CASE OF RUSYN v. UKRAINE
Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-1 - Lawful arrest or detention);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-3 - Length of pre-trial detention);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-4 - Review of lawfulness of detention)
Erik Møse;Mārtiņš Mits;Yonko Grozev
5. The applicant was born in 1981 and lives in Lviv. 6. On 29 January 2007 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of murder. 7. On 1 February 2007 the Lviv Shevchenkivskyy District Court (the Shevchenkivskyy Court) ordered his detention as a preventive measure pending trial, for an initial period of two months. 8. On 28 March 2007 the same court extended the applicant’s pre-trial detention for two more months on the ground that there was a considerable volume of investigative measures to be carried out and there were no reasons for changing the preventive measure. 9. On 29 May 2007 the investigation was completed and the applicant and his lawyer received access to the case file. 10. On 6 July 2007 another set of criminal proceedings was instituted against the applicant, for infliction of grievous bodily harm. 11. On 10 July 2007 the two criminal cases were joined. 12. On the same day the Lviv Regional Court of Appeal (the Court of Appeal) extended the applicant’s pre-trial detention to six months. 13. On 27 July 2007 the case was referred to the Shevchenkivskyy Court, which held a preliminary hearing on 31 August 2007. It ordered the applicant’s further detention without fixing any time-limits. 14. The Shevchenkivskyy Court remitted the case for further investigation three times (on 8 October 2007, as well as on 19 May and 18 November 2008). The appellate court quashed the first two decisions (on 18 December 2007 and 26 August 2008), but upheld the last one (on 27 March 2009). All the judicial rulings in question maintained the applicant’s continued detention without further reasoning. 15. On 14 May 2009 the investigation was completed and the case was referred for trial, this time to the Court of Appeal as a first-instance court. 16. On 27 May 2009 the Court of Appeal held a preliminary hearing, at which it decided, among other things, to remit the case for further investigation once again and to maintain the applicant’s detention. 17. On 4 August 2009 the Supreme Court quashed the above decision in so far as it concerned the remittal issue and rejected the applicant’s request for release on the ground that he was accused of serious crimes. 18. On 15 June 2010 the Court of Appeal found the applicant guilty of murder and attempted murder and sentenced him to thirteen years’ imprisonment. 19. On 22 February 2011 the Supreme Court upheld that judgment. 20. On 29 January 2016 the applicant was released following the legislative amendments pertaining to the enforcement of sentences.