CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 24 mars 2022

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margin-left:34pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .sE5BF05B1 { width:2.33pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s7F175FE6 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:51.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17.05pt; text-align:justify } .sE5C1F6E3 { width:3.33pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s2D9C6089 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s69DCC830 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s35008A5F { width:18.55pt; display:inline-block } .s90B2F37D { width:135.76pt; display:inline-block } .s5A65B3DC { width:46.56pt; display:inline-block } .s44B8752F { width:177.11pt; display:inline-block }     FIFTH SECTION CASE OF ZAYIDOV v. AZERBAIJAN (No. 2) (Application no. 5386/10)       JUDGMENT Art 10 • Freedom of expression • Prescribed by law • Legal basis for seizure and destruction of book manuscript, written by journalist in detention, insufficiently foreseeable and absent safeguards against arbitrary decisions Art 6 § 1 (civil) • Unfair proceedings for damages, given domestic courts’ failure to consider necessity of and arrangements for applicant’s presence at hearings, unreasoned refusal to call additional witnesses and inadequately reasoned decisions   STRASBOURG 24 March 2022 FINAL   24/06/2022   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Zayidov v. Azerbaijan (no. 2), The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Síofra O’Leary, President,   Ganna Yudkivska,   Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström,   Lətif Hüseynov,   Lado Chanturia,   Arnfinn Bårdsen,   Mattias Guyomar, judges, and Victor Soloveytchik, Section Registrar, Having regard to: the application (no.   5386/10) against the Republic of Azerbaijan lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by an Azerbaijani national, Mr Ganimat Salim oglu Zayidov ( Qənimət Səlim oğlu Zayidov – “the applicant”), on 16 December 2009; the decision to give notice of the application to the Azerbaijani Government (“the Government”); the parties’ observations; Having deliberated in private on 1 March 2022, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: INTRODUCTION 1.     The application, lodged under Articles 6 § 1, 8, 10, 13 and 14 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, mainly concerns an allegedly unlawful seizure and destruction of a book manuscript written by the applicant in detention and the alleged unfairness of the ensuing civil proceedings concerning a claim for damages lodged by the applicant. THE FACTS 2.     The applicant was born in 1963 and currently lives in Strasbourg. The applicant was represented by Mr R.   Hajili, a lawyer based in Strasbourg, and Mr E. Sadigov and Mr F. Namazli, lawyers based in Baku. 3.     The Government were represented by their Agent, Mr Ç. Əsgərov. 4.     The facts of the case may be summarised as follows. BACKGROUND 5.     The applicant is a journalist. During various time periods, he was the chief editor of the opposition-oriented Azadlıq newspaper. In November 2007 he was arrested and charged with the criminal offence of hooliganism. Following a trial, in March 2008 he was convicted and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. By a presidential pardon given on 17 March 2010 he was released from serving the remainder of his sentence (for more details, see Zayidov v. Azerbaijan , no. 11948/08, §§ 7-34, 20 February 2014). Some months after his release, the applicant moved to France, where he was granted political asylum. SEIZURE AND DESTRUCTION OF THE APPLICANT’S MANUSCRIPT 6 .     Pending the above-mentioned trial and for some time after he had been convicted, the applicant was detained in Baku Detention Facility No. 1 from 12 November 2007 to 22 May 2008. While in detention, he wrote a manuscript which, according to him, was a book written in a “journalistic genre” and reflected his experiences and thoughts on his ongoing detention, as well as on political developments in the country and his memories of certain events and personalities over the past twenty years of his life. In particular, according to the applicant, the first chapter of the book was dedicated to his cellmates’ stories about the criminal offences committed by them, the penalties they expected to receive, and their experiences of the treatment they had faced from the law-enforcement authorities and courts; the second chapter was dedicated to the “rules of the criminal world”, prisoners’ way of life and the “general facts” about the criminal world since Soviet times; and the third chapter dealt with “crimes” of the “current political regime”, including corruption generally and corruption in the army. The sources for the last chapter were, according to the applicant, various publications that had been published in the Azerbaijani newspapers throughout the years. 7.     The manuscript was in one copy consisting of 278 pages in total. By the end of April 2008, the applicant had written 203 pages, and the remaining pages were written in May 2008 before his transfer to a prison following his criminal conviction. 8 .     