Essence of the decision:
\nThe 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 \u00a7 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.<\/p>\n
Structure and main provisions:
\n1. The Court joined three separate applications due to similar subject matter.
\n2. The main violation concerned Article 5 \u00a7 3 (right to trial within reasonable time or release pending trial).
\n3. In application no. 34801\/23, additional violations were found regarding:
\n – Excessive length of criminal proceedings (Article 6)
\n – Lack of effective remedy for lengthy proceedings (Article 13)
\n4. The Court ordered Ukraine to pay compensation ranging from 2,000 to 2,700 euros for damages.<\/p>\n
Key important provisions:
\n1. The Court found systematic problems with pre-trial detention in Ukraine, including:
\n – Fragility and repetitiveness of court reasoning
\n – Failure to examine alternative measures to detention
\n – Use of assumptions without evidence regarding risks of absconding
\n – Issue of collective detention orders
\n2. The Court referenced its previous decisions (Kharchenko v. Ukraine and Ignatov v. Ukraine) where similar violations were found, indicating a persistent problem.
\n3. 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.<\/p>\n