ENGELS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
39. The applicant emphasised that the domestic remedies had not been
effective. He had not been involved in any capacity in, or at least informed of, the
proceedings in which the content had been banned. The appellate court had not
considered the nature or the contents of his website, or the manner in which the
first-instance court’s decision had affected his rights.
40. The third-party intervener, the European Information Society Institute,
submitted that both ex ante and ex post remedies needed to be made available to
the affected parties. Ex ante remedies should include prior notification to the
owners of targeted websites. Ex post remedies should ensure that, once a blocking
order has been implemented, there are efficient mechanisms for restricting its
scope or challenging it on account of new circumstances.
41. The Court notes that the complaint under Article 13 arises from the same
facts as those it has examined when dealing with the complaint under Article 10
above. However, there is a difference in the nature of the interests protected by
Article 13 of the Convention and those protected under Article 10: the former
affords a procedural safeguard, namely the “right to an effective remedy”, whereas
the procedural requirement inherent in the latter is ancillary to the wider purpose of
ensuring respect for the substantive right to freedom of expression (see Iatridis v.
Greece [GC], no. 31107/96, § 65, ECHR 1999-II). Having regard to the difference
in purpose of the safeguards afforded by the two Articles, the Court considers it
appropriate in the instant case to examine the same set of facts under both
provisions.
42. The Court notes that the applicant had an arguable claim of a violation of
his right to freedom of expression. Accordingly, Article 13 required that he should
have had a domestic remedy which was “effective” in practice as well as in law, in
the sense of preventing the alleged violation or its continuation, or of providing
adequate redress for any violation that had already occurred.
43. Although the applicant was able to lodge an appeal against the blocking
order, the appellate court did not consider the substance of his grievance. Nor did it
address the specific nature of the information about particular technologies or
examine the necessity and proportionality of the blocking measure. Accordingly,
the Court finds that the remedy which the national law provided for was not
effective in the circumstances of the applicant’s case (see Elvira Dmitriyeva v.
Russia, nos. 60921/17 and 7202/18, § 64, 30 April 2019).
44. There has therefore been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention, taken
in conjunction with Article 10.
III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
45. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto,
and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to
be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
46. The applicant claimed 10,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary
damage.
47. The Government submitted that no compensation should be awarded
because the applicant’s rights had not been violated.
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