fell short of the requirements of the procedural aspect of Article 3. The competent authorities failed to act with diligence and promptness and, more generally, given the omissions and shortcomings in the investigation process, it is questionable whether the investigation was in any way capable of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible.
83. In this connection, the Court observes that the investigation into the events commenced only three months after the relevant requests by the applicant and his family (see paragraphs 21 - 25). Given that the applicant had a fractured jaw (see paragraphs 13 and 16) and made very specific allegations against easily identifiable persons about the events which took place at known and accessible locations (see paragraphs 8 - 12), the Court finds that a prompt reaction by the investigation authorities, including examining the applicant, the locations at issue, all persons allegedly involved as well as identifying possible witnesses and securing any evidence which could have otherwise been lost due to the lapse of time, was crucial. It is clear that the authorities failed to react with the requisite promptness and that this failure had a serious negative impact on the quality and effectiveness of the investigation.
84. The Court also deplores the loss by the investigative authorities of the applicant's original medical documents and x-rays from polyclinic No. 218 and Moscow City Hospital No. 1, acknowledged by the investigator in a decision of 30 July 2002 (see paragraph 54). The Court is of the view that given the late reaction by the authorities to the applicant's initial complaints (see paragraph 83 above), the existence and continued presence of such evidence in the case file was crucial to further investigation of the applicant's claims and its loss resulted in irreparable damage to the authorities' ability properly to investigate the cause of the applicant's injuries and to present the case for trial.
85. Lastly, from the documents available to the Court it seems that between February 2001 and June 2002, at least, the applicant did not enjoy the status of a victim in the criminal proceedings at issue, had limited access to information about the investigation, could not obtain copies of the decisions to stay, terminate and resume the proceedings, and was unable to contest the relevant actions of the investigative authorities in court, most of his complaints and inquiries having been replied to by letters phrased in general terms (see paragraphs 30, 35, 40, 42 and 45 above).
86. Given those shortcomings, the Court does not find it surprising that the investigation was stayed (see paragraph 33) and on at least one occasion terminated with reference to the "lack of evidence of any crime having been committed" (see paragraph 37), that the criminal charges, largely based on witness statements and not on any material evidence, were brought only against one of four allegedly implicated officers and that they were not accepted by the domestic courts and resulted in an acquittal (see paragraphs 45 - 55).
87. In the absence of any plausible explanation by the Government for these mistakes, the Court finds that the principal reason for these errors lay in the manifest negligence of the investigative authorities in charge of the case between February 2001, when the applicant brought his complaints to their attention, and July 2002, when it became clear that crucial evidence in the case had been irretrievably lost.
88. Accordingly, the Court finds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the lack of an effective investigation into the applicant's allegations of ill-treatment.
III. Application of Article 41 of the Convention
89. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
"If the Court finds that there has been
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