Essence of the decision:
The European Court of Human Rights examined three joined cases against Ukraine concerning excessive length of pre-trial detention. The Court found violations of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention in all cases, where the applicants were held in detention for periods ranging from 3 years and 3 months to nearly 4 years. The Court awarded compensation to all applicants for damages and, in one case, for legal costs.
Structure and main provisions:
1. The Court joined three separate applications due to similar subject matter.
2. The main violation concerned Article 5 § 3 (right to trial within reasonable time or release pending trial).
3. In application no. 34801/23, additional violations were found regarding:
– Excessive length of criminal proceedings (Article 6)
– Lack of effective remedy for lengthy proceedings (Article 13)
4. The Court ordered Ukraine to pay compensation ranging from 2,000 to 2,700 euros for damages.
Key important provisions:
1. The Court found systematic problems with pre-trial detention in Ukraine, including:
– Fragility and repetitiveness of court reasoning
– Failure to examine alternative measures to detention
– Use of assumptions without evidence regarding risks of absconding
– Issue of collective detention orders
2. The Court referenced its previous decisions (Kharchenko v. Ukraine and Ignatov v. Ukraine) where similar violations were found, indicating a persistent problem.
3. The Court emphasized that the length of pre-trial detention in all cases was excessive, with the longest period being more than 3 years and 10 months.
