| Applicant name | KOGAN AND OTHERS |
| Applicant type | natural person (immigrant) |
| Number of applicants | 4 |
| Country | Russia |
| Application no. | 54003/20 |
| Date | 07/03/2023 |
| Judges | Pere Pastor Vilanova, President, Georgios A. Serghides, Yonko Grozev, Jolien Schukking, Darian Pavli, Peeter Roosma, Ioannis Ktistakis |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Not necessary (national security) |
| Type of privacy | Private and family life |
| Keywords | Expulsion |
| Facts of the case | The main issues in the present case are whether (i) the revocation of the first applicant’s residence permit in Russia interfered with her and her relatives’ right to respect for their private and family life, and (ii) the limitations on the first applicant’s rights imposed in the removal proceedings were applied for purposes other than those permitted under the Convention. |
| Analysis | Art 8 • Private and family life • Unjustified revocation of prominent human rights lawyer’s residence permit on undisclosed national security grounds • Purely formal examination of revocation decision by domestic courts depriving first applicant of possibility to challenge or reply to factual allegations against her in adversarial proceedings • Domestic courts’ failure to strike fair balance between competing interests in line with general principles in Court’s case-law • Revocation proceedings tainted with gross procedural defects undermining their fairness Art 18 (+ Art 8) • Restriction for unauthorised purposes • Revocation of the first applicant’s residence permit predominantly aiming to punish her and her husband’s human rights related activities and prevent their continuation • Overall context of increase in severe restrictions on NGOs, human rights defenders and other civil society actors in Russia resulting in “chilling effect” on their activities Judge Seghides concurs and refers to his earlier opinion in Merabishvili v. Georgia. |
| Other Article violation? | Yes, Article 18 ECHR |
| Damage awarded | that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, jointly, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts: (i) EUR 9,800 (nine thousand eight hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 2,175 (two thousand one hundred and seventy-five euros) to Ms D. Trenina, EUR 2,550 (two thousand five hundred and fifty euros) to Mr K. Zharinov and EUR 1,800 (one thousand eight hundred euros) to Ms E. Davidyan, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants, in respect of costs and expenses, to be paid directly to the representatives’ bank accounts; |
| Documents | Judgment |