On January 30, 2014, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered judgments in two cases: Mikiyeva v. Russia [3] and Z and Khatuyeva v. Russia [4]. In both cases the applicants complained that their relatives disappeared between 2001 and 2004 in Russia’s North Caucasus region after being detained by State officials and that the Russian authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. According to the joint press release [5], the Court found violations of Article 2 “in respect of the applicants’ disappeared relatives” and “in respect of the authorities’ failure to investigate effectively the disappearance of the applicants’ relatives,” violations of Article 3 “in respect of the applicants, on account of their relatives’ disappearance and the authorities’ response to their sufferings,” and of Article 5 “in respect of the applicants’ relatives, on account of their unlawful detention.”

The parties have three months in which to request a referral to the Grand Chamber.