RAZGON AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

• Judgment Date: 10 November 2022
• ECLI: ECLI:CE:ECHR:2022:1110JUD000538620
• Counsel: MEZAK E.A. ; MEMORIAL HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE ; LAPTEV A.N.
• Date: 10 November 2022
• Application Number: 5386/20;6001/20;6789/20;8737/20;11553/20;12772/20
• Court: Third Section Committee (European Court of Human Rights)
• Applied Rules: 5;5-1;6;6-1;11;11-1

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF RAZGON AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 5386/20 and 5 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

10 November 2022

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Razgon and Others v. Russia,

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

Darian Pavli, President,

Andreas Zünd,

Frédéric Krenc, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 20 October 2022,

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 lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of the prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings. They also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

1. 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.

2. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 of the Convention

6. The applicants complained 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, which reads as follows:

Article 6 § 1

“In the determination of ... any criminal...