THIRD SECTION
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE OF NALBANDYAN v. ARMENIA
 
(Applications nos. 9935/06 and 23339/06)
 
 
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
 
 
STRASBOURG
 
31 March 2015
 
 
 
FINAL
 
30/06/2015
 
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Nalbandyan v. Armenia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
 Josep Casadevall, President,
 Luis López Guerra,
 Ján Šikuta,
 Kristina Pardalos, 
 Johannes Silvis,
 Valeriu Griţco,
 Iulia Antoanella Motoc, judges,
and Marialena Tsirli, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 10 March 2015,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in two applications (nos. 9935/06 and 23339/06) against the Republic of Armenia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by three Armenian nationals, Mr Bagrat Nalbandyan (“the first applicant”), Ms Narine Nalbandyan (“the second applicant”) and Ms Arevik Nalbandyan (“the third applicant”) - (“the applicants”), on 8 February 2006 and 10 May 2006 respectively. 2. The applicants were represented by Ms S. Safaryan, a lawyer practising in Yerevan. The Armenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr G. Kostanyan, Representative of the Republic of Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights. 3. The applicants alleged, in particular, that they had been ill-treated while in police custody in June and July 2004, that there had been no effective investigation into their allegations of ill-treatment, that the first and second applicants had been deprived of effective legal assistance and that the first applicant had been unlawfully denied access to the Court of Cassation. 4. On 20 October 2009 the applications were communicated to the Government. The seat of judge in respect of Armenia being currently vacant, the President of the Court decided to appoint Judge Johannes Silvis to sit as an ad hoc judge (Rule 29 § 2 (a) of the Rules of Court). THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
5. The applicants were born in 1961, 1964 and 1988 respectively. The first and second applicants appear to have been serving prison sentences in Kosh and Abovyan penitentiary institutions at the time of submission of their application. The third applicant lives in the town of Vardenis, Armenia. 6. The first and second applicants are husband and wife. The third applicant is their daughter. At the material time they resided in Vardenis, in the Gegharkunik Region of Armenia. A. Criminal proceedings against the applicants and their alleged ill‑treatment
7. On 8 June 2004 criminal proceedings were instituted on account of the murder of a local girl who was apparently the third applicant’s classmate and whose body was found not far from the applicants’ home. 8. The first applicant alleges that on the same date he was taken to the Vardenis Police Department where he was unlawfully kept without his arrest being formally recorded. At the police department he was subjected to continual beatings by police officers in an attempt to coerce him to confess to the above-mentioned murder. 9. On 24 June 2004 the Gegharkunik Regional Court found the first applicant guilty under Section 182 of the Code of Administrative Offences of maliciously disobeying lawful orders of police officers and sentenced him to fifteen days’ imprisonment. The first applicant was found to have used foul language in the street and to have disobeyed the police officers who tried to call him to order. 10. The first applicant alleges that the above decision was a fake and that in reality he was kept at the police department during that entire period in connection with the above murder. The administrative penalty imposed on him was simply used as a means to legitimise his continued unlawful deprivation of liberty. 11. The second and third applicants allege that from 8 June 2004 onwards they were also under constant pressure from the local law‑enforcement officers, being frequently taken to the police department and pressurised and coerced to confess to the murder or to incriminate each other. 12. On 30 June 2004 the second applicant, together with a number of other residents of Vardenis, filed a complaint with the General Prosecutor and the Chief of the Armenian Police, alleging that the first applicant had been unlawfully detained since 8 June 2004 in connection with the above murder and that the applicants’ family had been terrorised by the local law-enforcement officers. They further alleged that the second applicant had been invited to the Vardenis Police Department where she was ordered by the Chief of Department, Vi.H., to admit that the first applicant had wanted to rape the victim and that she, having found out about it, had killed the girl out of jealousy. They alleged that the second applicant had been beaten but had refused to confess. 