n initiative, where there are reasons to believe that a crime was committed (Articles 146 and 147). A prosecutor is responsible for overall supervision of the investigation (Article 37). He can order specific investigative actions, transfer the case from one investigator to another or order an additional investigation. If there are no grounds to initiate a criminal investigation, the prosecutor or investigator issues a reasoned decision to that effect which has to be notified to the interested party. The decision is amenable to appeal to a higher-ranking prosecutor or to a court of general jurisdiction within a procedure established by Article 125 of the CCrP (Article 148). Article 125 of the CCrP provides for judicial review of decisions by investigators and prosecutors that might infringe the constitutional rights of participants in proceedings or prevent access to a court.
B. Civil-law remedies against illegal acts
by public officials
31. Article 1064 § 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that damage caused to the person or property of a citizen must be compensated for in full by the tortfeasor. Pursuant to Article 1069, a State agency or a State official will be liable to a citizen for damage caused by their unlawful actions or failure to act. Such damage is to be compensated for at the expense of the federal or regional treasury. Articles 151 and 1099 - 1101 of the Civil Code provide for compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Article 1099 states, in particular, that compensation must be awarded for non-pecuniary damage irrespective of any award for pecuniary damage.
THE LAW
I. Alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention
32. The applicant complained that on 12 and 13 March 2003 he had been subjected to treatment incompatible with Article 3 of the Convention and that the authorities had not carried out an effective investigation into the incident. The Court will examine this complaint from the standpoint of the State's obligations flowing from Article 3, which reads as follows:
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
A. Submissions by the parties
33. In their initial observations lodged with the Court on 5 March 2007 the Government submitted that the applicant had failed to exhaust the domestic remedies available to him under Articles 125 and 148 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure. They stressed that he had not appealed against the decision of 13 October 2003 to the Rudnichniy District Court of Prokopyevsk. In the alternative, the Government, relying on statements by the Prosecutor General's office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted that the applicant had not been subjected to treatment in violation of the Article 3 guarantees.
34. In their further observations submitted to the Court on 27 November 2007, the Government pointed to the institution of the criminal proceedings in respect of the applicant's ill-treatment complaints and stated that this time the applicant had failed to appeal against the deputy prosecutor's decision of 27 July 2007. They further noted that another form of remedy was open to the applicant. He could have brought a civil action under Articles 151 and 1069 of the Russian Civil Code seeking compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage caused to him by public officials. According to the Government, such an action would have had very strong prospects of success, as in 2004 the Supreme Court of the Karachayeva-Cherkessiya Republic had delivered a judgment accepting an action brought by a certain individual against prosecution authorities and awarding him 10,000 Russian roubles in compensation for damage.
35. The applicant submitted that having learnt about the prosecution's decision of 13 October 200
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