KOROLKOVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 44630/21 (Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : Second Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 216 (14 March 2024)

JUDGMENT STRASBOURG 14 March 2024 This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Korolkova and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Committee composed of: Lorraine Schembri Orland , President , Frédéric Krenc, Davor Derenčinović , judges , and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 15 February 2024, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 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 organisers or participants of public assemblies. They also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention and Protocols to it. 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. JURISDICTION 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, §§ - 73, 17 January 2023). ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION 7. The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants 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, and having taken into account the issue of compliance with the six-month time-limit under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention (see Saakashvili v. Georgia (dec.), nos. 6232/20 and 22394/20 , §§ 46-59, 1 March 2022, in which the Court addressed the COVID-related extension of the period in question), 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. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW 12. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and Article 2 of Protocol no. 7 to 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 these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in 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; 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 (the CAO); Lashmankin and Others v. Russia , nos. 57818/09 and 14 others, §§ 402-78, 7 February 2017, regarding restrictions on location or time of public events; Martynyuk v. Russia , no. 13764/15 , §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention. REMAINING COMPLAINTS 14. Some applicants raised further additional complaints under the Convention. In view of the findings in paragraph 13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 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, Decides to join the applications; Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022; Declares the complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints of the applicants; Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention; Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and of Article 2 of Protocol no. 7 to it as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table); Holds (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 14 March 2024, pursuant to Rule §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court. Viktoriya Maradudina Lorraine Schembri Orland 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) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant's name Year of birth Representative's name and location Name of the public event Location Date Administrative / criminal charges Penalty Final domestic decision Court Name Date Other complaints under well-established case-law Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage per applicant (in euros) [1] 44630/21 24/08/2021 Lyubov Aleksandrovna KOROLKOVA Solovyev Stanislav Vyacheslavovich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 02/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record and detention at the police station between 4.30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on 31/01/2021 - detained for more than three hours after the offence record was drawn up, without any justification, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings, Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - The sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. 4,000 44981/21 03/09/2021 Sergey Aleksandrovich MIKHAYLOV Zhdanov Ivan Yuryevich Vilnius Rally "Free Navalnyy" Kazan 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Supreme Court of Tatarstan 17/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 1.30 p.m. on 31/01/2021 and 01/02/2021 4,000 45026/21 25/08/2021 Anna Anatolyevna MALYGINA Shchukin Andrey Yevgenyevcich Nizhniy Tagil Opposition rally Yekaterinburg 23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Sverdlovsk Regional Court 14/07/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - the applicant was detained for more than three hours after the administrative offence record was drawn up, without any justification (between noon on 31/01/2021 and 3.30 p.m. on the same day), Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45027/21 24/08/2021 Nikita Dmitriyevich BOROVKOV Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 30/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45028/21 03/09/2021 Dmitriy Vladimirovich PICHUGIN Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius Rally "Free Navalnyy" Kurgan 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Kurgan Regional Court 15/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45030/21 24/08/2021 Kirill Aleksandrovich LITVINOV Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 30/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45031/21 24/08/2021 Dmitriy Nikolayevich PARKHOMENKO Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 30/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45035/21 24/08/2021 Vadim Valeryevich PILYUGIN Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 30/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45036/21 03/09/2021 Vladimir Vyacheslavovich NIKOLAYEV Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy" Tumen 23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Tumen Regional Court 17/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 29/01/2021 (six days after the protest action) for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45039/21 03/09/2021 Kirill Georgiyevich REPIN Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Moscow Rally "Free Navalnyy" Ulyanovsk 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Ulyanovsk Regional Court 18/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling administrative offence record, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45129/21 