13. The second applicant alleges that on 8 July 2004 she was invited to the Vardenis Police Department where Chief of Department Vi.H. ordered her to testify against the first applicant. When she refused to do so, she was beaten by V.H. and a number of other law-enforcement officers, including the deputy of the criminal investigation unit, N.H., two officers of the criminal investigation unit, K.N. and K.M., and the Gegharkunik Regional Deputy Prosecutor, F.B. She was beaten on her feet with a baton and when she fainted the police officers would bring her back to consciousness and continue the beating. Thereafter the police officers brought the third applicant to the police department and locked her up in a nearby, dark room infested with rats. They threatened the second applicant that they would rape the third applicant if she refused to confess, after which she confessed to the murder. It appears that the first applicant also confessed to having assisted the second applicant in the murder. 14. The third applicant alleges that she was taken to the police department on numerous occasions, frequently at late hours, where she was humiliated by the police officers, threatened with rape and pressured to admit that it was the second applicant who had committed the murder and that the motive was the strained relationship between her and the victim. She further alleges that she saw both her father and her mother at the police department and that they bore signs of ill-treatment. 15. On 9 July 2004 the first and second applicants were formally arrested in connection with the above-mentioned murder. It appears that a confrontation was held between the second and third applicants, during which the second applicant admitted having committed the murder and stated that the third applicant had helped her to dispose of the body. 16. On the same date the first and second applicants refused the services of a lawyer who had been invited to participate in the case by the investigator. They allege that they did so because they did not trust the investigator’s choice. It appears that the applicants did not request that another lawyer be appointed instead. 17. The third applicant alleges that on the night from 9 to 10 July 2004 she was kept at Vardenis Police Department in an individual cell which had no lights and was infested with mice. 18. On 10 July 2004 the second applicant participated in an investigative measure at the scene of the crime which was recorded on film. 19. On the same date from 9.20 to 10 p.m. the third applicant was questioned as a witness by Gegharkunik Regional Deputy Prosecutor, F.B. She stated that the second applicant had made false statements during the confrontation, which must have been the result of her being drugged. She further stated that the second applicant had not committed the murder and that her behaviour, including her confession and accusations, was strange. 20. The third applicant alleges that following this interview she was subjected to beatings by the Gegharkunik Regional Deputy Prosecutor F.B. and two other officers of the prosecutor’s office who pulled her hair and then threw her on the floor and started kicking her. On 11 July 2004 the police officers took her home, where she lay in bed motionless for several days until her uncle visited her on 13 July 2004 and made arrangements to have her transferred to Yerevan for a medical examination. 21. On 12 July 2004 the first and second applicants were formally charged with murder. 22. On the same date the Gegharkunik Regional Court held a hearing in the first and second applicants’ presence, at which it examined and granted the application seeking to have them detained. Deputy Regional Prosecutor F.B. was present at this hearing. The second applicant was asked by the judge whether she had confessed voluntarily to the murder or had been coerced to do so, to which she replied that no coercion or intimidation had been applied to her during the preliminary investigation and that the confession had been made voluntarily. 23. On 14 July 2004 the second applicant was transferred from the Vardenis Police Department to the Avobyan detention facility. Upon her admission to the detention facility the second applicant underwent a medical examination and was found to have “bruised feet due to blood vessels being broken as a result of swelling”. It was further recorded that she complained of high blood pressure, pain in the legs and swollen feet. 24. On the same date the first applicant was transferred to the Kosh detention facility. 25. On 16 July 2004 the third applicant underwent a medical examination at the Armenia Medical Centre in Yerevan and was found to have:
“Concussion (?), bruising of soft tissues of the head [...], and bruising of soft tissues in the back area and of the left arm...”
