both] transcripts that your statements [as set out in the transcripts] were read out to you by the investigator, after which they were signed by you. The transcripts met the requirements of the Code on Criminal Procedure."
D. Request for information
59. Despite a specific request by the Court the Government did not submit a copy of the file in criminal case No. 23177, having provided only copies of decisions to suspend and resume the investigation and to grant victim status, and of the transcripts of the interviews with the first and fifth applicants. Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.
II. Relevant domestic law
60. For a summary of relevant domestic law see Akhmadova and Sadulayeva v. Russia (No. 40464/02, § 67 - 69, 10 May 2007).
THE LAW
I. The Government's preliminary objection
A. Arguments of the parties
61. The Government contended that the application should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, since the investigation into the abduction of Mr Magomed Dokuyev had not yet been completed. They also argued that it had been open to the applicants to challenge in court any actions or omissions by the investigating or other law-enforcement authorities during the investigation as well as to apply to the courts to have Mr Magomed Dokuyev declared a missing person; however, they had not availed themselves of any such remedy.
62. The applicants disputed that objection. In their view, the fact that the investigation had been pending for seven years with no tangible results proved that it was an ineffective remedy in this case. They further argued that in the Chechen Republic a court appeal against a decision of an investigator would be futile and the remedy referred to was illusory and ineffective.
B. The Court's assessment
63. In the present case, the Court took no decision about the exhaustion of domestic remedies at the admissibility stage, having found that this question was too closely linked to the merits. It will now proceed to 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).
64. The Court reiterates that Article 35 § 1 of the Convention provides for a distribution of the burden of proof. It is incumbent on the Government claiming non-exhaustion to satisfy the Court that the remedy was an effective one available in theory and in practice at the relevant time, that is to say, that it was accessible, capable of providing redress in respect of the applicant's complaints and offered reasonable prospects of success (see Selmouni v. France [GC], No. 25803/94, § 76, ECHR 1999-V, and Mifsud v. France (dec.), No. 57220/00, § 15, ECHR 2002-VIII).
65. As regards the Government's argument that the applicants failed to apply to the courts to have Mr Magomed Dokuyev declared a missing person, the Court notes that they provided no information as to how such proceedings could have provided the applicants with the adequate redress. Accordingly, the Court finds that the Government did not substantiate that the remedy the applicants had allegedly failed to make use of was an effective one (see, among other authorities, Kranz v. Poland, No. 6214/02, § 23, 17 February 2004, and Skawinska v. Poland (dec.), No. 42096/98, 4 March 2003).
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