MAKSIMOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 30757/17 (Judgment : Article 6 - Right to a fair trial : Third Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 129 (09 February 2023)

JUDGMENT STRASBOURG 9 February 2023 This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Maksimov and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of: Darian Pavli , President , Ioannis Ktistakis, Andreas Zünd , judges , and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 19 January 2023, 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 applicant s complained of the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings . Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention and its Protocols. THE LAW I. 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. II. LOCUS STANDI 6. The Court notes that one of the applicants, Mr Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Maksimov (application no. 30757/17 ), died on 7 June 2021 and his son Mr Vitaliy Vladimirovitch Maksimov, born on 10 October 2006 and represented by his mother Mrs Svetlana Vladimirovna Lobanova, expressed a wish to pursue the application. . The Court has accepted that the next-of-kin may in principle pursue the application, provided that he or she has sufficient interest in the case (see Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08 , § 97, ECHR 2014) and in ensuring that justice is done, even after the applicant’s death (see Malhous v. the Czech Republic (dec.) [GC], no. 33071/96 , ECHR 2000-XII). . Having regard to the circumstances of the present case, the Court accepts that Mr Vitaliy Vladimirovitch Maksimov has a legitimate interest in pursuing the application in the stead of his late father. The Court will therefore continue dealing with the case at his request. For convenience, it will, however, continue to refer to the late applicant in the present judgment. III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 of the Convention 9. The applicants complained principally of the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. 10. The relevant principles of the Court’s case-law concerning the requirement of impartiality under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention can be found in the leading case of Karelin v. Russia (no. 926/08 , §§ 51‑57, 20 September 2016, with further references). In that case the Court assessed the national rules of administrative procedure and concluded that the statutory requirements allowing for the national judicial authorities to consider an administrative offence case which falls within the ambit of Article 6 of the Convention under its criminal limb, in the absence of a prosecuting authority, was incompatible with the principle of objective impartiality set out in Article 6 of the Convention. 12. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. IV. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW 14. As regards other complaints under Article 6 of the Convention about the administrative-offence proceedings, submitted by the applicants, the Court, having reached the conclusion about the lack of impartiality of the tribunal under Article 6 of the Convention (see paragraph 12 above), does not consider it necessary to examine them separately. V. REMAINING COMPLAINTS 15. Some applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention. 16. The Court has examined the applications 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. 17. It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention. VI. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 18. 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.” 19. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Kuratov and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 24377/15 and 2 others, 22 October 2019), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table and dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT , UNANIMOUSLY, 1. Decides to join the applications; 2. Declares that Mr Vitaliy Vladimirovich Maksimov has standing to pursue application no. 30757/17 in the stead of the late applicant, Mr Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Maksimov ; 3. Declares the complaints concerning the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, decides that it is not necessary to examine separately further complaints under Article 6 of the Convention raised by some applicants about the administrative‑offence proceedings, and dismisses the remainder of the complaints as inadmissible; 4. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings; 5. Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and its Protocols as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table); 6. 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 the award in respect of Mr Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Maksimov (application no. 30757/17 ) should be paid to his heir, Mr Vitaliy Vladimirovich Maksimov; (c) 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; 7. Dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction. Done in English, and notified in writing on 9 February 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court. Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli Acting Deputy Registrar President APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth Representative’s name and location Penalty Date of final domestic decision Name of court Other complaints under well-established case-law Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1] 30757/17 12/04/2017 Vladimir Vyacheslavovich MAKSIMOV Deceased in 2021 Heir: Vitaliy Vladimirovich Maksimov fine of RUB 5,000 07/12/2016, Volskiy District Court of Saratov Region 1,000 30781/17 13/04/2017 Nikolay Vasilyevich BALYNIN Kostyushev Vladimir Yuryevich Moscow fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of driving licence for 1 year and 7 months 21/03/2017, Frunzenskiy District Court of Ivanovo 1,000 3309/18 11/12/2017 Anatoliy Andreyevich PROKOPOVICH Peredruk Aleksandr Dmitriyevich St Petersburg administrative detention of 3 days, fine of RUB 10,000 04/07/2017, St Petersburg City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - arrest and escort to the police station on 12/06/2017-13/06/2017 in excess of 3 hours for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence; unrecorded detention until escort to the court on 13/06/2017. The applicant raised the complaint in the course of the administrative proceedings against him. Prot. 7 Art. 4 - right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings - Final decision in both sets of proceedings - 04/07/2017, St Petersburg City Court; Art. 19.3 § 1 CAO and Art. 20.2 § 5 CAO; overlap of the facts constituting the basis for the applicant’s prosecution in the second set of proceedings with substantially the same facts underlying his conviction in the first set of proceedings. 3,900 12786/18 06/03/2018 Arseniy Samvelovich ABRAAMYAN Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 06/09/2017, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - arrest and escort to the police station for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence and subsequent detention on 26/03/2017 in excess of 3 hours - there were no reasons to take the applicant to the police station since the record could be drawn on the spot (see Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, § 34, 8 October 2019) and the applicant’s detention exceeded 3 hours. The applicant raised this complaint before the domestic courts. 3,900 12791/18 06/03/2018 and 33691/19 14/06/2019 Vladislav Nikolayevich TOKAREV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fines of RUB 15,000 and RUB 10,000 06/09/2017, Moscow City Court and 14/12/2018, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - arrest and detention on 26/03/2017 in excess of 3 hours for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence (the complaint was raised in the course of the administrative proceedings) and - unlawful (unjustified) arrest on 28/10/2018; detention in excess of 3 hours (see Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, §§ 147-52, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 2016 (extracts)) Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - Anti-Government manifestation in Tverskaya street on 28/10/2018. Applicant was subject to administrative charges under Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO and fined RUB 10,000. 3,900 16107/18 27/03/2018 Zaurbek Vladimirovich KORTYAYEV Galuyev Agube Ruslanovich Vladikavkaz fine of RUB 30,000, suspension of driving license for 1 year and 6 months 22/03/2018, Sovetskiy District Court of Vladikavkaz 1,000 16977/18 31/03/2018 Ivan Sergeyevich GRAFSKIY Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 04/10/2017, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - on 26/03/2017 the applicant was arrested and escorted to the police station - no reasons why the administrative offence record could not be compiled on the spot; the applicant’s arrest exceeded 3 hours. Complaint raised on appeal (see the judgment of the appeal court). 3,900 16984/18 31/03/2018 Rustam Dzhamshidovich IBRAGIMOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 30/10/2017, Moscow City Court 1,000 17483/18 04/04/2018 Sergey Grigoryevich GRITSENKO Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 16/10/2017, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - on 02/04/2017 the applicant was arrested and 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 (see Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, § 34, 8 October 2019; Ryabinina and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 50271/06 and 8 other applications, § 35, 2 July 2019). Complaint raised in the appeal proceedings (see the judgment of the appeal court) 3,900 17590/18 28/03/2018 Mark Olegovich PASHCHENKO Sergeyeva Irina Vadimovna Moscow administrative detention of 15 days 10/11/2017, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - on 05/11/2017 at 1 p.m. the applicant was arrested and detained until on 07/11/2017 at 5 p.m. when he was convicted of an administrative offence. Complaint raised on appeal. 3,900 1087/19 03/12/2018 Vyacheslav Sergeyevich MOSIN Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk fine of RUB 30,000 26/11/2018, Solombarskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk 1,000 16009/19 06/03/2019 Dmitriy Viktorovich SYPCHENKO Kulakov Yevgeniy Valeryevich Arkhangelsk suspension of driving licence for 1 year and 6 months, fine of RUB 30,000 23/10/2018, Solombalskiy District Court of Arkhangelsk 1,000 197/20 18/12/2019 Aleksey Valeryevich CHALIKOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 30/07/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - conviction under Article 20.2 § 6 of CAO for participation on 12/06/2019 in Moscow in manifestation in support of Ivan Golunov, administrative fine of RUB 10,000. Moscow City Court on 30/07/2019 (appeal decision). 3,900 204/20 18/12/2019 Aleksandr Vladimirovich MARKELLOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 02/08/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - conviction under Article 20.2 § 6 of CAO for participation on 12/06/2019 in Moscow in manifestation in support of Ivan Golunov, administrative fine of RUB 10,000. Moscow City Court on 02/08/2019 (appeal decision). 3,900 1838/20 27/12/2019 Vadim Vadimovich VOSTOKOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 08/08/2019 Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - conviction under Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO for participation on 12/06/2019 in Moscow in manifestation in support of Ivan Golunov/ administrative fine of RUB 15,000. Moscow City Court on 08/08/2019 (appeal decision). 