26. On 23 August 2004 the criminal proceedings in their part concerning the third applicant were terminated for lack of evidence of her involvement in the crime. 27. On 25 August 2004 the first and second applicants requested that a state-appointed lawyer, K., be engaged in the case. The applicants allege that on the same date lawyer K. requested that the first and second applicants be questioned in his presence, but this request was refused. 28. On 26 August 2004 the investigation was completed and the first and second applicants were granted access to the case file. On the same date both applicants and their lawyer familiarised themselves with the materials of the case, which consisted of four volumes. B. The court proceedings
29. On 31 August 2004 the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor approved the indictment and the case was transmitted to the Gegharkunik Regional Court for examination on the merits. In the proceedings before the Regional Court the first and second applicants denied their guilt and stated that their confession statements had been made as a result of ill-treatment. 30. The first and second applicants allege that the hearings at the Regional Court were conducted in an atmosphere of constant disorder, including real threats and verbal and physical abuse towards them and their lawyer by a group of 25 to 30 people, composed of the victim’s relatives and their friends. 31. In November 2004 lawyer S. of the Helsinki Association NGO was engaged in the case by the first and second applicants, replacing lawyer K. According to the applicants, the hearings continued in the same manner. 32. On 21 January 2005 the President of the Gegharkunik Regional Court informed the head of the bar association in writing that lawyer S. had failed to appear at the hearing of 19 January 2005 without prior notice. The hearing was therefore adjourned until 25 January 2005. Lawyer S. was notified of this but informed the court by telephone that she refused to participate. The President requested in his letter that measures be taken to ensure her participation or else the court would have to continue the proceedings without her. 33. On 25 January 2005 lawyer S. applied to the Minister of Justice, complaining about the disorder during the court hearings. She alleged that the applicants’ previous lawyer, K., had been beaten by the victim’s relatives, which precluded his further participation in the case, and that she feared the same would happen to her. She further alleged that the court took no action to prevent the disorder and requested that the case be examined in a different court. 34. The first and second applicants allege that lawyer S. was forced to miss some of the hearings because of fears for her safety. 35. On 4 February 2005 the Regional Court found the first and second applicants guilty of murder and sentenced them to nine and fourteen years’ imprisonment respectively. In doing so, the Regional Court examined and dismissed the first and second applicants’ allegations of ill-treatment on the following grounds:
(a)  these allegations had been examined by the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor’s Office and had been found to be unsubstantiated (see paragraph 60 below);
(b)  the first and second applicants, at various stages of the proceedings, had made contradictory statements in connection with these allegations;
(c)  the second applicant, having indicated the alleged perpetrators, nevertheless refused to have a confrontation with them during the court proceedings;
(d)  on 10 July 2004 the second applicant had participated in an investigative measure at the scene of the crime which was recorded on film and was examined in court: she walked freely and bore no signs of ill‑treatment;
(e)  the first and second applicants admitted their guilt and made no allegations of ill-treatment at the court hearing of 12 July 2004, at which the question of their detention was determined (see paragraph 22 above);
(f)  on 13 July 2004 the first and second applicants were filmed for a police television show but made no allegations of ill-treatment to the members of the crew;
(g)  when questioned on 14 July 2004 the second applicant refused to comment on the complaints which she had lodged with various authorities prior to her arrest, stating that those had been lodged before her arrest and that the true statements were those which she had made after her arrest;
(h)  on 14 July 2004 the first and second applicants were transferred to detention facilities and no signs of ill-treatment were recorded at the time of their admission;
(i)  the second applicant raised the allegations of ill-treatment for the first time only on 21 August 2004, more than forty days after her arrest;
(j)  the second applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment had been rebutted by the statements made in court by the officer of the criminal investigation unit of the Vardenis Police Department, K.M., who had been questioned as a witness. 36. On 18 February 2005 lawyer S. lodged an appeal. In her appeal she argued that the applicants had been deprived of effective legal assistance because from 14 December 2004 she had not been able to participate in the hearings because of the constant disorder in the courtroom. She further argued that the applicants’ conviction had been based on coerced confession statements. It appears that the applicants also lodged appeals in which they, inter alia, denied their guilt and stated that their confession statements had been made as a result of ill-treatment. 37. On 22 March 2005 the examination of the case commenced at the Criminal and Military Court of Appeal. According to the first and second applicants, the hearings before the Court of Appeal were conducted in the same manner as before the Regional Court. 38. At the hearing on 22 June 2005 a scuffle broke out between the victim’s and the applicants’ relatives. It appears that the victim’s relatives were removed from the courtroom and the hearing resumed. The hearing was then adjourned until 27 June 2005 in order for lawyer S. to have time to prepare her final pleading. 