According to the applicant, on 27 April 2008 he informed the detention facility officials about the existence of the manuscript and about his intention to give it to his family for further publication. The facility officials took the first 203 pages of the manuscript from him, and the head of the facility orally assured the applicant that it would be given to his family or his lawyer. The applicant was not informed, at that time, that the manuscript was being seized, and he continued to write its remaining pages. These remaining seventy-five pages were also taken from him in May 2008, before his transfer to the prison, with the same promise. According to the applicant, no seizure records were drawn up or presented to him. 9 .     According to copies of two records drawn up by the detention facility officials on 27 April 2008, available in the case file, the applicant requested an official of the detention facility, A.I., to “secretly send” 203 pages of the manuscript to the editorial office of the Azadlıq newspaper for publication. A.I. and two other officials drew up a record with regard to this request. The applicant’s request was not satisfied, and the manuscript was then seized in the presence of the deputy head and two other officials of the detention facility, all of whom signed a separate seizure record in this regard. It was also noted in this seizure record that the applicant had refused to become familiar with it, to provide a “written explanation” or to sign it. 10 .     On 8 May 2008 the deputy head of the detention facility drew up a handwritten report concerning the contents of the first 203 pages of the manuscript, which was submitted to the head of the detention facility. According to the report, the confiscated manuscript contained “indecent ( nalayiq ) and insulting statements about the republic’s leadership” and “information about the detention facility which was prohibited from being disclosed”. The report did not quote any passages from the manuscript. The report proposed that the manuscript be destroyed in accordance with Rule 110 of the Internal Disciplinary Rules of Penal Facilities, approved by the order of the Ministry of Justice of 24 March 2004 (“the Internal Disciplinary Rules”). 11.     According to a search record drawn up on 22 May 2008, the day of the applicant’s transfer from the detention facility to the prison, his belongings were searched, and seventy-five more pages of the manuscript were found hidden in his clothes bag. According to a seizure record drawn up on the same day, those seventy-five pages were seized for examination in the presence of the deputy head and two other officials of the detention facility. According to this seizure record, the applicant refused to become familiar with it or to provide a “written explanation” in connection with it. 12 .     On 30 May 2008 the deputy head of the detention facility drew up a handwritten report concerning the content of these seventy-five pages, making findings which were similar to those in the report of 8 May 2008 mentioned in paragraph 10 above. In particular, he noted that the seventy-five pages in question contained “indecent ( nalayiq ) and insulting statements about the republic’s leadership and current government officials, insulting words directed at the detention facility staff, and expressions about the detention facility which were prohibited from being disclosed”. The report did not quote any passages from the manuscript. As in the report of 8 May 2008, it was proposed that the manuscript be destroyed in accordance with Rule 110 of the Internal Disciplinary Rules. 13.     On 3 June 2008 the applicant’s lawyer wrote two separate letters, to the Penal Service of the Ministry of Justice and to Baku Detention Facility No. 1, asking for the return of the manuscript to the applicant. By a letter of 10 June 2008, the head of the detention facility informed the applicant’s lawyer that, to have the manuscript returned, he should apply to the Operations Department of the Penal Service of the Ministry of Justice. By a letter of 2 July 2008, the Penal Service of the Ministry of Justice informed the applicant that it was within the detention facility’s competence to return the manuscript and recommended that the lawyer apply to the detention facility. 14.     According to the applicant, on an unspecified date in mid-June 2008, his wife orally asked the head of the detention facility about the manuscript. In reply, she was told that the manuscript could not be returned because it contained sharply critical statements concerning high-ranking political figures, and that a decision would be taken to destroy it. 15 .     On 14 July 2008, pursuant to a handwritten decision ( akt ) drawn up on the same day by the deputy head and two other officials of the detention facility, the 278 pages of the manuscript were destroyed by being burned. The decision stated, in particular, that the manuscript contained “indecent, insulting, and abusive expressions about the republic’s leadership, current government officials and the detention facility’s staff, and information about the detention facility’s activities which [was] prohibited from being disclosed”. The decision did not quote any passages from the manuscript and contained no information as to whether a copy of the decision was presented to the applicant. 16 .     