ECHR Issues Ruling on Courtroom Cages

July 18, 2014

The European Court for Human Rights has upheld the decision against Russia’s use of metal bar cages during the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, according to a report published by RAPSI.

In 2008, two Russian convicts filed an application in which they noted that during the trial they were placed in a cage made out of welded metal bars, installed in the local courthouse. The applicants also contested the ungrounded extension of their trials. In the application they sought to consider their rights under article 3 (prohibition of torture and degrading treatment) and part of article 6 (the right to a fair trial) of the European convention violated.

The responding party (Russia) claimed that keeping the applicants secured in the courthouse what a routine safety measure, and was not devised to harm them in any way.

ECHR reviewed the application and in 2012 ruled that the applicants’ rights were violated and that the use of cages was “degrading,” granting them a 15,000 EUR compensation. The Russian authorities filed a motion to review the case within the Grand Chamber, which confirmed the ruling and granted the convicts a 10,000 EUR compensation each, with 6,000 EUR for litigation fees.