39. On 24 June 2005 the head of the Helsinki Association submitted the text of lawyer S.’s final pleading to the Court of Appeal by post, claiming that this was necessary in order to ensure the lawyer’s personal and physical safety. He alleged that at the hearing of 22 June 2005 the victim’s relatives had attacked the lawyer. Some of the defendants’ relatives had also been attacked and beaten. He further alleged that during the hearings in both the Regional Court and the Court of Appeal there had been constant threats against the lawyer, but her requests to have her security ensured and the threats recorded in the transcripts had been ignored by the courts. 40. On 27 June 2005 the hearing was adjourned until 1 July 2005 because of lawyer S.’s absence. In doing so, the Court of Appeal noted the lawyer’s concerns about her security and refusal to participate because of fears for her safety. 41. On the same date the presiding judge addressed a letter to the head of the bar association, with a copy to lawyer S., stating that the hearing had been adjourned and asking that her future appearance be ensured. The letter further stated that appropriate measures had been taken to ensure the safety of the participants in the trial. 42. On 29 June 2005 lawyer S. complained to the police about the events of 22 June 2005, alleging that she had been working in such conditions for the last six to seven months and that she was not able to attend the hearing of 27 June 2005 because of fears for her safety. 43. On 1 July 2005 the Court of Appeal held a hearing. Lawyer S. did not appear. According to the record of the hearing, the court noted lawyer S.’s absence and stated that both the lawyer and the bar association had been informed that the court had taken all possible measures to secure the safety of those participating in the trial and had therefore been asked to ensure the lawyer’s presence. The second applicant stated that she had met with lawyer S. at the detention centre and they had agreed that the lawyer would not appear in court. She therefore wished to dispense with the lawyer’s services and did not wish to have another lawyer. The first applicant similarly stated that he wished the proceedings to continue without the lawyer and that he did not wish to have another lawyer. The court then decided to return lawyer S.’s final pleading on the ground that she no longer represented the first and second applicants. 44. The applicants allege that the record of the court hearing of 1 July 2005 contains inaccurate statements and does not correspond to reality. Their lawyer was refused, at a later stage, a copy of this record because she was allegedly no longer authorised to represent them and was therefore unable to comment on its accuracy. 45. On 2 July 2005 the Court of Appeal upheld the first and second applicants’ conviction. The Court of Appeal dismissed their allegations of ill-treatment on the same grounds as the Regional Court adding also that, according to a court-ordered expert medical opinion, the first applicant bore no signs of injury. 46. On 8 July 2005 lawyer S. visited the second applicant at the detention facility. 47. On 11 July 2005 lawyer S. lodged an appeal on points of law with the Court of Cassation. In her appeal she argued that the applicants had been ill-treated and their conviction was based on coerced statements. She further argued that the applicants had been deprived of effective legal assistance and an objective examination of their case, because of an atmosphere of constant terror reigning in the courtroom. The Court of Appeal had failed to ensure order and it had been impossible to examine evidence and to submit new evidence in an objective and fair manner because of the repeated scuffles and stressful atmosphere. The conflicts, threats of violence, verbal abuse and scuffles had worsened during the last three hearings in the Court of Appeal. The court, however, had failed to take any measures, which precluded her further participation and even made it impossible to make her final pleading which, as a result, she had been forced to submit by post. The court’s inactivity only encouraged further aggressive behaviour by the victim’s relatives. The applicants’ previous lawyer K. had also been unable to participate in the hearings, which had consequently been held in October 2004 in his absence. 48. On an unspecified date the second applicant also lodged an appeal on points of law. It appears that in her appeal she argued that she had confessed to the crime as a result of beatings, torture and threats. She further complained that the hearings before the Court of Appeal had been held without a lawyer. 49. On 14 July 2005 lawyer S. received a letter from the presiding judge dated 1 July 2005 informing her that the first and second applicants had dispensed with her services because of her failure to appear at the hearings of 27 June and 1 July 2005 and returning the text of her final pleading. 50. On 8 August 2005 lawyer S. lodged a supplement to her appeal of 11 July 2005, expressing surprise about the fact that the text of her final pleading had been returned to her and about the grounds on which it had been returned. She alleged that these actions pursued the aim of concealing the violation of the first and second applicants’ right to defence and the failure to ensure order during the court hearings. She requested that the text of her final pleading be included in the case file. She further requested that protective measures be taken at the hearing before the Court of Cassation in order for her to be able to participate, taking into account the manner in which the hearings had been conducted before the courts of first and second instance. 