24
L.M. AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court to delay a removal (see NA.
v. the United Kingdom, no. 25904/07, § 90, 17 July 2008; and, by contrast,
M.A. v Cyprus, no. 41872/10, §§ 131-43, 23 July 2013; see also Gayratbek
Saliyev v. Russia, no. 39093/13, § 41, 17 April 2014, where the Government
admitted that the remedies which have no automatic suspensive effect in the
context of extradition are not effective).
101. The Court further agrees that the successful outcome of
proceedings for the determination of refugee status and/or temporary
asylum could offer a real possibility for applicants to regularise their
situation and obtain formal guarantees of non-refoulement for the duration
of that status. The Court has previously found that such solutions constitute
part of an effective national remedy where the regularisation of an
applicant’s immigration status through the procedure of temporary asylum
and the granting of a temporary residence permit on that basis was
accompanied by the annulment of the extradition and/or expulsion orders
(see Tukhtamurodov v. Russia (dec.), no. 21762/14, § 37, 20 January 2015,
and, for similar conclusions in the context of Article 8, Ewalaka-Koumou
v. Russia (dec.), no. 20953/03, 4 February 2010). The Court regards the
relevant information submitted by applicants to the immigration authorities
as an integral part justifying their claims of a fear of treatment in breach of
Article 3 (see Y. v. Russia, no. 20113/07, §§ 87-88, 4 December 2008;
Shakurov v. Russia, no. 55822/10, §§ 132-13, 5 June 2012; and Kozhayev
v. Russia, no. 60045/10, §§ 85-87, 5 June 2012).
102. At the same time, the Court notes that, in the context of Russia, the
decision ordering an applicant’s removal from the territory in extradition or
administrative expulsion proceedings remains valid despite the lodging of
an application for refugee status and/or temporary asylum. Consequently, in
reviewing such complaints the Court has focused primarily on these
proceedings as constituting the basis for the complaint brought under
Article 3. It has found that while ruling on the question of the possibility of
removal, the scope of review by the domestic authorities, including the
courts, should include relevant arguments of ill-treatment raised by the
applicants, in view of the absolute nature of Article 3 (see Egamberdiyev
v. Russia, no. 34742/13, § 44, 26 June 2014, and Khalikov v. Russia,
no. 66373/13, § 37, 6 July 2015).
103. It should be reiterated, in this respect, that the criteria laid down for
granting refugee status are not identical to those used for assessing the risk
of treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. Consequently, the fact
that an appeal against such a decision is pending does not, in itself,
constitute an obstacle to the Court’s examination of the complaint under
Article 3 on the merits if the expulsion or extradition request remains in
force (see Kasymakhunov v. Russia, no. 29604/12, § 125, 14 November
2013; Rakhimov v. Russia, no. 50552/13, § 94, 10 July 2014; and Khalikov,
cited above, § 37). This approach is guided by the general rule that, in the
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