early and blatantly failed to ensure that the investigation received the required level of public scrutiny, or to safeguard the legitimate interests of the next of kin of the victim in the proceedings (see {Ogur}, cited above, § 92).
69. In the light of the foregoing, and with regard to the inferences drawn from the respondent Government's submission of evidence, the Court is bound to conclude that the authorities failed to carry out a thorough and effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the applicant's husband. It accordingly dismisses the Government's preliminary objection as regards the applicant's failure to exhaust domestic remedies within the context of the criminal proceedings, and holds that there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention on that account.
III. Alleged violation of Article 13 of the Convention
70. The applicant complained that she had had no effective domestic remedies in respect of the violation of her rights under Article 2 of the Convention, contrary to Article 13 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
"Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity."
71. The applicant insisted that in her case the domestic remedies available had proved to be ineffective, given that the domestic investigation, which had been ongoing for several years, had not brought any positive results, and that in the absence of any findings of the domestic investigation, the effectiveness of any other remedy was consequently undermined.
72. The Government contended that the applicant had had effective domestic remedies, as required by Article 13 of the Convention. They submitted that the applicant had been granted the status of victim and therefore had been afforded procedural rights in the criminal proceedings, and in particular, the right to give oral and other evidence, to file motions, to receive copies of procedural decisions, and to access the case file and make copies of the materials of the file on completion of the investigation.
73. The Government further argued that the applicant could have appealed in court against actions or omissions of the investigation authorities, in accordance with Article 125 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure. They cited several examples where individuals' complaints lodged under the said Article had been granted fully or in part. In the Government's submission, the applicant, too, had availed herself of the remedy afforded to her by challenging in court, though unsuccessfully, the investigating authorities' refusal to give her access to the case file. The Government further referred to a letter of the Supreme Court of Russia dated 16 October 2007 which stated that the applicant had not lodged any other court complaints against the actions of law-enforcement officers. The Government did not submit the letter to which they referred.
74. Also, in the Government's view, if the applicant had considered that any action or omission of public officials had caused her damage, she could have sought compensation for that damage in court by virtue of the relevant provisions of the Russian Civil Code, but she had never attempted to avail herself of that opportunity.
A. Admissibility
75. The Court notes that this part of the application is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
76. The Court reiterates that Article 13 of the Convention guarantees the availability at the national level of
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