51. On 12 August 2005 the Court of Cassation dismissed the second applicant’s appeal. As regards the allegations of ill-treatment, the Court of Cassation stated that these had been thoroughly examined by the Regional Court and the Court of Appeal and had been rightly found to be unsubstantiated. As regards the alleged absence of a lawyer, the court considered these allegations to be ill-founded, finding on the basis of the materials of the case file that the lawyer had been involved in the examination of the case at the Court of Appeal from day one, namely 22 March 2005. As it appeared from the record of the hearing of 1 July 2005, the second applicant later dispensed with the lawyer’s services because of the latter’s failure to appear at the hearings of 27 June and 1 July 2005. Taking this into account, as well as the fact that the second applicant did not wish to have another lawyer, the Court of Appeal accepted this and informed the lawyer in a letter. 52. As to lawyer S.’s appeal, the Court of Cassation left this appeal unexamined on the ground that the first and second applicants had dispensed with her services and she was no longer authorised to bring an appeal on their behalf pursuant to Section 403 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. C. Complaints of ill-treatment and their examination outside the criminal proceedings against the first and second applicants
53. On 21 July 2004 the third applicant lodged a complaint with the Armenian Ombudsman. She stated, inter alia, that on 10 July 2004 she had been roughly pushed into a car and taken by Assistant Prosecutor Va.H. and another law enforcement official to Chief Vi.H.’s office. There Va.H. had started to force her to smoke a cigarette, while continually hitting her on the head with his hand and a bottle, saying that it was she who had committed the murder. When she disagreed, they had proceeded to beat her. At that moment Deputy Regional Prosecutor F.B. had entered the office and slapped her with such force that her teeth hurt. One of the officers said “Bend down, bitch” and pushed her to the floor, then F.B., Va.H. and Investigator G.H. started kicking her like a ball. Va.H. ordered her to undress, saying that he had invited a doctor to check if she was still a virgin. When she refused, he pulled off her jacket. They wanted to undress her but she resisted. Then they brought in her mother and beat her, after which they told her to watch how they would murder her daughter, unless they agreed to confess. Then they let her go but only on the condition that she would not tell anyone that she had been beaten. The next morning she was again taken to the police department, where F.B. started hitting her arms and forcing her to write a confession. Then they brought her mother again and made them sit facing each other. They started beating her mother and ordered her to persuade her daughter to confess. Her mother begged her to do so, adding that she would not recognise her father if she saw him, he was in such a bad state, and that it was not shameful to lie after all the ill-treatment they had endured. She decided to cooperate eventually because of her mother’s pleas. 54. On 2 August 2004 the second applicant lodged a similar complaint with the General Prosecutor of Armenia. She stated, inter alia, that on 9 July 2004 she had been taken into custody at the Vardenis Police Department by the Chief of Department Vi.H. and Regional Prosecutor F.B. There she had been beaten by Vi.H. and five other police officers in connection with the murder. Her husband had been kept at the police department for about a month, where he had been beaten and his fingernails had been pulled in order to coerce him to confess, which he had refused to do. The same beating and violence had been inflicted on her and her daughter. For three days Chief of Police Department Vi.H. had beaten her and made her sit in water, after which she had agreed to write the confession dictated to her by Vardenis Investigator G.H. and Regional Prosecutor F.B. The second applicant added that she was prepared to repeat her allegations in court in the presence of the perpetrators. 55. On 10 August 2004 the Ombudsman forwarded the third applicant’s complaint to the General Prosecutor, together with a copy of the medical opinion of the Armenia Medical Centre of 16 July 2004 (see paragraph 25 above). 56. The above complaints were forwarded by the General Prosecutor to the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor’s Office for examination. 57. On 19, 25, 26 and 31 August 2004 the Senior Assistant to the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor, Y.I. (hereby Senior Assistant Y.I.), took statements from the following law enforcement officers in connection with the allegations of ill-treatment: Gegharkunik Regional Deputy Prosecutor F.B, Assistant to the Regional Prosecutor Va.H., Investigator of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office G.H., Chief of the Vardenis Police Department Vi.H., Head of the Criminal Investigations Unit at the Vardenis Police Department S.M., two officers of that unit Y.M. and K.M., and chief of the temporary detention cell at the police department, V.A. They were asked to provide an account of the contested events. In reply to Y.I.’s request to comment on the second and third applicants’ allegations of ill‑treatment addressed to some of those questioned, they denied having inflicted any violence on the second and third applicants, claiming that the latter had made false statements. 