According to the applicant, he and his lawyers learned of the existence of the seizure records, reports and the decision mentioned in paragraphs 9-12 and 15 above only during the civil proceedings instituted by him, when the representative of the Penal Service of the Ministry of Justice submitted copies to the first-instance court at the hearing of 27 August 2008. CIVIL PROCEEDINGS INITIATED BY THE APPLICANT 17 .     It appears that on 11 July 2008, before the manuscript was destroyed, one of the applicant’s lawyers had lodged a civil claim with the Sabail District Court against the Penal Service of the Ministry of Justice and Baku Detention Facility No.   1. He noted that the applicant’s book manuscript had been taken from him by the detention facility’s administration with a promise that it would be given to his family or lawyers, but that subsequently the applicant’s wife had been told that it would be destroyed. He sought a finding that the seizure of the manuscript had been unlawful, and an order that it be returned to the applicant. He argued that the defendants had breached the applicant’s right to freedom of expression. 18.     Pending the examination of the claim, on 14 July 2008, that is the day on which the manuscript was destroyed, the applicant’s second lawyer wrote to both of the defendant authorities directly, stating that the applicant’s relatives had been told that the manuscript would be burned, requesting that no such action be taken pending a court decision, and noting that the manuscript constituted the applicant’s intellectual property. The lawyer would eventually receive a response from Baku Detention Facility No.   1 on 27 July 2008, informing him that the manuscript had been destroyed in accordance with Rule 110 of the Internal Disciplinary Rules. 19 .     On the same day, 14 July 2008, one of the applicant’s lawyers lodged a request with the Sabail District Court, asking it to prohibit the defendant authorities, by way of an injunction, from destroying the manuscript pending the examination of the civil claim. By an interim decision of 22 July 2008, that request was refused, with the judge noting that there was no evidence enclosed with the applicant’s claim showing that any manuscript existed or that it had been seized. 20.     On 3 August 2008 the applicant’s lawyers lodged an addendum to the civil claim, noting that the applicant was forced to amend the claim’s subject matter owing to the fact that the manuscript had now been destroyed. Relying on various provisions of the Constitution, domestic civil law, domestic legislation on copyright and intellectual property, Article 10 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, the applicant argued that the defendant authorities had breached his intellectual property rights and his right to freedom of expression, including his freedom of political speech. In particular, he reiterated the circumstances in which, according to the applicant, the manuscript had been taken from him. He further argued that the manuscript was a book intended to be published and could not be considered as correspondence. Moreover, all statements made in the book were within the permitted limits of freedom of expression. Nothing in its content was “indecent” and, when making such a finding, the defendants had not referred to any specific expressions or statements. It was therefore unlawfully seized and destroyed. He claimed 100,000 Azerbaijani manats   (AZN) in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, which claim was subsequently raised, on an unspecified date, to AZN 100,000 in respect of pecuniary damage and AZN 1,000,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage. 21.     The first hearing of the Sabail District Court was held on 3 August 2008. While it appears that the applicant’s lawyers were notified of the time and place of this and other first-instance hearings, it is not clear from the material in the case file whether any summons to any hearings were sent personally to the applicant, who at that time was imprisoned in Penal Facility No. 17. 22 .     At the hearing of 3 August 2008 the applicant’s lawyers requested that the personal presence of the applicant be ensured at the court hearings. The court rejected that request without providing any reasons. It also rejected, without providing any reasons, the defence’s requests to call the head of Baku Detention Facility No. 1 and the applicant’s cellmates at the detention facility to be questioned as witnesses. In those requests, the applicant’s lawyers argued that it was necessary to question and confront the head of the detention facility in order to clarify the contested factual circumstances of how the manuscript had been taken from the applicant, and to question the applicant’s cellmates who had witnessed the applicant in the process of writing his book and were aware of its contents, and could testify in support of his claim. 23 .     However, the court granted some of the applicant’s other requests to call witnesses (see paragraphs 26-27 below). 24.     During the hearing of 27 August 2008, the court examined copies of the records, reports and the decision mentioned in paragraphs 9-12 and 15 above, submitted by the representative of the Penal Service of the Ministry of Justice. 25 .     