that it had been open to the applicants to challenge in court any acts or omissions of the investigating or other law enforcement authorities, but that the applicants had not availed themselves of that remedy. They also argued that it had been open to the applicants to pursue civil complaints but that they had failed to do so. They referred to examples where domestic courts had granted similar requests and awarded non-pecuniary damages for the prosecutor's office failure to act.
53. The applicants contested that objection. They stated that the criminal investigation had proved to be ineffective and that their complaints to that effect had been futile. Seeking judicial review of the decisions of the investigating authorities would be pointless in their case since that remedy could not bring about an effective investigation. With reference to the Court's practice, they argued that they were not obliged to apply to civil courts in order to exhaust domestic remedies.
B. The Court's assessment
54. The Court will examine the arguments of the parties in the light of the provisions of the Convention and its relevant practice (for a relevant summary, see Estamirov and Others v. Russia, No. 60272/00, §§ 73 - 74, 12 October 2006).
55. The Court notes that the Russian legal system provides, in principle, two avenues of recourse for the victims of illegal and criminal acts attributable to the State or its agents, namely civil and criminal remedies.
56. As regards a civil action to obtain redress for damage sustained through alleged illegal acts or unlawful conduct on the part of State agents, the Court has already found in a number of similar cases that this procedure alone cannot be regarded as an effective remedy in the context of claims brought under Article 2 of the Convention (see Khashiyev and Akayeva v. Russia, Nos. 57942/00 and 57945/00, §§ 119 - 121, 24 February 2005, and Estamirov and Others, cited above, § 77). In the light of the above, the Court confirms that the applicants were not obliged to pursue civil remedies.
57. As regards criminal law remedies, the Court observes that an investigation into Khasan Yusupov's disappearance is pending. The applicants and the Government dispute the effectiveness of the investigation.
58. The Court considers that the Government's objection raises issues concerning the effectiveness of the investigation which are closely linked to the merits of the complaint. Thus, it decides to join this objection to the merits of the case and considers that the issue falls to be examined below.
III. Alleged violation of Article 2 of the Convention
59. The applicants complained under Article 2 of the Convention that the domestic authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation of the matter. Article 2 reads:
"1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary:
(a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
(c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection."
A. The parties' submissions
60. The Government contended that the domestic investigation had obtained no evidence to the effect that Khasan Yusupov was dead or that any servicemen had been involved in his kidnapping or alleged killing. In their view, the investigation met the Convention requirement of effecti
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