58. On 30 August 2004 Senior Assistant Y.I. took a statement from the second applicant. She stated that on 9 July 2004 she had been taken by Vi.H. and F.B. to the police department where she had been kept for five days and beaten by Vi.H. and police officers S.M., Y.M., K.M. and V.A. with rubber batons. She had been threatened with a champagne bottle and had been seated on what she believed to be an electric chair. They had demanded that she confess to the murder, otherwise the same would happen to her daughter, husband and other family members. She had then written a confession which was dictated to her. Furthermore, she had met her husband – who had already been in police custody for a month – at a confrontation. His fingernails had been pulled, he had lost weight, and his clothes were stained and torn. When she had asked him what had happened, he had started crying and said that for about a month he had been deprived of sleep and repeatedly beaten. In the meantime her daughter was being beaten in a nearby office. She had not mentioned any of this to the judge at the detention hearing because she had been beaten and for fear that the ill‑treatment would continue. 59. On the same date the chief of Abovyan detention facility and the head of its medical unit – apparently upon the inquiry of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office – issued a certificate containing the results of the second applicant’s medical examination of 14 July 2004 (see paragraph 23 above). 60. On 31 August 2004 Senior Assistant Y.I. decided to refuse the institution of criminal proceedings on the basis of the second and third applicants’ complaints. This decision stated that:
“[The second and third applicants’ complaints of 21 July and 2 August 2004 addressed to the Ombudsman and the General Prosecutor’s Office] have been transferred by the General Prosecutor’s Office to the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor’s Office for examination... The Regional Prosecutor’s Office has examined the above complaints, has verified in detail the presented facts, and has taken statements from the employees of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office and Vardenis Police Department mentioned in those complaints and involved in the criminal case. The allegations raised in [the second and third applicants’ complaints] concerning having been beaten or subjected to any other kind of violence have been rebutted. The circumstances have been confirmed by the statements of Regional Deputy Prosecutor [F.B.], Assistant Prosecutor [Va.H.], Investigator of the Prosecutor’s Office [G.H.], Chief of the Vardenis Police Department [Vi.H.], Head of the Criminal Investigations Unit at the said department [S.M.], two operatives of the said unit, [Y.M. and K.M.], and chief of the [temporary detention cell at the police department V.A.]; the certificate of 30 August 2004 of the Abovyan detention facility, according to which [the second applicant] on the date of her admission at [the Abovyan detention facility] (14 July 2004) was examined by a doctor and complained of high blood pressure, pain in her legs and swollen feet. The bruises on [the second applicant’s feet] resulted from swellings which were caused by broken blood vessels.
[The first applicant] has not submitted any complaints concerning having been beaten or subjected to any other kind of violence.”
61. The applicants were not informed about this decision. 62. On 8 December 2004 the chief of the Abovyan detention facility and the head of its medical unit addressed a letter to lawyer S., stating that during the medical examination carried out at the time of the second applicant’s admission to the detention facility, namely on 14 July 2004, the second applicant had complained of pain in the legs and swollen feet. The second applicant had been found to have swollen and bruised feet. 63. On 12 December 2004 lawyer S. applied to the General Prosecutor with a request to have criminal proceedings instituted. The lawyer alleged that all three applicants had been ill-treated and coerced to confess at the Vardenis Police Department in June and July 2004. She stated that the perpetrators had been pointed out by the applicants. The lawyer referred to the results of the medical examinations carried out in respect of the second applicant at the Abovyan detention facility on 14 July 2004 and in respect of the third applicant at the Armenia Medical Centre on 16 July 2004. 64. It appears that on 23 December 2004 the General Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to lawyer S., informing her that the first and second applicants had not been ill-treated by the employees of the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Department. 65. On 25 January 2005 lawyer S. re-applied to the General Prosecutor with the same request, claiming that no reply had been received to her previous request of 12 December 2004. 66. On 31 January 2005 the General Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to lawyer S. with identical content. 67. On an unspecified date lawyer S. contested the actions of the General Prosecutor’s Office, including the two above-mentioned letters, before the courts on behalf of all three applicants. The lawyer complained about the ill-treatment that had been inflicted on the applicants in the period between 8 and 12 July 2004, and indicated the names of the perpetrators, including the Chief of the Vardenis Police Department, Vi.H. and the police officers of that department, Y.M., K.M. and V.A. She alleged that the Regional Prosecutor and the investigative team headed by him were aware of these acts but showed indifference and even facilitated the coercion to obtain prosecution evidence. 68. On 25 March 2005 the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan left the lawyer’s appeal without examination. The District Court found that a decision had been adopted on 31 August 2004 whereby the institution of criminal proceedings had been refused. According to the prescribed procedure, this decision could be contested before a higher prosecutor or the court of appeal. 