3,900 11980/20 20/02/2020 Igor Aleksandrovich LARIONOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow administrative detention of 15 days 04/10/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - the applicant’s arrest at the manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma in Moscow on 03/08/2019. Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO, 15-day administrative detention. Moscow City Court, 04/10/2019. 3,900 12528/20 21/02/2020 Sergey Anatolyevich CHUMAKOV Yelanchik Oleg Aleksandrovich Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 22/08/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - complaint about unlawful detention on 14/07/2019 at 1:30 p.m., release on 15/07/2019 at 4 a.m. Raised on appeal Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma, Moscow, on 14/07/2019. Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO, fine of RUB 15,000. Moscow City Court, 22/08/2019 3,900 13435/20 27/02/2020 Nadezhda Aleksandrovna SUCHKOVA Antokhin Yevgeniy Vyacheslavovich Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 30/08/2020, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - arrest and detention on 27/07/2019 in excess of 3 hours for the sole purpose of drawing a record of administrative offence 3,900 14096/20 29/02/2020 Aleksandr Alekseyevich KOSTYUKHIN Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 30/08/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma in Moscow on 27/07/2019; convicted under Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO; fine of RUB 15,000, final - Moscow City Court, 30/08/2019 3,900 18238/20 19/03/2020 Ivan Sergeyevich SEMENYUK Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 08/10/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - manifestation in support of Ivan Golunov in Moscow on 12/06/2019. Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000. Moscow City Court 08/10/2019 3,900 25335/20 16/05/2020 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich MERZLOV Vologin Aleksey Borisovich Volsk suspension of driving licence for 1 year and 7 months, fine of RUB 30,000 12/05/2020, Volskiy District Court of Saratov Region 1,000 25900/20 22/06/2020 Mikhail Davidovich NARODITSKIY Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 14/10/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - arrest of the applicant at the manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma in Moscow on 10/08/2019. Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO, fine of RUB 15,000. Moscow City Court, 14/10/2019. 3,900 26803/20 19/05/2020 Ilshat Nailevich ZAGIDULLIN fine of RUB 15,000 06/11/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - arrest and detention on 03/08/2019 in excess of 3 hours for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence 3,900 28133/20 15/06/2020 Yelena Igorevna OVSYANNIKOVA Sekretareva Nataliya Mikhaylovna Moskow fine of RUB 10,000 02/12/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - manifestation in support of Ivan Golunov in Petrovka str., Moscow on 12/06/2019. Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000. Moscow City Court; 02/12/2019 3,900 28317/20 03/07/2020 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich SUKHOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 14/11/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - the applicant’s arrest at the manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma in Moscow on 10/08/2019. Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO, fine of RUB 15,000. Moscow City Court, 14/11/2019. 3,900 29889/20 13/07/2020 Anton Sergeyevich KOBETS Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 12/11/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - on 10/08/2019 the applicant was arrested for the purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence: 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 (see Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17 , § 34, 8 October 2019; Ryabinina and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 50271/06 and 8 other applications, § 35, 2 July 2019). Detention in excess of 3 hours until 00.30 a.m. on 11/08/2019 (raised on appeal) Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - conviction under article 20.2 § 5 of CAO for participation on 10/08/2019 in Moscow in manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma/ administrative fine of RUB 10,000. Moscow City Court on 12/11/2019 (appeal decision). 3,900 30020/20 23/06/2020 Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich VARSHAVER Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 10,000 24/09/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - arrest and detention on 12/06/2019 in excess of 3 hours for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence (raised in the administrative proceedings) Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - manifestation in support of I. Golunov in Moscow on 12/06/2019. Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000. Moscow City Court, 24/09/2019 3,900 34309/20 22/07/2020 Maksim Ildarovich ALIBAYEV fine of RUB 15,000 24/10/2019, Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - the applicant’s arrest at the manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma on 03/08/2019 in Moscow. Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO, fine of RUB 15,000. Moscow City Court, 24/10/2019. 3,900 35186/20 11/08/2020 Andrey Vasilyevich ZOLOTOV Memorial Human Rights Centre Moscow fine of RUB 15,000 20/11/2019, the Moscow City Court Art. 11 (2) - disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies - the applicant’s arrest at the manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma on 03/08/2019 in Moscow. Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO, fine of RUB 15,000. Moscow City Court, 20/11/2019. 3,900 [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants. 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