Case of European Court of Human Rights, March 20, 2008 (case CASE OF BUDAYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA)
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Case of European Court of Human Rights, March 20, 2008 (case CASE OF BUDAYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA)
FIRST SECTIONCASE OF BUDAYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA(Applications nos. 15339/02, 21166/02, 20058/02, 11673/02 and 15343/02) JUDGMENT STRASBOURG 20 March 2008This judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Budayeva and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of: Christos Rozakis, President, Nina Vajić, Anatoly Kovler, Elisabeth Steiner, Khanlar Hajiyev, Giorgio Malinverni, George Nicolaou, judges,and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 28 February 2008, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last-mentioned date:PROCEDURE 1. The case originated in five applications (nos. 15339/02, 21166/02, 20058/02, 11673/02 and 15343/02) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention") by six Russian nationals, Ms Khalimat Khuseyevna Budayeva and Ms Fatima Khuseynovna Atmurzayeva on 15 March 2002, by Ms Raya Meliyevna Shogenova on 10 April 2002, by Ms Nina Nikolayevna Khakhlova on 18 February 2002 and by Mr Andrey Aleksandrovich Shishkin and Ms Irina Ilyinichna Shishkina on 9 March 2002 ("the applicants"). 2. The applicants, who had been granted legal aid, were represented by Mr Dzagashtov, a lawyer practising in Nalchik, Mr Manov, a lawyer practising in Moscow and Mr Serdyukov, a lawyer practising in Pyatigorsk. The Russian Government ("the Government") were initially represented by Mr P. Laptev, the former Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights, and subsequently by their Representative, Mrs V. Milinchuk. 3. Relying on Articles 2, 8 and 13 of the Convention and on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, the applicants alleged that the national authorities were responsible for the death of Mr Budayev, for putting their lives at risk and for the destruction of their property, as a result of the authorities' failure to mitigate the consequences of a mudslide which occurred in Tyrnauz on 18-25 July 2000, and that no effective domestic remedy was provided to them in this respect. 4. The Chamber decided to join the proceedings in the applications (Rule 42 § 1). 5. By a decision of 5 April 2007 the Court declared the applications admissible. 6. The applicants and the Government each filed further written observations (Rule 59 § 1).THE FACTSI. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 7. The applicant in the first application (no. 15339/02), Ms Khalimat Khuseyevna Budayeva, was born in 1961 and lives in Tyrnauz, in the Elbrus District of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya (KBR), Russia (the first applicant). 8. The applicant in the second application (no. 21166/02), Mrs Fatima Khuseynovna Atmurzayeva, was born in 1963 and lives in Tyrnauz (the second applicant). 9. The applicant in the third application (no. 20058/02), Ms Raya Meliyevna Shogenova, was born in 1953 and lives in Nalchik in the KBR (the third applicant). 10. The applicant in the fourth application (no. 11673/02), Ms Nina Nikolayevna Khakhlova, was born in 1955 and lives in Tyranuz (the fourth applicant). 11. The applicants in the fifth application (no. 15343/02), Mr Andrey Aleksandrovich Shishkin and Mrs Irina Ilyinichna Shishkina, were born in 1958 and 1955 respectively and live in Tyrnauz (the fifth and the sixth applicants). 12. The facts of the case are partially in dispute between the parties. Their submissions on the circumstances in which a mudslide swept through the town of Tyrnauz in 2000 are set out in Section A below. The manner in which these events affected the individual applicants is set out in Section B. A description of the materials submitted to the Court by the applicants is given in Section C. A. The circumstances concerning the mudslide 1. Background facts 13. The town of Tyrnauz is situated in the mountain district adjacent to Mount Elbrus, in the central Caucasus. Its population is about 25,000 inhabitants. The general urban plan of the town was developed in the 1950s as part of a large-scale industrial construction project. Two tributaries of the Baksan River passing through Tyrnauz, the Gerhozhansu and the Kamyksu, are known to be prone to causing mudslides. 14. The first documentary evidence of a mudslide in the Gerhozhansu River dates back to 1937. Subsequently mudslides were registered almost every year; occasionally they hit the town, causing damage. The heaviest mudslides registered prior to 2000 occurred on 1 August 1960, on 11 August 1977 and on 20 August 1999. According to the Government, the series of mudslides of 18-25 July 2000 were the strongest and most destructive of all. 15. The inhabitants and authorities of Tyrnauz are ge...
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