Three Chamber judgments from the European Court of Human Rights against Ukraine

The European Court of Human Rights has found against Ukraine in two more cases involving failure over a long period to enforce judgments awarding them compensation due to lack of State funds. In the cases brought by residents of the Kherson region Yury Tarnavskiy and Kirovohrad region Volodymyr Pivnenko, it found unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and a violation of Article 13 in the case of Pivnenko v. Ukraine.

The Court held that both men should be paid the money owing, as well as EUR 1,246.44 to Mr Pivnenko for non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses, and EUR 2,600 to Mr Tarnavskiy for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 100 for costs and expenses.

The Court stated, and by no means for the first time, that lack of funds could not serve as an excuse, and noted that the men had not been paid for years.

In another Judgment issued on 12 October, the Court held unanimously that in the case of Dvoynykh v. Ukraine there had been a violation of Article 3 (prohibiting inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 13 (the right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Nikolay Dvoynykh from Simpferopol had lodged his claim with the Court over the conditions he was held in while remanded in custody in the Simferopol SIZO Detention Centre.

The Court communiqué cites a number of details about this detention, most of which are those described in Human Rights in Ukraine – 2005 and articles on this site. They include cells with 16-17 inmates, some of them suffering from tuberculosis or AIDS, sharing a space of around 14 square metres and having to take turns sleeping, insufficient natural light or fresh air, filthy cells infested with cockroaches and bedbugs, daily walks of up to only 40 minutes in an outside area the size of a cell, inadequate food, and more. .  

The Court awarded the applicant 2,000  EUR for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 100 for costs and expenses.

These are Chamber Judgments and are not yet final.  There have thus far been 68 judgments from the European Court of Human Rights against Ukraine this year. 

Halya Coynash, KHPG