FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF RISTA AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 6116/23 and 9 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
24 October 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Rista and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Kateřina Šimáčková, President,
Mykola Gnatovskyy,
Artūrs Kučs, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 3 October 2024,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
1. The case originated in applications against Ukraine 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 Ukrainian 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 inadequate conditions of their detention and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. In application no. 17569/23, the applicant 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 applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
7. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122-41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑59, 10 January 2012).
8. In the leading cases of Melnik v. Ukraine (no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006) and Sukachov v. Ukraine (no. 14057/17, 30 January 2020), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
9. The Court also refers to its standard of proof and methods for assessment of evidence in conditions-of detention cases (Muršić, cited above, §§ 127-28). In particular, in reply to a prima facie case of ill-treatment, complained of by the applicants, the Government is expected to provide primary evidence showing cell floor plans and the actual number of inmates during the specific periods of the applicants’ detention (see Ananyev and Others, cited above, § 123, and, for example, Sparysh and Kutsmand v. Ukraine [Committee], nos. 49709/18 and 49870/18, 12 September 2024). Other documents and photographs, related to air, food, water quality control, pest control, temperature and luminosity measurements, bathing facilities, privacy of toilet, laundry services etc., should pertain to cells and periods of the applicants’ detention.
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’ conditions of detention during the periods indicated in the appended table were inadequate.
11. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
12. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
13. In application no. 17569/23, the applicant submitted other complaints which also raised issues under Article 5 of 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 the case set out in the appended table.
14. In application no. 27448/23, the applicant also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
15. The Court has examined these complaints and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.
It follows that this part of application no. 27448/23 must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Sukachov, cited above, §§ 165 and 167), 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 24 October 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Kateřina Šimáčková
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
Application no. Date of introduction | Applicant’s name Year of birth | Representative’s name and location | Facility Start and end date Duration | Sq. m per inmate | Specific grievances | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
6116/23 07/10/2022 | Volodymyr Zolotoyevych RISTA 1973
| Kulbach Sergiy Oleksandrovych Limoges | Dnipro Detention Facility 08/02/2021 to 14/12/2022 1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 7 day(s) | 2.5 m² | overcrowding, poor quality of potable water, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air |
| 4,700 | |
17569/23 30/03/2023 | Yevgeniy Valeriyovych PLATONOV 1977
| Kulbach Sergiy Oleksandrovych Limoges | Dnipro Detention Facility no. 4 01/06/2021 to 17/07/2023 2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 17 day(s) | 1.8-2.6 m² | overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, poor quality of potable water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, passive smoking, poor quality of food | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - 29/05/2021 - 14/03/2023, fragility and repetitiveness of the reasoning employed by the courts as the case progressed (see Kharchenko v. Ukraine, no. 40107/02, §§ 77-81, 10 February 2011, Ignatov v. Ukraine, 40583/15, §§ 38-42, 15 December 2016) | 6,950 | |
24329/23 29/05/2023 | Yanush Valeriyovych KONDRASHOV 1990
| Kulbach Sergiy Oleksandrovych Limoges | Dnipro Pre-Trial Detention Facility 25/02/2022 to 11/09/2023 1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 18 day(s)
| 3.6-3.7 m² | overcrowding, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, poor quality of potable water, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of laundry services, passive smoking |
| 4,100 | |
27448/23 15/06/2023 | Yevgeniy Dmytrovych GRYBYNYUK 1995
| Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Dnipro Pre-Trial Detention Facility 03/11/2020 to 31/03/2023 2 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 29 day(s) | 2.5 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, inadequate temperature, lack of requisite medical assistance, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to potable water |
| 5,600 | |
27452/23 15/06/2023 | Dmytro Anatoliyovych GORDINSKYY 1994
| Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Dnipro Pre-Trial Detention Facility no. 4 16/01/2017 to 21/02/2023 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 6 day(s) | 3.2 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of requisite medical assistance, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to running water
|
| 7,500 | |
31719/23 02/08/2023 | Anatoliy Yevgeniyovych SYSAK 1965
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 02/02/2017 pending More than 7 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 8 day(s) | 2.6-3.4 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light |
| 7,500 | |
31723/23 02/08/2023 | Oleksandr Vasylyovych KOSHYL 1984
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 18/02/2022 pending More than 2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 23 day(s) | 2.5-3 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light |
| 5,900 | |
31733/23 02/08/2023 | Vladyslav Sergiyovych MUZYCHENKO 1987
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 10/05/2021 pending More than 3 year(s) and 4 month(s) | 2.9-3.8 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light
|
| 7,300 | |
31739/23 02/08/2023 | Timur Viktorovych KONDRATENKO 1988
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Cherkasy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 18/11/2021 pending More than 2 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 23 day(s) | 2.5 - 3.5 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light |
| 6,400 | |
42836/23 17/11/2023 | Sergiy Gennadiyovych NECHAYEV 1969
| Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Dnipro Detention Facility no. 4 16/03/2021 to 01/08/2023 2 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 17 day(s) | 2.5 m² | overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of requisite medical assistance, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light |
| 5,600 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.