FIRST SECTION
CASE OF ZHDANOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 12166/19 and 41 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
7 March 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Zhdanov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Lətif Hüseynov, President,
Ivana Jelić,
Erik Wennerström, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 8 February 2024,
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 about their confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them or during the administrative proceedings to which they were a party. 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 about their confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them or during the administrative proceedings to which they were a party. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention. Some applicants also complained that they had not been afforded an effective domestic remedy in respect of their grievances under Article 3, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention.
8. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in a metal cage in the courtroom in the context of their trial. In the leading cases of Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), and Vorontsov and Others v. Russia, nos. 59655/14 and 2 others, 31 January 2017, the Court already dealt with the issue of the use of metal cages in courtrooms and found that such a practice constituted in itself an affront to human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention. Similar finding was reached by the Court in respect of the practice of confinement of defendants in metal cages at remand prisons for the purposes of their participation in court hearings carried out via a video link (see Karachentsev v. Russia, no. 23229/11, §§ 50-54, 17 April 2018).
9. The Court has also dealt with the issue of the use of glass cabins in courtrooms and found that under certain circumstances such a practice could also disclose a violation of Article 3 of the Convention (see Yaroslav Belousov v. Russia, nos. 2653/13 and 60980/14, §§ 123-28, 4 October 2016, where extreme overcrowding inside the glass cabin led the Court to the conclusion of a violation of Article 3 of the Convention, and Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia, no. 38004/12, §§ 144-50, 17 July 2018, where similar conclusion was reached by the Court against the background of the glass dock having been constantly surrounded by armed police officers and court ushers and a guard dog having been present next to it in the courtroom).
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 applicants’ confinement in a metal cage and/or a glass cabin before the court during the criminal proceedings against them and/or the administrative proceedings to which they were a party amounted to degrading treatment.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
12. Having regard to its finding above, the Court does not consider it necessary to deal separately with the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention (see Valyuzhenich v. Russia, no. 10597/13, § 27, 26 March 2019).
13. 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.
14. 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 Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, §§ 31-58, 28 November 2013, concerning inadequate conditions of detention after conviction and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect; S.P. and Others v. Russia, nos. 36463/11 and 10 others, §§ 65-109, 2 May 2023, concerning inhuman and degrading treatment of “outcast” inmates in the informal prisoner hierarchy in the Russian penal facilities and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect; Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, §§ 103-08, 22 May 2012, and Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 92-142, 9 April 2019, concerning inadequate conditions of transport; 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; Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, §§ 108-11, 27 November 2012, as regards unreasonably long detention on remand; Idalov, cited above, §§ 154-58, as regards lengthy review of detention matters; 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; Gorlov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, §§ 58-110, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect; and Pavlova v. Russia, no. 8578/12, §§ 21-33, 18 February 2020, concerning restrictions on family visits in pre-trial detention facilities and the lack of an effective remedy in that respect.
15. Some applicants also raised additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention. Having regard to its findings above, the Court considers that it has examined the main legal issues raised in the present applications and thus does not find it necessary to examine the remaining complaints under Article 6 of the Convention.
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Vorontsov and Others, cited above; Sergey Babushkin v. Russia (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014; and S.P. and Others, cited above, §§ 111-15), the Court considers 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 7 March 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Lətif Hüseynov
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant’s name Year of birth
| Representative’s name and location | Name of the court Date of the relevant judgment | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
12166/19 07/02/2019 | Roman Sergeyevich ZHDANOV 1977 |
| Tsentralniy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 25/02/2019 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport: train; 17/06/2019-18/06/2019; 0.35 sq. m of personal space, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places,
