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UNIYA OOO AND BELCOURT TRADING COMPANY v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
A. Destruction of the first consignment
1. The Government’s objection as to the loss of victim status by the
applicant companies
(a) The Government’s submissions
276. In the light of later developments in the case the Government
seemed to accept that the two applicant companies were the legal owners of
the first consignment, and that its destruction amounted to an unlawful
interference with the applicant companies’ right to peaceful enjoyment of
their possessions under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.
277. The Government referred to the judgment of 27 January 2011 (see
paragraphs 108-111 above) thereby Uniya had been awarded compensation
for the destruction of its part of the first consignement. The Government
maintained that the amount awarded to Uniya had been defined correctly.
The domestic courts had not applied the exchange rate defined in the
agreement between the first and second applicant companies, but the rate on
the day of the judgment, which was in any event higher than the rate which
had existed in 1998, when the alcohol was seized. In the 2003 agreement the
parties had established a fixed exchange rate to calculate Uniya’s debt to
Belcourt; however, that was their own choice, and was not binding on the
courts. In their most recent observations (those of 10 May 2012), the
Government indicated that the applicant companies had failed to appeal
against the judgments in which they had been awarded compensation for the
destruction of the first consignment.
278. The Government further informed the Court about the liquidation
of Uniya for failure to submit tax returns. The Government argued that the
liquidation of Uniya could not be attributed to the authorities. All Uniya’s
working documents seized by the investigator within the criminal case
against Mr Golovkin and others had been duly attached to the case file.
Mr Golovkin was aware of that, and consequently the cessation of Uniya’s
business activities could not be attributed by him to the seizure of its
documents by the law-enforcement authorities. As regards the amount
awarded to Belcourt by the judgment of 28 December 2010
(RUB 74,418,700), which was not appealed against, it was paid to the
second applicant company on 5 April 2012, after all procedural errors
relating to the writ of execution had been corrected (see paragraphs 77-83
above).
(b) The applicant companies’ submissions
279. In their latest observations the applicant companies informed the
Court about the recent developments in their case. In particular, they
confirmed that the amount sought by Belcourt in respect of the seizure of
the first consignment of alcohol had been paid. However, the applicant
UNIYA OOO AND BELCOURT TRADING COMPANY v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
53
companies claimed that the amount awarded to Belcourt in respect of the
seizure of the first consignment did not cover all their losses, and, in
particular, did not compensate them for the non-pecuniary damage suffered.
They also complained of insufficiency of the award made in favour of
Uniya and that it was impossible to receive it because of the liquidation of
the first applicant company.
2. The Court’s assessment
(a) The victim status of the second applicant company
280. The Court reiterates that to deprive an applicant of victim status the
authorities must fulfil two conditions: acknowledge, at least in essence, a
violation of the Convention, and provide the applicant with “sufficient
redress” (see Amuur v. France, 25 June 1996, § 36, Reports of Judgments
and Decisions 1996-III; Dalban v. Romania [GC], no. 28114/95, § 44,
ECHR 1999-VI; and Rotaru v. Romania [GC], no. 28341/95, § 35, ECHR
2000-V). In the present case the unlawfulness of the destruction of the first
consignment of alcohol was acknowledged, first by the decision of
25 November 2005 by the Leningradskiy District Court (see paragraph 52
above), and then by the judgment of 28 December 2010 by the Baltiyskiy
District Court (see paragraphs 77-83 above). Thus, the first condition
(“acknowledgment”) has been met. In respect of the “redress”, the Court
observes that on 28 December 2010 the Baltiyskiy District Court, on the
basis of Article 139 of the CCrP, awarded the first applicant company
(Belcourt) RUB 74,418,700 in compensation for the destruction of the
337,104 bottles of alcohol from the first consignment. That sum was paid on
5 April 2012. In addition, on 27 November 2012 Belcourt received
RUB 596,242 in compensation for the delayed implementation of the
judgment of 28 December 2010.
281. The Court observes that according to the information available to it
the judgment of 28 December 2010 was not appealed against and became
final without further review. Although Belcourt claimed before the Court
that the amount awarded to it was insufficient, the failure of Belcourt to
lodge an appeal precludes it, by virtue of Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the
Convention, from challenging the adequacy of the compensation received
by virtue of the judgment of 28 December 2010. In the light of the materials
of the case the Court does not consider that the amount of compensation
received by Belcourt was inadequate. It follows that the breach of the
second applicant’s rights, as far as the destruction of the first consignment is
concerned, was acknowledged, and that the second applicant company
received “adequate redress” in this connection. Thus, it has no longer victim
status in respect of the destruction of its part of the first consignement.