FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF KOSOV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 15959/23 and 7 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
16 January 2025
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Kosov 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 5 December 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. They 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 v. Croatia [GC], 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 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. 16599/23, the applicant 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. 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 applications nos. 22610/23 and 22808/23, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 6 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 the applications 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 16 January 2025, 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 per applicant (in euros)[1] | Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application (in euros)[2] | |
15959/23 29/03/2023 | Sergiy Valeriyovych KOSOV 1984
| Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility no. 3 14/07/2014 pending More than 10 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 6 day(s) | 3.8 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, no or restricted access to running water, lack of toiletries, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, 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 potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air |
| 7,500 | - | |
16599/23 20/03/2023 | Oleksandr Volodymyrovych VOLSKYY 1989
| Ignatov Oleksandr Anatoliyovych Dnipro | Kryvyy Rig Pre-Trial Detention Facility 06/05/2021 to 14/04/2023 1 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 9 day(s) | 2.5-2.6 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air | Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - from 19/10/2020 - 14/04/2023; fragility of the reasons employed by the domestic 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);
Art. 5 (5) - lack of, or inadequate compensation, for the violation of Art. 5 § 3 of the Convention - no effective right to compensation in domestic legal system for the violations of Art. 5 § 3 (Tymoshenko v. Ukraine, no. 49872/11, §§ 286-287, 30 April 2013, and Kotiy v. Ukraine, no. 28718/09, § 55, 5 March 2015);
Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - from 19/10/2020 - 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) | 6,300 | 250 | |
22610/23 16/05/2023 | Oleksandr Petrovych IVANCHENKO 1986
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Zhytomyr Detention Facility no. 8 06/02/2020 pending More than 4 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 14 day(s) | 2.6-2.9 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, poor quality of food, passive smoking, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature |
| 7,500 | - | |
22808/23 16/05/2023 | Vasyl Petrovych IVANCHENKO 1983
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Zhytomyr Detention Facility no. 8 30/04/2020 pending More than 4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 21 day(s) | 2.5 m² | overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking, poor quality of food |
| 7,500 | - | |
35312/23 10/09/2023 | Volodymyr Sergiyovych BOYKO 1997
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Zhytomyr Detention Facility No. 8 20/07/2021 pending More than 3 year(s) and 4 month(s) | 3.5 m² | overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, passive smoking |
| 7,300 | - | |
35378/23 10/09/2023 | Oleg Antonovych KLYMENKO 1966
| Pustyntsev Andriy Vitaliyovych Dnipro | Zhytomyr Detention Facility No. 8 26/03/2020 pending More than 4 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 25 day(s) | 3.7 m² | overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to shower, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient quantity of food |
| 7,500 | - | |
35623/23 07/09/2023 | Vladyslav Volodymyrovych GVALIT 1987
| Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Kryvyy Rih Detention Facility no. 3 09/12/2012 pending More than 11 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 11 day(s) | 3.8 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 |
| 7,500 | - | |
8285/24 01/03/2024 | Roman Mykolayovych CHEGOLYA 1984
| Rybiy Sergiy Mykolayovych Dnipro | Kryvyi Rih Detention Facility no. 3 13/10/2023 pending More than 1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 7 day(s) | 3.8 m² | lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, 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 inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, overcrowding, poor quality of food |
| 3,400 | - |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.