Art. 3 - inhuman and degrading treatment of “outcast” inmates as a result of segregation, humiliating practices and abuse in their daily life while in detention, heightened risk of inter-prisoner violence (prison hierarchy) The applicant belongs to a “middle cast” – “the red” (technical staff) since 2007 when serving his sentence in penal facilities of the Krasnoyarsk Region (IZ-1, LIU-37, IK-42, IK-5) between 27/12/2019 and 24/09/2021. He complains about his prison status and hardships he had to endure in everyday life, discriminative attitude on the ground of his degrading status and a reluctance of the penal facilities’ administration to change the existing order and their active support of the existing system of informal hierarchy
| 26,000 | |
33267/19 19/06/2019 | Islombek Dilshatbekovich KAMALOV 1997 | Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow | Military Appeal Court (video link) 08/10/2020 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful pre-trial detention - On 27/12/2018 the applicant was taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record (Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 9,750 | |
37791/19 11/07/2019 | Murad Fayzudinovich SAFARKULIYEV 1986 | Sommer Ulrich Köln | Georgiyevsk Town Court of the Stavropol Region, Stavropol Regional Court (video link) 22/01/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
43022/19 08/08/2019 | Natalya Nikolayevna RUSETSKAYA 1980 | Kuzmichev Konstantin Nikolayevich Chelyabinsk | Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Video link from SIZO‑3, Chelyabinsk Region 13/02/2019 |
| 7,500 | |
4140/21 22/12/2020 | Petr Nikolayevich CHERKAS 1986 | Gaynutdinova Yuliya Sergeyevna Kazan | Ivdel Town Court of the Sverdlovsk Region 02/10/2020
Amursk Town Court of the Khabarovsk Region 21/12/2020 | Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention: IK-6 Khabarovsk Region; from 17/11/2017 – pending as of 16/09/2022; lack of fresh air, overcrowding, constant electric light, lack of or insufficient outdoor exercise, natural light, 2 sq. m. of personal space,
Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - IK-6 Khabarovsk Region, since 17/11/2017, detention in different cells with video surveillance, video surveillance in a lavatory and/or shower room, opposite-sex operators,
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of permanent video surveillance in detention facilities and inadequate conditions of detention after conviction
| 13,300 | |
7647/21 22/12/2020 | Magomed Akhmedovich ALIBEKOV 1989 | Petrov Roman Nikolayevich Cheboksary | Sovetskiy District Court of Makhachkala, Supreme Court of the Republic of Dagestan 23/06/2020
|
| 7,500 | |
10002/21 26/01/2021 | Ildar Foatovich AKHMETZYANOV 1977 | Pavlov Sergey Eduardovich Cheboksary | Military Appeal Court 27/07/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
10883/21 28/05/2021 | Yuriy Vladimirovich PUZANOV 1991 | Dunayeva Alla Igorevna Chelyabinsk | 4th Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction 30/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
13010/21 21/02/2021 | Vadim Vadimovich MOLYAKOV 1962 | Tsarenkov Mikhail Maisovich Irkutsk | Kirovskiy District Court of Irkutsk, Irkutsk Regional Court 29/12/2020 |
| 6,550 | |
15164/21 17/02/2021 | Genrik Vazgenovich MARGARYAN 1984 | Isayev Ayndi Khamzatovich Krasnoyarsk | Balakhtinskiy District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Region (proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
15173/21 20/02/2021 | Denis Maksimovich TYURIN 1995 | Isayev Ayndi Khamzatovich Krasnoyarsk | Leninskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 27/01/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
15828/21 03/03/2021 | Marina Borisovna LUKASHEVICH 1975 | Karakasiyan Artem Vaniyanovich Moskva | Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, Moscow City Court (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - 03/07/2020-17/12/2021: detention was based on typical assumptions; the courts made no reference to any evidence of real risks of the applicant’s absconding or obstructing justice
| 9,750 | |
20156/21 12/03/2021 | Igor Vladimirovich MUNSKIY 1967 | Munskiy Nikolay Vladimirovich Krasnoyarsk | Tsentralniy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 17/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
22048/21 05/04/2021 | Yevgeniy Nikolayevich ANDREYEV 1977 | Fedotova Yuliya Yekaterinburg | Moskovskiy District Court of Cheboksary, Supreme Court of the Republic of Chuvashia 14/10/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
22468/21 05/04/2021 | Sergey Aleksandrovich SHALAGIN 1989 | Fedotova Yuliya Yekaterinburg | Moskovskiy District Court of Cheboksary, Supreme Court of the Republic of Chuvashia 14/10/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
22892/21 28/05/2021 | Ildar Railovich GABBYASOV 1985 | Dunayeva Alla Igorevna Chelyabinsk | Fourth Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction 30/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
25847/21 23/04/2021 | Pavel Olegovich FROLOV 1992 | Denisov Dmitriy Arkadyevich Astrakhan | Astrakhan Regional Court (video link); Kirovskiy District Court of Astrakhan 23/10/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
26442/21 21/04/2021 | Aleksandr Sergeyevich KALASHNIKOV 1988 | Cherkasova Antonina Nikolayevna Kaliningrad | Svetliy Town Court of the Kaliningrad Region, Kaliningrad Regional Court 12/02/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
28612/21 20/04/2021 | Yuriy Vyacheslavovich BESHCHENTSEV 1990
|
| Tosno Town Court of the Leningrad Region 20/10/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
