6.  The applicants were born in 1983, 1966, 1961 and 1969 respectively. 7.  On 13 October 2003 the first applicant was arrested by the police. On 25 March 2005 the Primorskyy District Court convicted him of robbery and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment with confiscation of all his property. He lodged two appeals, which were dismissed by the Odesa Regional Court of Appeal on 12 July 2005 and by the Supreme Court on 14 March 2006. 8.  During the pre-trial investigation and the trial the first applicant was detained at a detention facility in Odesa. In 2006 he was transferred first to the Pivdenna Correctional Colony and then to the Shyryayevskyy Correctional Centre to serve his sentence. In March 2007 the applicant was released from detention. 9.  In 2005, after the first applicant had introduced his application, the Court invited him to submit copies of various documents from his domestic case file, including court decisions and his appeals. The first applicant, while still detained, made a number of unsuccessful attempts to obtain copies of the required documents. In December 2007 and February 2008, when he was at liberty, the first applicant obtained some of the documents, except his cassation appeal, and submitted copies of them to the Court. 10.  According to the Government, after his release from detention in March 2007, the first applicant had been informed that he could come to the court holding the case file in order to obtain copies of the documents he had wished to obtain. The first applicant had not done so.
II.  Facts relating to the SECOND applicant 11.  On 6 July 2004 the second applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of murder. He remained in detention for the entire duration of the criminal proceedings against him. Subsequently, he served his prison sentence at the Simferopolska Correctional Colony. 12.  The second applicant was tried by the Simferopol Court, which on 7 October 2004 found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment. 13.  By decisions of 23 November 2004 and 1 December 2005 the Crimea Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, respectively, rejected appeals lodged by the second applicant. 14.  In order to substantiate his application the second applicant submitted a number of requests to the authorities, including the Simferopol Court, for him to be given access to his criminal case file and be provided with the possibility to obtain copies of various procedural documents. His requests were refused as having no legal basis. Eventually, copies of some of the requested documents, principally court decisions, were given to the second applicant.
III.  Facts relating to the THIRD applicant 15.  On 11 March 2008 the third applicant was arrested by the police. He remained in detention for the entire duration of the criminal proceedings against him. Subsequently, he served his prison sentence at the Berdychivska Correctional Colony. 16.  On 25 November 2008 the Bila Tserkva Court found the third applicant guilty of murder and inflicting bodily injuries and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment. 17.  On 10 June and 18 November 2009, respectively, the Kyiv Regional Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court rejected appeals lodged by the third applicant. 18.  In 2010 the Court invited the third applicant to submit copies of several documents from his criminal case file, including his appeals. Between June 2010 and April 2011 the third applicant submitted to the Bila Tserkva Court several requests for such copies. In November 2011 the Bila Tserkva Court sent him a copy of his appeal. It also informed him that the case file did not contain his cassation appeal.
IV.  Facts relating to the FOURTH applicant 19.  In 2009 the fourth applicant was prosecuted for illegal possession of arms and drug dealing and eventually sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with confiscation of all his property. The final decision in his criminal case was given by the Supreme Court, of which he was informed on an unspecified date in November or December 2009. The fourth applicant was not allowed to keep a copy of that decision. 20.  On 11 March 2011 he was released from detention. 21.  In 2010 and 2011, prior to and after the fourth applicant’s release from detention, the Court invited him to submit copies of various documents from his criminal case file. He was not able to provide copies of any of the required documents, as the Amur Nyzhnyodnirpovskyy District Court in Dnipropetrovsk, which held his case file, had refused to give him access to it.