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ROMAN ZAKHAROV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
up to four years or imprisonment for a period ranging from four months to
four years (Article 285 § 1 of the Criminal Code).
22. Actions by a public official which clearly exceed his authority and
entail a substantial violation of an individual’s or a legal entity’s rights and
lawful interests, are punishable by a fine, a prohibition on occupying certain
posts or engaging in certain activities for a period of up to five years,
correctional labour for a period of up to four years or imprisonment for a
period ranging from four months to four years (Article 286 § 1 of the
Criminal Code).
23. Ruling no. 19 of 16 October 2009 by the Plenary Supreme Court
provides that for the purposes of Articles 285 and 286 of the Criminal Code
“a substantial violation of an individual’s or a legal entity’s rights and
lawful interests” means a violation of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by
the generally established principles and provisions of international law and
the Constitution of the Russian Federation – such as the right to respect for
a person’s honour and dignity, private or family life, correspondence,
telephone, postal, telegraph and other communications, the inviolability of
the home, etc. In assessing whether the violation was “substantial” in
respect of a legal entity, it is necessary to take into account the extent of the
damage sustained as a result of the unlawful act, the nature and the amount
of the pecuniary damage, the number of persons affected and the gravity of
the physical, pecuniary or non-pecuniary damage inflicted on them
(paragraph 18 (2)).
24. Criminal proceedings are opened if there are sufficient facts showing
that a criminal offence has been committed (Article 140 § 2 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure).
C. General provisions on interception of communications
25. The interception of communications is governed by the OperationalSearch Activities Act of 12 August 1995 (no. 144-FZ – “the OSAA”),
applicable to the interception of communications both in the framework of
criminal proceedings and outside such framework; and the Code of Criminal
Procedure of 18 December 2001 (no. 174-FZ, in force since 1 July 2002 –
“the CCrP”), applicable only to the interception of communications in the
framework of criminal proceedings.
26. The aims of operational-search activities are (a) the detection,
prevention, suppression and investigation of criminal offences and the
identification of persons conspiring to commit, committing, or having
committed a criminal offence; (b) the tracing of fugitives from justice and
missing persons; (c) obtaining information about events or activities
endangering the national, military, economic or ecological security of the
Russian Federation (section 2 of the OSAA). On 25 December 2008 that