L.M. AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT 23 Russian had not been aware of the need to obtain the decision. This information was apparent from the Government’s observations of 10 September 2014 where they had stressed that A.A. had not taken the necessary steps to obtain the decision of 13 August 2013. The remedies had been inaccessible in practice, and therefore unavailable to the applicants. 96. The applicants next stressed that the “retractions” signed by them at the detention centre had been obtained under duress and in the absence of contact with their representatives, without any understanding of what they had been doing. This was confirmed by the applicants’ subsequent submissions and statements. 97. As to M.A., he had not retracted his latest request for asylum which had been rejected on 19 September 2014. Again, he had been unable to obtain the decision in full and prevented from having any meaningful contact with his relatives or representatives to challenge the decision. This information was fully corroborated by M.A.’s relatives and his complaint. 98. In the applicants’ view, the above circumstances also disclosed a breach of Article 13, since they had failed to obtain a meaningful review of their claims of fear for life and security if returned, in any of the procedures used. B. The Court’s assessment 1. Admissibility 99. The Court should first address the Government’s argument of non-exhaustion. It notes that the applicants had raised their fears of treatment in breach of Articles 2 and 3 if returned to Syria in three types of procedure: those concerning their administrative expulsion for illegal residence, and those concerning refugee status and temporary asylum. The applicants claimed that while the administrative expulsion proceedings had been completed and the decisions of the courts to expel them remained in force, the determination of their refugee status and temporary asylum had turned out to be ineffective and inaccessible. 100. The Court first notes that Russian legislation prohibits the removal of persons whose requests for refugee status and/or temporary asylum are pending (see paragraphs 66 and 67 above). It points out that where an applicant seeks to prevent his or her removal from a Contracting State, a remedy will only be effective if it has automatic suspensive effect. Conversely, where a remedy does have automatic suspensive effect, the applicant will normally be required to use that remedy. Judicial review, where it is available and where the lodging of an application for judicial review will operate as a bar to removal, must be regarded as an effective remedy which, in principle, applicants will be required to exhaust before lodging an application with the Court or indeed requesting interim measures