| Applicant name | SVETOVA AND OTHERS |
| Applicant type | natural person |
| Number of applicants | 5 |
| Country | Russia |
| Application no. | 54714/17 |
| Date | 24/01/2023 |
| Judges | Pere Pastor Vilanova, President, Yonko Grozev, Jolien Schukking, Darian Pavli, Peeter Roosma, Ioannis Ktistakis, Andreas Zünd |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Not necessary (prevention crime and disorder) |
| Type of privacy | Locational privacy |
| Keywords | Search and seizure |
| Facts of the case | The applicants complained that the search of their flat and the seizure of their personal belongings had amounted to a violation of Article 8 of the Convention, taken alone or together with Article 13 on account of the absence of effective remedies available to them. Ms Svetova also complained that the search and seizure of items relating to her journalistic work amounted to a breach of Article 10 of the Convention. |
| Analysis | The search record, which appears to reflect the language of the search warrant, indicated that the purpose of the search was to discover and seize any documents containing information about funds received from the owners of several offshore companies, including Mr Khodorkovskiy. In light of the extremely wide time frame of the criminal proceedings and the fact that the applicants were not suspected of any criminal behaviour, the Court considers that these are general and broad terms which gave the police unrestricted discretion in determining which items and documents were to be seized (compare Misan, cited above, § 61). On the basis of that overly broad scope, the investigator removed multiple personal items belonging to the applicants (see paragraph 18 above). Such indiscriminate seizure cannot be considered “necessary in a democratic society”. |
| Other Article violation? | Yes, 10 and 13 ECHR |
| Damage awarded | a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros) to Ms Zoya Svetova, EUR 7,000 (seven thousand euros) to Ms Anna Dzyadko as the heir of Mr Viktor Dzyadko, and EUR 4,000 (four thousand euros) each to Mr Filipp Dzyadko, Mr Timofey Dzyadko and Mr Tikhon Dzyadko, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants; (b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. |
| Documents | Judgment |