69. On 28 March 2005 the third applicant lodged an appeal against this decision. She alleged, inter alia, that she and the other two applicants had been subjected to continual ill-treatment in June and July 2004. She herself had been kept at the Vardenis Police Department on the night from 9 to 10 July 2004 and beaten by the employees of the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor’s Office, F.B., Va.H., G.H. and G.H. The Regional Prosecutor, A.M., and Chief of Police Department Vi.H. had been aware of this. She had injuries on her head, face and back and had to stay in bed for several days. Only after her uncle came to visit her upon his return from Russia could she be transferred to Yerevan for a medical examination. The third applicant further stated that she had noticed signs of ill-treatment on her mother, such as bruised hands, swollen face and difficulty walking, during the confrontation which had been held between them. 70. On the same date lawyer S. lodged an appeal with the Criminal and Military Court of Appeal against the decision of 31 August 2004 on behalf of the first and second applicants. In her appeal she argued, inter alia, that neither she nor the applicants had ever been informed about this decision and they had become aware of it only at the hearing before the District Court on 25 March 2005. As regards the substance of this decision, it was adopted by persons who had an interest in the outcome of the case and was based on statements of the alleged perpetrators which lacked credibility. The applicants, however, had never been questioned in connection with their allegations. The lawyer further referred to the numerous complaints lodged by the second and third applicants from June to August 2004 and the results of their medical examinations of 14 and 16 July 2004. 71. On 11 May 2005 the Criminal and Military Court of Appeal examined jointly both issues and decided to dismiss the appeal against the decision of 25 March 2005 and not to examine the appeal against the decision of 31 August 2004 on the ground that it had been lodged outside the one month time-limit for appeal. 72. On 25 May 2005 lawyer S. lodged an appeal against this decision on behalf of the applicants. 73. On 22 July 2005 the Court of Cassation quashed this decision and remitted the case for a new examination on the ground that the Court of Appeal had failed to clarify whether the decision of 31 August 2004 had been duly and timely served on the applicants. 74. On 7 September 2005 the Court of Appeal decided to quash the decision of 25 March 2005 and to reserve a right to the defence to contest the decision of 31 August 2004, since there was no evidence to show that a copy of that decision had been duly served on the applicants prior to their becoming aware of it in March 2005. 75. On 23 September 2005 lawyer S. lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal against the decision of 31 August 2004 on behalf of the applicants. 76. On 10 November 2005 the Court of Appeal decided to dismiss the appeal. In doing so, the court first confirmed the findings made in that decision and then added that the complaints about ill-treatment had already been examined and dismissed by the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation in the course of the criminal proceedings against the first and second applicants. II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
The Code of Criminal Procedure (as in force at the material time)
1. Ill-treatment and institution of criminal proceedings
77. For a summary of the relevant provisions see the judgment in the case of Virabyan v. Armenia (no. 40094/05, §§ 101-114, 2 October 2012). 2. Right to a lawyer
78. Sections 63 and 64 provide that the suspect and the accused have the right to defence counsel and to be questioned in his presence. The suspect enjoys this right from the moment when he is presented with the investigating authority’s decision on arrest, the record of arrest or the decision on choosing a preventive measure, while the accused enjoys it from the moment when the charge is brought. 79. According to Section 69, defence counsel’s participation in the criminal proceedings is compulsory if, inter alia, the suspect or the accused has expressed such a wish. Defence counsel’s compulsory participation in the criminal proceedings is to be secured by the authority dealing with the criminal case. 80. Section 72 provides that refusal of a lawyer by the suspect or the accused means his intention is to conduct his defence without the assistance of a lawyer. The suspect’s or the accused’s statement refusing a lawyer is to be entered into a record. 3. Protective measures
81. Sections 98 provides that if the authority dealing with the case discovers that, inter alia, the accused or the defence lawyer is in need of protection from any criminal encroachment, it shall take protective measures upon the victim’s request or of its own motion by adopting an appropriate decision. Such measures are compulsory if the victim or his next of kin has received physical threats or threats against his property or if physical violence has been inflicted in connection with his participation in the trial. The victim’s request for protective measures shall be examined by the authority dealing with the case immediately and at the latest within 24 hours. The victim shall be immediately informed about the decision and served a copy. 82. According to Section 99, protective measures include, inter alia, a warning by the court or the prosecutor of possible criminal prosecution of the person who has made violent or other criminal threats, and measures ensuring the safety of the victim. The person to whom a warning is to be issued shall be summoned by the prosecutor, the investigator or the body of inquiry. Measures ensuring the safety of the victim include, inter alia, taking the victim or his next of kin under personal protection. 4. Right to appeal against a judgment of the Court of Appeal
83. According to Section 403 (3), an appeal against a judgment of the Court of Appeal can be lodged by the convicted, the acquitted, their lawyers and lawful representatives, the prosecutor, the victim and his representative. THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
84. Given their common factual and legal background, the Court decides to join the applications pursuant to Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court. II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
