compiling an offence report | 4,000 | |
58050/18 20/11/2018 | Stepan Sergeyevich VYBOCH 1994 | Sergeyeva Irina Vadimovna Moscow | Event to support Telegram
Moscow, 16/04/2018 | Article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 24/08/2018 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - on 16‑17/04/2018 detention in a police station 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 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.