FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF BONDARENKO AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 32951/23 and 6 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
28 November 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Bondarenko and Others v. Ukraine,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Diana Sârcu, President,
Kateřina Šimáčková,
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 7 November 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. 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 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. 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 were inadequate.
10. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
12. Some applicants submitted other complaints under Articles 6 and 13 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 cases set out in the appended table.
13. 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 28 November 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Diana Sârcu
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 pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1] | |
32951/23 11/08/2023 | Kostyantyn Viktorovych BONDARENKO 1983 | Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 10/05/2023 pending More than 1 year(s) and 5 month(s) | 3.3-3.6 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, inadequate temperature, 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, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light |
| 3,800 | |
33054/23 11/08/2023 | Mykola Yevdokymovych SILI 1958 | Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 22/09/2019 pending More than 5 year(s) and 18 day(s) | 3.3-3.5 m² |
| 7,500 | ||
40274/23 28/10/2023 | Igraf Oleksandrovych VOLOSHYN 1981 | Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 23/03/2020 pending More than 4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 17 day(s) | 2.5 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, 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, no or restricted access to shower | Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 20/03/2020 - pending, 1 level of jurisdiction (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021)
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021) | 9,800 | |
40275/23 28/10/2023 | Yaroslav Mykolayovych VYSYKYRENKO 1990 | Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 23/03/2020 pending More than 4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 17 day(s) | 2.5-2.9 m² | infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen | Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 20/03/2020 - pending, 1 level of jurisdiction (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021) | 9,800 | |
40277/23 28/10/2023 | Anatoliy Vasylyovych AMELCHENKO 1978 | Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 09/11/2022 pending More than 1 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 1 day(s) | 2.5 – 2.74 m² | overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents | Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 27/12/2019 - pending, 1 level of jurisdiction (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021)
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021) | 6,300 | |
40412/23 28/10/2023 | Ruslan Volodymyrovych DEMENTOV 1979 | Pustyntsev A ndriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 15/06/2020 pending More than 4 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 25 day(s) | 2.5 m² | overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, lack of toiletries, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents | Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 28/11/2019 - pending, 2 levels of jurisdiction (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021) | 9,800 | |
40421/23 28/10/2023 | Artem Ivanovych SHOVKUN 1995 | Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Sumy Pre-Trial Detention Facility 07/12/2019 pending More than 4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 3 day(s) | 2.53 – 2.6 m² | overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents | Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 16/08/2017 - pending, 3 levels of jurisdiction (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021);
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021) | 9,800 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.