e report on the 1998 visit, CPT (99) 26; paragraphs 48 and 50 of the report on the 1999 visit, CPT (2000) 7; paragraph 52 of the report on the 2000 visit, CPT (2001) 2).
...
125. As during previous visits, many prisoners expressed scepticism about the operation of the complaints procedure. In particular, the view was expressed that it was not possible to complain in a confidential manner to an outside authority. In fact, all complaints, regardless of the addressee, were registered by staff in a special book which also contained references to the nature of the complaint. At Colony No 8, the supervising prosecutor indicated that, during his inspections, he was usually accompanied by senior staff members and prisoners would normally not request to meet him in private "because they know that all complaints usually pass through the colony's administration".
In the light of the above, the CPT reiterates its recommendation that the Russian authorities review the application of complaints procedures, with a view to ensuring that they are operating effectively. If necessary, the existing arrangements should be modified in order to guarantee that prisoners can make complaints to outside bodies on a truly confidential basis."
THE LAW
I. Alleged violation of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
82. The applicant complained that his detention from 15 June 1998 to 25 April 2005 in allegedly appalling conditions was in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
He also claimed that he did not have at his disposal an effective remedy for the violation of the guarantee against ill-treatment, which is required under Article 13 of the Convention:
"Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority..."
A. Submissions by the parties
83. The Government argued that the applicant had not exhausted the domestic remedies available to him. In particular, he had not complained about the conditions of his detention to a court. Relying on their description of the prison, the Government further asserted that the conditions in it were satisfactory. The conditions complied with the hygienic standards of domestic penitentiary law and fell far short of "inhuman treatment", as developed in the Convention case-law. During the applicant's stay in the prison the cells were indeed overcrowded, but this overcrowding was not excessive, and in any event, in each cell the applicant was provided with an individual sleeping place. Lastly, the Government argued that when examining the conditions of the applicant's detention the Court should only have regard to the period starting from 18 March 2002, claiming that the preceding period fell outside the six-month time limit set out in Article 35 § 1 of the Convention.
84. The applicant submitted that he had complained about the conditions of his detention to the Prosecutor's Office, but had received no reply to his complaint. He had also brought this issue before the trial court. The applicant further challenged the Government's description of the conditions of his detention as factually inaccurate. He insisted that the cells had at all times been severely overcrowded.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
85. The Government raised the objection of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies by the applicant. The Court considers that the issue of exhaustion of domestic remedies is closely linked to the merits of the applicant's complaint that he did not have at his disposal an effective remedy for complaining about the inhuman and degrading conditions of his detenti
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