The court also questioned the deputy head of Baku Detention Facility No. 1, who reiterated the assessments made in the reports of 8 and 30 May 2008, mentioned in paragraphs 10 and 12 above. He also said that, in addition to the statements in those documents, the manuscript contained “illegal expressions” inciting the public to war in Nagorno-Karabakh and asserting that the Government’s then policy, which was aimed at “restoring control over the territories peacefully and by way of negotiations”, would prove to be ineffective. However, according to the applicant, when questioned, the deputy head of the detention facility was unable to quote any particular statements from the manuscript during the first-instance hearing. According to the applicant, this was because, despite the fact that the deputy head of the detention facility was ostensibly the author of the reports of 8 and 30 May 2008, the head of the detention facility, who had personally taken the manuscript from the applicant, was in reality the only person who had read the manuscript at first hand. 26 .     According to the first-instance court’s judgment, at the claimant’s request, four officials of the detention facility who had participated in drawing up the relevant records and reports were also questioned and made statements which were essentially the same as those contained in the reports of 8 and 30 May 2008. 27 .     The court questioned the applicant’s wife and the then chief editor of the Azadlıq newspaper, A.A., as witnesses for the claimant. The applicant’s wife stated that she had provided blank paper to the applicant who had told her that he was writing a book in detention, that subsequently he had told her that the manuscript had been taken from him, and that thereafter the head of the detention facility had first told her that the manuscript would be returned, but had later told her that it would be destroyed. A.A. stated that the applicant had told him of his intention to write a book about political events. 28 .     According to the applicant, during the hearing, the court rejected his lawyers’ repeated requests to hear the applicant in person and to call and hear the head of the detention facility and his former cellmates as witnesses. 29 .     By a judgment of 6 October 2008, the Sabail District Court dismissed the applicant’s claim. It considered that the applicant’s wife’s and A.A.’s statements were unreliable because they had not been direct witnesses of the “information” that the applicant had been writing a book, but had heard it from the applicant himself. It did not accept the applicant’s arguments that the manuscript was a “book” to which intellectual property rights applied and considered that it was correctly deemed to be a letter, since the applicant wished to “send” it to the editorial office of the newspaper. The court relied on the assessments made in the documents provided by the defendant authorities and accepted them at face value, finding that the manuscript was correspondence by an inmate which contained information prohibited by law. It further found that the seizure and destruction of the manuscript had been lawful in accordance with Rules 110 and 182 of the Internal Disciplinary Rules and that there had been no unjustified interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression, or with his property or other rights. 30 .     The applicant appealed, reiterating his complaints. He also submitted that he had learned of the existence of the seizure records and other documents presented by the defendant authorities only during the first-instance proceedings. Accordingly, he had not signed them because he had not been informed of them, and not because he had refused to sign them. He further submitted that he had also been unaware of the manuscript’s destruction on 14 July 2008 and had learned about it only in late July 2008 after his lawyers’ formal inquiries. The applicant argued that, therefore, it was necessary to call as a witness the head of the detention facility, who according to the applicant had taken the manuscript from him with false promises, so that he could be heard and confronted as to the circumstances in which the alleged seizure had taken place. 31 .     The applicant also complained that the first-instance hearings had been held in his absence. He argued that, as the defendants had not been able to specify which specific passages in the manuscript had been inappropriate, and as the applicant was its author, it was indispensable that he be heard by the court in person in order to contest the defendants’ submissions, as his lawyers did not have first-hand information about the actual contents of the manuscript. The applicant argued that, not having been allowed to attend the hearings, he had also been deprived of an opportunity to directly question and confront any witnesses. In this connection, he noted, in particular, that the four officials of the detention facility heard by the first-instance court (see paragraph 26 above) had only signed the seizure records, but had not actually read the manuscript. According to the applicant, during the first-instance hearing those four officials had admitted to not having read the manuscript but to only having signed the relevant records, although this was not reflected in the first ‑ instance court’s judgment. 32 .     