28812/21 11/05/2021 | Aleksandr Sergeyevich SELIVANOV 1986 |
| Isakogorskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk Regional Court (video link) 11/02/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
28860/21 13/05/2021 | Andrey Sergeyevich ZHIGULSKIY
|
| Krasnoyarsk Regional Court (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
29973/21 11/05/2021 | Aleksey Aleksandrovich MELNIKOV 1977 |
| Moshkovskiy Ditrict Court of the Novosibirsk Region 26/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
30568/21 23/05/2021 | Sergey Viktorovich DENISOV 1991 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Penza 29/12/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
30994/21 30/12/2021 | Aleksandr Igorevich NOVOSELOV 1992 |
| Zheleznodorozhniy District Court of Krasnoyarsk (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
31148/21 10/05/2021 | Andrey Vladimirovich NOVOSPASSKIY 1982 | Sheykina Marina Sergeyevna Chita | Zabaykalskiy Regional Court (video link) 11/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
31185/21 25/05/2021 | Anatoliy Petrovich MONAKHOV 1978 | Nazarov Ilya Yulyevich Moscow | Istra Town Court of the Moscow Region 26/11/2020 |
| 7,500 | |
31275/21 27/05/2021 | Yevgeniy Vladimirovich REUT 1990 |
| Fokinskiy District Court of Bryansk 25/06/2021 | Art. 8 (1) - restrictions on family visits in pre-trial facilities - on 28/07/2021 the Fokinskiy District Court of Bryansk refused the applicant’s request for phone calls with his relatives, in the absence of any possibility of visits from them,
Art. 13 - lack of an effective remedy against refusals of short-term family visits and in respect of the prohibition of the phone calls with family members in a remand prison | 9,750 | |
37791/21 29/12/2021 | Andrey Borisovich TYULNIKOV 1977 |
| Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 24/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
38362/21 12/07/2021 | Vuacheslav Vyacheslavovich YARMOLYUK 1990 | Polonskiy Aleksandr Viktorovich Volgograd | Tsentralniy District Court of Volgograd, Dzerzhinskiy District Court of Volgograd, Volgograd Regional Court (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
39523/21 12/06/2021 | Mikhail Alekseyevich YERSHOV 1984 |
| Petrovsk-Zabaykalskiy Town Court of the Zabaykalskiy Region 24/02/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
39718/21 09/07/2021 | Marat Iskanderovich GALIASKAROV 1986 |
| Privolzhskiy District Court of Kazan 06/12/2021 |
| 5,200 | |
41185/21 15/07/2021 | Ivan Vasilyevich ATAMANYUK 1985 |
| Sovetskiy District Court of Kazan 19/03/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
41255/21 14/07/2021 | Sergey Nikolayevich BOKAREV 1978 |
| Knyazhpogostskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi 21/05/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
41589/21 27/07/2021 | Vladimir Aleksandrovich PYRKOV 1981 | Zyuzina Yevgeniya Mikhaylovna Voronezh | Kominternovskiy District Court of Voronezh, Leninskiy District Court of Voronezh, Ramonskiy District Court of the Voronezh Region 27/04/2021 | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention: 12/09/2018 - 27/04/2021; Ramonskiy District Court of the Voronezh Region; Leninskiy District Court of Voronezh, Kominternovskiy District Court of Voronezh; Voronezh Regional Court; fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; collective detention orders
| 9,750 | |
41653/21 13/09/2021 | Ivan Aleksandrovich MOISEYEV 1985 |
| Zheleznogorsk Town Court of the Kranoyarsk Region 18/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
41755/21 29/07/2021 | Olga Vladimirovna STRUCHKOVA 1965 | Polonskiy Aleksandr Viktorovich Volgograd | Krasnoarmeyskiy District Court of Volgograd 17/03/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
42545/21 05/08/2021 | Oleg Pavlovich PETUKHOV 1981 |
| Ukhta Town Court of the Republic of Komi (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court) |
| 7,500 | |
42710/21 05/08/2021 | Maksim Igorevich MARCHENKO 1996 | Sidorenko Boris Vladimirovich Pyatigorsk | Predgorniy District Court of the Stavropol Region 09/09/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
42745/21 08/08/2021 | Igor Aleksandrovich KRUPSKIKH 1974 | Polonskiy Aleksandr Viktorovich Volgograd | Krasnooktyabrskiy Disctrict Court of Volgograd, Volgograd Regional Court (video link) 24/06/2021 |
| 7,500 | |
44375/21 22/12/2021 | Artysh Aleksandrovich SALCHAK 1992 |
| Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk 22/09/2021 | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention: 06/03/2020-22/09/2021; Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Regional Court; fragility of the reasons employed by the courts; use of assumptions, in the absence of any evidentiary basis, of the risks of absconding or obstructing justice; failure to examine the possibility of applying other measures of restraint,
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention – detention order by the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk on 22/07/2021, was reviewed by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court on 17/08/2021 | 9,750 | |
26765/22 26/04/2022 | Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich DUBOVOY 1976 |
| Leninskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk, Sverdlovskiy District Court of Krasnoyarsk (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
|
| 7,500 | |
56144/22 15/11/2022 | Anton Nikolayevich DEMIN 1986 | Andreyev Ashot Aleksandrovich Syktyvkar | Syktyvkar Town Court, Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi, Second Appellate Court (video link) (Proceedings pending on the date when the application was lodged with the Court)
|
| 7,500 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.