Avenue de l'Europe
Sergey Solovyev v. Russia 
| 2013
For detention to meet the standard of ‘lawfulness’ it must have a basis in the domestic law.
Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, February 2013
Falsely accused of manslaughter, Sergey Solovyev was locked up in a cell where he lost three years of his life. His pre-trial detention was extended even when this had not been ordered by a judge and had not been allowed under Russian law.
Mr Solovyev was eventually acquitted of the crime and released.
The European court found that Mr Solovyev’s detention had been extended without a valid judicial order, contrary to Russian law. This meant that he had been locked up arbitrarily, in violation of his basic rights.
A series of similar cases before the European court involved arbitrary, unlawful or improper detention in Russia.
As a result [of these cases], Russian courts are justifying the lawfulness and the length of detention on remand with greater precision, while the number of alternative measures of restraint is steadily growing.
Report on the group of cases in 20 cases that have changed the Russian legal system
Reforms were made to protect the right to liberty in Russia, in particular following rulings by the Constitutional and Supreme Courts. Measures were taken to establish the following:
Khaled El-Masri’s unimaginable ordeal began when he was detained by FYR Macedonian border officials. He was handed over to US intelligence agents, who transferred him to a secret prison in Afghanistan. The European court recognised Khaled as a victim of “extraordinary rendition” and awarded him damages. FYR Macedonia apologised and took steps to prevent future such human rights violations.
Frits Winterwerp was detained in a psychiatric hospital. He said that he was not mentally ill and he should be released. However, he was repeatedly prevented from making his case in the Dutch courts, which kept extending his detention without hearing from him. The European court ruled this had violated his right to liberty. Reforms were made to protect people in Mr Winterwerp’s situation.
Hotel director Juozas Jėčius was held for over 14 months whilst awaiting trial for murder. However, there had never been any proper evidence against him, and he was acquitted at trial. The European court ruled that Mr Jėčius’s incarceration had violated his right to liberty. Following the Court’s judgment, new measures were introduced to help avoid unjustified detention.
Russian Federation*
North Macedonia
Netherlands
Lithuania