The applicant also argued that, in general, the first-instance court had failed to give an adequate assessment to the defendant authorities’ overall inability, during the court hearings and otherwise, to substantiate their findings as to the manuscript’s inappropriate content with any concrete and pertinent examples of the allegedly indecent statements or prohibited information which it had contained. In addition to previously raised legal grounds for his complaints, the applicant also relied on other provisions of the Convention, including Article 6 of the Convention. 33.     During the appeal hearing, the applicant’s lawyer made repeated requests that the applicant’s presence at the hearing be ensured and that the additional witnesses be called. Those requests were rejected without any reasons being provided. 34.     The appellate hearing was held in the applicant’s absence, but in the presence of his lawyers. According to the applicant, during the hearing the deputy head of the detention facility was questioned about what concrete types of “information about the detention facility which was prohibited from being disclosed” had been contained in the manuscript, but he was not able to adequately explain it. In particular, he stated that the applicant had described the fact that inmates of the detention facility used certain jargon words when referring to detention facility employees and that inmates could “send information” through those employees. The appellate judgment was silent as to whether this witness was heard during the appellate hearing. 35 .     By a judgment of 14 January 2009, the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal, essentially reiterating the first-instance court’s reasoning. It did not explicitly address any of the arguments raised by the applicant in his appeal. 36.     The applicant lodged a cassation appeal. In addition to reiterating his previous complaints, he also complained that his presence at the appellate hearing had not been ensured either. Moreover, he complained of the lower courts’ rejections of his requests to call additional witnesses. He further argued that the lower courts had delivered unreasoned judgments, had not adequately assessed the circumstances of the case and had failed to address any of the arguments raised by him in this claim and appeal. 37 .     The Supreme Court examined the appeal on 19 June 2009, without the participation of the applicant or his lawyers or the defendant authorities’ representatives, noting that both parties had failed to appear without a good reason despite being informed of the time of the hearing. By a final decision of the same date, the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ judgments, briefly reiterating the reasoning of the lower courts. It did not address the applicant’s complaints concerning the first-instance and appellate courts’ refusal to grant him leave to appear at the hearings or to call additional witnesses or any other arguments made in his cassation appeal. The Supreme Court’s decision was sent to the applicant and to one of his lawyers on 20   July 2009. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK The 2000 Code of Civil Procedure (“the CCP”), as in force at the material time 38 .     Parties to civil proceedings   had a general right to appear before a court in person and/or act through a representative ( inter alia , Articles 9.2, 14.4, 47.2, 50, 66, 68, 69.1, 72-74, 185 and 379). At the material time, the CCP did not expressly provide for any modalities for personal appearance at civil hearings of persons deprived of liberty. 39.     Civil courts examined cases at oral hearings (Article 173). The parties to the case had a right to, inter alia , make various procedural requests, including requests to have additional evidence produced (Articles 47.2 and   68.2). Types of evidence included, inter alia , witness statements (Article   76.2). 40.     Where a party was not in a position to independently procure evidence from persons or authorities who were or were not parties to the case, it had a right to request the court for an order to have that evidence produced. Such a request was to specify the relevance of that evidence for any specific circumstances of the case and the features and location of the evidence (Article 78.2). A first-instance or appellate court made a decision concerning any request made by a party after hearing other parties’ views (Articles 184.4 and 377). In the proceedings before the appellate court, a party had a right to request the court to call additional witnesses or to examine other evidence which the first-instance court had refused to examine (Article 380.2). 41 .     A court could examine material or written evidence outside the courthouse if such evidence could not or was difficult to be brought to the courthouse (Articles 79 and 202). 42.     The court of cassation informed the parties and their representatives of the time and place of an oral hearing. Failure, without a good reason, by a person who had been so informed to appear at the hearing did not prevent the court of cassation from examining the case in his or her absence (Articles   415.2 and 415.3). 43 .     