l servicemen under the nickname "Dzhandula".
33. The Government submitted that the investigation in the case had been suspended and resumed a number of times on account of the failure to identify a person to be charged with the offence. The most recent decision suspending the investigation of 15 March 2008 was quashed on 17 March 2008 and the investigation was resumed.
C. The Court's request for the investigation file
34. Despite a specific request by the Court, the Government did not submit a copy of the entire file of the investigation into the abduction of Mr Anzor Sambiyev. However, they submitted sixty-four pages of case-file materials containing copies of expert reports, records of questioning and various procedural decisions. The Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.
II. Relevant domestic law
35. 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 objection regarding
non-exhaustion of domestic remedies
A. The parties' submissions
36. The Government contended that the application should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They submitted that it had been open to the applicants to challenge in court any actions 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 they had failed to do so.
37. The applicants contested that objection. Referring to the other cases concerning abductions in the Chechen Republic reviewed by the Court, they also alleged that the existence of an administrative practice of non-investigation of crimes committed by State servicemen in the Chechnya rendered any potentially effective remedies inadequate and illusory in their case. Also with reference to the Court's case-law, they argued that they had not been obliged to apply to the courts with a civil claim in order to exhaust domestic remedies.
B. The Court's assessment
38. 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).
39. 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.
40. As regards a civil action to obtain redress for damage sustained through the alleged illegal acts or unlawful conduct 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. A civil court is unable to pursue any independent investigation and is incapable, without the benefit of the conclusions of a criminal investigation, of making any meaningful findings regarding the identity of the perpetrators of fatal assaults or disappearances, still less of establishing their responsibility (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. The Government's objection in this regard
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