85. The applicants complained that they had been subjected to ill‑treatment while in custody in June and July 2004 and that the authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into their allegations of ill‑treatment. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
A. Admissibility
86. The Court notes that these complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. It further notes that they are not inadmissible on any other grounds. They must therefore be declared admissible. B. Merits
1. The alleged ill-treatment
(a)  The parties’ submissions
(i)  The Government
87. The Government contested the applicants’ allegations of ill‑treatment, claiming that they had failed to produce proper evidence. 88. As regards the first applicant, no injuries were recorded following the medical examination carried out upon his admission to the Kosh detention facility on 14 July 2004. Furthermore, he had made contradictory statements at various stages of the proceedings and submitted on numerous occasions that he had not been ill-treated. 89. As regards the second applicant, according to the medical examination of 14 July 2004 the blood vessels on her feet had broken as a result of swelling. Given that she was also suffering from high blood pressure, this was the cause of the swelling. Furthermore, on the video recording of 10 July 2004 – examined by the Regional Court – no bodily injuries could be seen on the second applicant who walked freely and bore no signs of ill-treatment. Lastly, at the court hearing of 12 July 2004 she denied having been coerced to give evidence. 90. As regards the third applicant, the medical conclusion of the Armenia Medical Centre was not proper evidence, since it did not contain any note on the nature and causes of the recorded injuries, which could have been any number of things. Furthermore, she visited the Medical Centre only a week after her last appearance at the police station and she did not lodge any complaints in the meantime. The fact that she did not confess or testify at that appearance also confirmed that there had been no ill‑treatment. 91. Lastly, the applicants’ allegations of ill-treatment had been examined by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the courts and had been found to be unsubstantiated. (ii)  The applicants
92. The applicants disputed the Government’s claim that they had failed to produce evidence of ill-treatment. Such evidence had become available at the time of the second applicant’s admission to the Abovyan detention facility. The Government had tried to link erroneously the recorded injuries to high blood pressure, despite the fact that there was evidence in the case file proving that she had never had health problems. In reality the swelling was the result of the violence which she had endured at the police department, namely blows to the soles of her feet with rubber batons, and which she had described on numerous occasions, including during the court proceedings. 93. As regards the absence of any complaints by the third applicant between 10 and 16 July 2004, it should be taken into account that she was a minor at the material time, with her parents still in detention. It was the Government’s positive obligation to take care of her as a minor and to protect her from ill-treatment. 94. As regards the video recording examined in court, the Government had failed to mention the fact that during the same court hearing the applicants had objected and insisted that both of them were moving with difficulty on the recording and that injuries were visible on their bodies, but the court was not objective and was indifferent. Moreover, it was the same court which had earlier imposed an unlawful and trumped up “administrative detention” penalty on the first applicant, thereby allowing an additional 15 days in detention for the police officers to continue coercing a confession. The same court, during the hearing on detention of 12 July 2004, had noticed their injuries and failed to inquire about them. The applicants were afraid to raise this issue because the police officers were present at the hearing. (b)  The Court’s assessment
(i)  General principles
95. As the Court has stated on many occasions, Article 3 enshrines one of the most fundamental values of democratic societies. Even in the most difficult circumstances, such as the fight against terrorism and organised crime, the Convention prohibits in absolute terms torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, irrespective of the victim’s conduct (see Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, § 119, ECHR 2000‑IV, and Chahal v. the United Kingdom, 15 November 1996, § 79, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996‑V). Article 3 makes no provision for exceptions and no derogation from it is permissible under Article 15 § 2 of the Convention even in the event of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation (see Selmouni v. France [GC], no. 25803/94, § 95, ECHR 1999‑V, and Assenov and Others v. Bulgaria, 28 October 1998, § 93, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998‑VIII). 96. The Court reiterates that ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3. The assessment of this minimum is relative: it depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the duration of the treatment, its physical and mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim (see Labita, cited above, § 120, and Assenov and Others, cited above, § 94). In respect of a person deprived of his liberty, any recourse to physical force which has not been made strictly necessary by his own conduct diminishes human dignity and is in principle an infringement of the right set forth in Article 3 of the Convention (see Ribitsch v. Austria, 4 December 1995, § 38, Series A no. 336; Selmouni, cited above, § 99, and Sheydayev v. Russia, no. 65859/01, § 59, 7 December 2006).
97.

Article of the Convention at issue: Article 3
Outcome: violation