Постановление Европейского суда по правам человека от 20.04.2010 «Дело Слюсарев (Slyusarev) против России» [англ.]

icant's words, after his arrest his eyesight had dropped "from 3.5 to 6 dioptres".
33. The applicant further maintained that from July to December 1998 he had lodged several complaints with competent authorities seeking to get his glasses back. In particular, he had mentioned the problem in his application for release of 14 July 1998. Further, he had complained about the rapid deterioration of his eyesight. He stressed that since his eyesight had deteriorated after his arrest, he needed an examination by an ophthalmologist to obtain a prescription for new glasses. The investigator had ordered such an examination to be carried out on 9 September 1998; however, the applicant had not been taken to see the doctor until 25 November 1998. It had taken the authorities another two months to have new glasses made for the applicant.

B. The Court's assessment

34. The Court notes that the applicant's glasses were taken from him shortly after his arrest on 3 July 1998. The Government admitted that the taking of the glasses had been unlawful in domestic terms. However, it does not automatically make the authorities responsible for a breach of Article 3 of the Convention. The Court recalls in this respect that ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3 of the Convention. Previously the Commission has held that a few days spent in detention without glasses did not amount to ill-treatment (see A.K. v. the Netherlands (dec.), No. 24774/94, 6 April 1995; cf. Jamal-Aldin v. Switzerland (dec.), No. 19959/92, 23 May 1999), and the Court does not see any reason to disagree with that. Therefore, if the glasses had been returned to the applicant quickly, no issue under Article 3 would have arisen.
35. As opposed to the example cited above, in the case at hand the applicant did not have glasses for several months. The applicant alleged that it had resulted in serious impairment of his eyesight. However, he did not produce any medical evidence relating to the period before his arrest. Furthermore, the domestic expert concluded that the impairment of the applicant's eyesight had been due to natural causes (see paragraph 25 above). The Court does not see any reason to disagree with that finding.
36. On the other hand, even if having no glasses had no permanent effect on the applicant's health, he must have suffered because of it. As follows from the case file, he had myopia of medium severity. Without glasses he was able to "attend to himself, orient himself and move around indoors" (see the doctors' report cited in paragraph 18 above), but it is clear that he could not read or write normally, and, besides that, it must have created a lot of distress in his everyday life, and given rise to a feeling of insecurity and helplessness. The Court thus considers that the applicant's situation, due to its duration, was serious enough to fall within the scope of Article 3 of the Convention.
37. The Government maintained that the applicant himself had been responsible for that situation. He had not complained about the taking of his glasses until December 1998. The Court recalls that, indeed, in certain contexts the behaviour of the alleged victim may be taken into account in defining whether the authorities can be held responsible for the treatment complained of. As a rule, Article 3 prohibits ill-treatment irrespective of the circumstances and the victim's behaviour (see Labita v. Italy [GC], No. 26772/95, § 119, ECHR 2000-IV). However, this rule is not without exceptions. Thus, if a prisoner does not receive requisite medical assistance from the authorities, it may entail the State's responsibility only if he made reasonable steps to avail himself of such assistance (see {Valasinas} v. Lithuania, No. 44558/98, § 105, ECHR 2001-VIII, and Knyazev v. Russia, No. 25948/05, § 103, 8 No

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