17/08/2021 Daniel KRSTEVSKI Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 26/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 31/01/2021, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45156/21 17/08/2021 Dmitriy Vyacheslavovich NEKLYUDOV Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 02/02/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 26/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 02/02/2021, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45170/21 20/08/2021 Semen Aleksandrovich KOMARCHEV Tevosov Georgiy Eduardovich Moscow Meeting of "Open Russia" movement Moscow 13/03/2021 article 20.33 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 21/05/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 10.30 a.m. and about 4.00 p.m. on 13/03/2021 4,000 45180/21 17/08/2021 Yegor Alekseyevich ISAYEV Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich Mytishchi Rally "Free Navalnyy" Moscow 02/02/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 16/04/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 02/02/2021, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45245/21 26/08/2021 Vasiliy Aleksandrovich DMITRIYEV Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Vilnius Rally "Free Navalnyy" Kurgan 23/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Kurgan Regional Court 16/03/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record on 23/01/2021, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 26106/22 04/05/2022 Damir Filaritovich BIKMETOV Tiunov Sergey Yuryevich Yekaterinburg Opposition rally Yekaterinburg 11/09/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Sverdlovsk Regional Court 08/12/2021 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention for compiling an offence record on 11/09/2021, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings, Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (c) - unfair criminal proceedings due to lack of legal representation - lawyer not allowed in the hearing 4,000 33761/22 06/07/2022 Vladimir Nikolayevich BORETS Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna Strasbourg Anti-war rally Rostov-on-Don 06/03/2022 article 19.3 § 1 of CAO detention for 15 days Rostov Regional Court 18/03/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 14.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and 9.00 a.m. on 07/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings, Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. 5,000 34153/22 06/07/2022 Ivan Amiranovich ARCHVADZE Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna Strasbourg Anti-war rally Rostov-on-Don 06/03/2022 article 19.3 § 1 of CAO detention for 15 days Rostov Regional Court 18/03/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 4:00 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and 6:45 a.m. on 07/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings, Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. 5,000 35626/22 05/07/2022 Dmitriy Aleksandrovich ROZHKOV Tiunov Sergey Yuryevich Yekaterinburg Anti-war rally Yekaterinburg 24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 2 of CAO detention for 9 days Sverdlovsk Regional Court 05/03/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 4.55 p.m. on 24/02/2022 and 1.10 p.m. on 25/02/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 5,000 37485/22 10/07/2022 Aleksandr Andreyevich VALOV Anti-war rally St Petersburg 27/02/2022 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO detention for 10 days St Petersburg City Court 10/03/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2022 for compiling administrative offence record and detention between 5.30 p.m. on 27/02/2022 and 4.00 p.m. on 01/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings, Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. 5,000 39217/22 27/07/2022 Darya Nikolayevna YEMELYANOVA Anti-war rally St Petersburg 27/02/2022 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 St Petersburg City Court 29/03/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 6.00 p.m. on 27/02/2022 and the morning of 28/02/2022, when the applicant was transferred to the court, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 40943/22 07/08/2022 Yevgeniya Aleksandrovna NISHTA Zaytsev Roman Olegovich Volgograd Anti-war rally Volgograd 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Volgograd Regional Court 09/04/2022 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 06/03/2022; 4,000 44070/22 19/08/2022 Valeriya Anatolyevna GAVRILOVA Zaytsev Roman Olegovich Volgograd Anti-war rally Volgograd 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Volgograd Regional Court 19/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence record on 06/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 44623/22 20/08/2022 Valeriya Sergeyevna SABLUKOVA Anti-war rally Nizhniy Novgorod 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 21/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 3.10 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and 1.20 p.m. on 07/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45173/22 27/08/2022 Maryana Alekseyevna SAMOKHVALOVA Anti-war rally St Petersburg 03/03/2022 article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 St Petersburg City Court 28/04/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 8.05 p.m. on 03/03/2022 and 6:30 p.m. on 04/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45174/22 05/09/2022 Ivan Aleksandrovich PESTEREV Yermilova Natalya Pavlovna Yekaterinburg Anti-war rally Yekaterinburg 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Sverdlovsk Regional Court 29/06/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 2.10 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. on 06/03/2022, Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings 4,000 45195/22 03/09/2022 Denis Andreyevich KONVISAREV Anti-war rally Moscow 27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 11/07/2022 Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings, Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence record between 7.45 p.m. on 27/02/2022 and 0.38 a.m. on 28/02/2022 4,000 [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants. BAILII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Donate to BAILII