The court of cassation had competence to examine the case on points of law, but not on points of fact. In particular, the court of cassation instance verified whether the appellate court has applied the material and procedural law correctly   (Article 416). The violation or misapplication of the material and procedural law were grounds for quashing the appellate court’s judgment or decision. The material law was considered to be violated or misapplied in circumstances specified in Article 386 of the CCP. According to that Article, the material law was considered violated or misapplied if a court made a mistake upon application of law, failed to apply the relevant applicable law or other normative legal act, or misinterpreted the law. The violation or misapplication of the procedural law was a ground for quashing of the judgment or decision if this had resulted or might have resulted in adoption of a wrongful judgment (Article 418). The court of cassation had the competence to quash the impugned judgment or decision and either to take a decision itself, or to decide to remit the case to an appellate court   (Article   417). Instructions made by the court of cassation in its decision were mandatory for a court re-examining the case (Article 420). The 2000 Code on Execution of Punishments 44 .     Article 69-1 of the Code, as in force at the material time, provided that, pursuant to a relevant court decision, a convicted person could be transferred from a penal facility to a temporary detention facility if his or her participation was required for carrying out investigative measures or for participation in court hearings in criminal cases against other persons, or if his or her participation was required as a suspect or accused in connection with a different criminal case against him or her. The Code did not mention the possibility for a convicted person to take part in civil court hearings, whether as a claimant or a defendant, nor did it provide for any procedures for a convicted person to request the penal facility’s administration to have him or her escorted to civil court hearings or for the latter to take any decisions in this respect. legal provisions on inmates’ correspondence The Internal Disciplinary Rules of Penal Facilities, approved by the order of the Ministry of Justice of 24 Match 2004 (“The Internal Disciplinary Rules”) 45 .     Rule 1 provided that the Internal Disciplinary Rules (as in force at the material time) defined the mechanism for the implementation of rules for the executing and serving of punishments of persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty for a fixed term or for life. The Internal Disciplinary Rules were of mandatory application with regard to the staff of penal facilities, convicted prisoners ( məhkumlar ) incarcerated in them, and persons visiting those facilities. 46.     The relevant rules concerning the prisoners’ correspondence ( məhkumların yazışması qaydası ) provided as follows: “105.     There are no restrictions on the receipt and sending of letters and telegrams by prisoners, except in the cases provided for in Rule 110 of these Rules. Correspondence received and sent by prisoners shall be censored. ... 110.     Letters written using secret and prearranged ( gizli və şərti ) symbols or with indecent content ( nalayiq məzmunlu ), as well as letters containing information relating to activities of the penal facility which are not allowed to be disclosed, shall not be sent, the convicted prisoner shall be notified thereof, and the letter shall be destroyed ...” 47.     Rule 182 provided that a penal facility’s administration had a right to inspect the belongings and vehicles of persons entering and leaving the penal facility, except persons having a right to immunity, and to confiscate prohibited items and documents listed in Annex 30 to the Rules. Annex   30 provided that, among other items, “all types of documents” (except for documents relating to the performance of official duties) were prohibited from being carried on their person by persons entering or leaving penal facilities. 48.     Annex 9 to the Internal Disciplinary Rules listed items prohibited from being in prisoners’ possession, which included, inter alia , publications propagating war, violence and cruelty, and inciting ethnic and religious hatred. Other legal acts and further legislative developments 49.     The Temporary Regulations on Holding of Persons in Places of Detention, approved by an order of the Minister of Justice of 29 December 2002 (repealed in 2012), provided that detainees’ correspondence was “checked” by the detention facility’s administration (Rules 2.6 and 4.4). The regulations did not provide any further elaboration on the procedures for checking the correspondence or for any detailed rules on censorship of correspondence. 50 .     The Law on Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Persons held in Detention Facilities of 22 May 2012, adopted after the events of the present case, concerned the rights and freedoms of persons held in police custody and in pre-trial detention. Pursuant to Article 11 of that Law and the presidential decree on its implementation, by a decision of 26 February 2014 the Cabinet of Ministers adopted the Internal Disciplinary Rules of Detention Facilities, applicable to facilities designated for pre-trial detainees. Rule 12 of those Rules regulated detainees’ correspondence. THE LAW THE GOVERNMENT’S OBJECTION CONCERNING THE SIX-MONTH TIME-LIMIT 51.     