L.M. AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
25
event of there being a number of remedies which an individual can pursue,
that person is entitled to choose one which addresses his or her essential
grievance (see Croke v. Ireland (dec.), no. 33267/96, 15 June 1999, and
Jeličić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (dec.), no. 41183/02, 15 November
2005).
104. In the present case, during the hearings in the District Court on the
question of expulsion, the applicants referred to the war and danger to their
lives (see paragraph 11 above). Indeed, these statements were rather
general, but the applicants do not speak Russian and, while they seem to
have had access to an interpreter, had no legal representative to assist them.
It is therefore not surprising that their participation was relatively limited. In
their statements of appeal the applicants, assisted by representatives,
submitted detailed and corroborated information about the situation in
Syria, such as heavy fighting raging in the regions of their origin and more
individualised assessments produced by the UNHCR (see paragraph 12
above). The decisions of 27 May 2014 were final and confirmed the
expulsion orders, which remain valid to date in respect of all three
applicants. In a separate ruling of the same date in respect of L.M., the
Kaluga Regional Court confirmed the validity of the expulsion order in spite
of the pending request for asylum (see paragraph 14 above).
105. Moreover, the applicants alleged that their confinement in the
detention centre had prevented them from effectively participating in the
proceedings for the determination of their refugee and asylum status. While
they had lodged the relevant requests, they alleged that on two occasions
they had been forced to sign papers withdrawing their applications; these
withdrawals were later retracted by them as made under duress and in the
absence of an interpreter or advice. Numerous complaints lodged by the
applicants’ representatives pointed to severe restrictions on communication
which could not but have had an effect on the accessibility of the appeal
proceedings (see paragraphs 32, 33 and 47-54 above). When one of the
applicants, M.A., appealed against the decision not to grant him asylum, he
had no opportunity to take part in the proceedings (see paragraph 36). In the
circumstances, the Court is bound to conclude that the proceedings
concerning the determination of the applicants’ refugee and asylum status
were not accessible to them in practice in the present case and therefore, in
any event, could not be considered as a remedy to be used.
106. Accordingly, the Court dismisses the Government’s objection of
non-exhaustion.
107. The Court further notes that the complaints are not manifestly
ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, and
that they are not inadmissible on any other grounds. They must therefore be
declared admissible.
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