The Government   argued that the application was lodged with the Court outside the six-month time-limit and   was   therefore inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention. They noted that the final domestic decision in the present case had been delivered on 19 June 2009 and had been sent to the applicant’s lawyer on 20 July 2009. However, the applicant had lodged his duly completed application with the Court on 25   March 2010. Although the applicant had submitted an initial letter to the Court on 16 December 2009, it could not be considered as a duly completed application to the Court as required by Rule 47 of the Rules of Court and the Practice Direction on the Institution of Proceedings. 52.     The applicant did not comment on the Government’s objection. 53.     The Court reiterates that the six-month period is interrupted on the date of introduction of an application. It notes that the Government’s objection appears to be based on Rule 47 as worded following its amendment, with effect from 1 January 2014, when its paragraph 6 (a) was introduced, according to which “[t]he date of introduction of the application for the purposes of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention shall be the date on which an application form satisfying the requirements of this Rule is sent to the Court”. However, in accordance with Rule 47 § 5 of the Rules of Court, as in force at the relevant time and until 1 January 2014, “[t]he date of introduction of the application for the purposes of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention shall as a general rule be considered to be the date of the first communication from the applicant setting out, even summarily, the subject matter of the application, provided that a duly completed application form has been submitted within the time-limits laid down by the Court”. The same provision also included a possibility for the Court, “for good cause” to decide “that a different date shall be considered to be the date of introduction”. The first communication, which at the time could take the form of a letter sent by fax, would in principle interrupt the running of the six-month period   (see   Oliari and Others v. Italy , nos. 18766/11 and 36030/11, § 89, 21 July 2015, with further references). 54 .     In the instant case the first letter indicating the wish to lodge a case with the Court under Articles 6 § 1, 8, 10, 13 and 14 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, providing a summary statement on the subject matter of the application, and enclosing authority forms in respect of the applicant’s three representatives, was sent to the Court on 16   December 2009. Accordingly, this letter was sent inside the six-month period   as provided for by   Article 35 §   1 of the Convention, which had started running on 20 July 2009. On 28 January 2010   the Registry of   the Court replied to the applicant’s   initial letter   and instructed the applicant to fill in an application form and send it together with   copies of all relevant documents by 25 March 2010. The completed application form was sent to the Court on 25 March 2010. The Court therefore concludes that the applicant followed the instructions of the Court and that there is no reason to consider a different date as the date of introduction. It follows that the application was lodged in time in accordance with the rule applicable at the relevant time (compare, among other authorities, Oliari and Others , cited above, § 90, and Dzidzava v. Russia , no. 16363/07, § 43, 20 December 2016). 55 .     For these reasons, the Court rejects the Government’s objection regarding the six-month time-limit. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 10 OF THE CONVENTION 56.     Relying on Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention, the applicant complained that the seizure and destruction of the manuscript had constituted an unjustified interference with his right to respect for his correspondence and his right to freedom of expression. 57.     The Court,   being the master of the characterisation   to be given in law to the facts of the case, and also in view of its findings in paragraphs 62-65 below, considers that the applicant’s complaint is to be examined under Article 10 of the Convention only. Article 10 provides as follows: “1.     Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2.     The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.” Admissibility 58.     In addition to its findings in paragraphs 54-55 above in respect of the Government’s objection as to the six-month time-limit, the Court further notes that this complaint is neither manifestly ill-founded nor inadmissible on any other grounds listed in Article   35 of the Convention. It must therefore be declared admissible. Merits The parties’ submissions 59.     The applicant submitted that the seizure and destruction of his book manuscript could not be considered lawful and that the relevant provision of the Internal Disciplinary Rules had not complied with the “quality of law” requirement. Nor could these measures be considered as pursuing any legitimate aim or as being necessary in a democratic society. The assessment of the manuscript’s content by the administration of the detention facility had been arbitrary and incorrect, as the manuscript did not contain any inappropriate information or statements. It did contain political speech which was not prohibited but was, on the contrary, protected by the Convention. The applicant had not been informed of the manuscript’s destruction in a timely manner and he had had no legal or practical opportunities to challenge the authorities’ decision or to have it reviewed before the only copy of the manuscript was destroyed. 60.     The Government addressed the applicant’s grievances under this complaint from the standpoint of Article 8 of the Convention, accepting that there had been an interference with his right to respect for his correspondence. As to the applicant’s arguments under Article 10, the Government submitted that, in the context of correspondence, the right to freedom of expression was guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention and that, therefore, there had been no interference with the applicant’s Article 10 rights. 61.     The Government submitted that the seizure and destruction of the manuscript had been lawful measures taken in accordance with Rule 110 of the Internal Disciplinary Rules, and also in accordance with Rules 105 and   182 and Annexes 9 and 30 of the same Rules. Those provisions were compliant with the requirements of accessibility and foreseeability under the Convention. Lastly, without specifying what legitimate aim had been pursued by the interference with the applicant’s rights, the Government argued that the interference had been proportionate and necessary in a democratic society, as it had not concerned the applicant’s correspondence with his family or his counsel and had not deprived him of his contact with the outside world to a significant extent. The Court’s assessment (a)    Whether there was interference 62 .     The Court notes that in certain previous cases it has held that, in the context of correspondence, the right to freedom of expression was guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention (see, for example, Silver and Others v.   the   United Kingdom , 25 March 1983, § 107, Series A no. 61, and Tur v.   Turkey , no. 13692/03, § 14, 11 June 2013, with further references). However, in cases concerning seizures from inmates of book manuscripts intended for publication, it has found that there had been interferences with the applicants’ right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention (see Nilsen v. the United Kingdom (dec.), no. 36882/05, § 44, 9   March 2010, and Sarıgül v. Turkey , no. 28691/05, §§ 31-32, 23 May 2017; see also Yankov v. Bulgaria , no. 39084/97, §§ 126 et seq., ECHR 2003 ‑ XII (extracts), in which the Court examined under Article 10 the complaint by the applicant, a prisoner, who was punished for statements made in a confiscated book manuscript written by him in prison). 63.     The Court recalls that freedom of expression as protected by Article   10 of the Convention does not stop at the prison gate. There is no question that a person forfeits his or her right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention merely because of his or her status as a prisoner. Prisoners continue to enjoy the right to freedom of expression regardless of their detention (see Yankov , cited above, §§ 126 et seq., and Donaldson v.   the   United Kingdom (dec.), no. 56975/09, §§ 18-19, 25 January 2011). Any restrictions must therefore be justified under Article 10 § 2 of the Convention, although such justification may well be found in the considerations of security, in particular the prevention of crime and disorder, which inevitably flow from the circumstances of imprisonment. 64.     The Court notes that the present case concerns the seizure and destruction of 278 pages of the manuscript which the applicant, both before the domestic authorities and courts and the Court, repeatedly insisted was a book intended for publication. In this connection, he provided a summary of its contents from his memory (see paragraph 6 above). It appears that the manuscript was not written in the form of a letter addressed to a particular person or persons. Having regard to the circumstances of the case as described by the parties and to the material in the case file, the Court accepts the applicant’s submission that the manuscript in question was a book that he intended to publish. Although the domestic authorities and courts classified it as “correspondence” within the meaning of the domestic provisions applied in the present case, that classification by the domestic authorities is not binding for the Court in it its determination that the applicant’s Article 10 rights were engaged. 65 .     The Court considers that in the circumstances of the present case the seizure and destruction of the applicant’s manuscript, based on the findings by the administration of the detention facility that it contained statements and information prohibited by law, constituted an interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression. (b)    Whether the interference was justified 66.     The interference will not be justified under the terms of Article   10 of the Convention unless it is “prescribed by law”, pursues one or more of the legitimate aims set out in paragraph 2 of that Article and is “necessary in a democratic society” for the achievement of that aim or aims. 67.     The principles relevant to an assessment of whether an interference with freedom of expression was “prescribed by law” have been summarised in detail in Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy and Satamedia Oy v.   Finland ([GC], no.   931/13 , §§ 142-44, 27 June 2017); Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt v.   Hungary ([GC], no. 201/17, §§ 93-98, 20 January 2020)