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Rozsudek

FOURTH SECTION

CASE OF GAVRILĂ AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

(Application no. 29414/16 and 14 others –
see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

9 February 2023

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.


In the case of Gavrilă and Others v. Romania,

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Anja Seibert-Fohr,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 19 January 2023,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1. The case originated in applications against Romania lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2. The Romanian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS

3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

4. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention.

THE LAW

  1. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

  1. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

7. In applications nos. 29414/16, 4605/17, 15926/17 and 43379/17, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning loss of victim status by the applicants for the periods of detention specified in the appended table because they were afforded adequate redress based on Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences for those specific periods of detention.

8. The Court notes that the domestic remedy introduced in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romania and applicable until December 2019 was held to be an effective one in the case of Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, §§ 23-33, 15 April 2020). This remedy was available to the applicants in applications nos. 29414/16, 4605/17, 15926/17 and 43379/17, and they were, indeed, afforded adequate redress for certain periods of detention (for details see the appended table).

9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of applications nos. 29414/16, 4605/17, 15926/17 and 43379/17 are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.

10. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants’ detention in all applications, as specified in the appended table, the Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its caselaw regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122-41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 14959, 10 January 2012).

11. In the leading case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

12. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject (including its findings in the case of Polgar v. Romania, no. 39412/19, §§ 94-97, 20 July 2021), the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention, as described in the appended table, were inadequate.

13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.

  1. REMAINING COMPLAINTS

14. In applications nos. 29414/16, 40497/16, 61534/16, 4605/17, 6559/17, 23886/17 and 43379/17, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.

15. The Court has examined these complaints and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

16. It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

  1. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

17. Article 41 of the Convention provides:

“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”

18. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its caselaw (see, in particular, Rezmiveș and Others, cited above), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

  1. Decides to join the applications;
  2. Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, for the periods specified in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the applications, inadmissible;
  3. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention for the periods specified in the appended table below;
  4. Holds

(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 9 February 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy Registrar President


APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

Sq. m per inmate

Specific grievances

Domestic compensation awarded (in days)

based on total period calculated by national authorities

Amount awarded for pecuniary and nonpecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros)[1]

29414/16

13/06/2016

Florin GAVRILĂ

1992

Gherla, Târgu Mureș, Aiud and Arad Prisons; Jilava and Dej Prison Hospitals

21 periods during 17/06/2014 and 30/07/2017

8 month(s) and 16 day(s)

-

bunk beds, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to potable water

318 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions, including the period from 24/03/2014 to 30/07/2017 (except for the periods mentioned in column no. 5)

1,000

40497/16

14/09/2016

Florin-Costel BURLACU

1980

Bistrița Prisons;

Jilava Prison Hospital

12/10/2010 to

20/12/2016

6 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 9 day(s)

1.15 - 2.40 m²

overcrowding (only for certain periods spent in Bistrița Prison) lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, poor quality of potable water, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, bunk beds

5,000

61534/16

11/11/2016

Florin PÎRVU

1979

Craiova and DrobetaTurnu Severin Prisons

02/08/2013 to

18/05/2015

1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 17 day(s)

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prison; Jilava Prison Hospital

21/05/2015 to

31/01/2017

1 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 11 day(s)

1.32 -2.81 m²

overcrowding (save for 20/02/2014 - 21/02/2014; 17/09/2015 - 23/09/2015; 15/12/2015 - 16/12/2015; 20/01/2016-10/10/2016), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, poor quality of potable water, bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities

3,000

61862/16

18/01/2017

Constantin CINCU

1981

Rahova and Craiova Prisons

16/03/2015 to

12/06/2017

2 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 28 day(s)

1.30 -2.32 m²

overcrowding (save for 18/10/2016-10/06/2017), mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water

3,000

4605/17

03/01/2017

Mihai LACATOŞ

1973

Nicoleta Trif

Arad

Arad Prison

24/04/2014 to

04/08/2016

2 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 12 day(s)

Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital

31/10/2016 to

10/11/2016

11 day(s)

Arad Prison

03/08/2018 to 28/02/2019

6 month(s) and 26 day(s)

Arad Prison

07/03/2019 to

07/10/2019

7 month(s) and 1 day(s)

Arad Prison

24/12/2019 to

13/04/2020

3 month(s) and 21 day(s)

-

infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to toilet, inadequate temperature, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen

168 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions, including the period from 22/04/2014 to 23/12/2019 (except for the periods shown in column no. 5)

3,000

6559/17

10/04/2017

Costel STÎNGĂ

1970

Irina Maria Peter

Bucharest

Focșani, Dâmbovița (Mărgineni), Arad, Craiova, Ploiești, Târgu Jiu and Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prisons; Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital

10/06/2008 to

01/08/2017

9 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 23 day(s)

1.10 -2.23 m²

overcrowding (save for the periods spent in Arad Prison and Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital and other scattered periods), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water

5,000

10810/17

16/01/2017

Gheorghe CĂPĂŢÎNĂ

1984

Nicoleta Trif

Arad

Arad County Police Station; Arad and Timișoara Prisons; Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital

06/04/2015 to

26/01/2017

1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 21 day(s)

2 - 2.25 m²

overcrowding (save for the periods spent in Arad Prison and Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital), lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food, lack of toiletries, inadequate temperature

3,000

10839/17

18/01/2017

Ilie ARHIRE

1972

Elisabeta Janet Ardelianu

Bacău

Rahova, Iași, Tulcea, Botoșani, and Vaslui Prisons

04/08/2011 to

29/01/2016

4 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 26 day(s)

Focșani Prison

05/02/2016 to

17/01/2017

11 month(s) and 13 day(s)

1.21 -2.17 m²

overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of potable water

5,000

15926/17

17/03/2017

Mihai-Marius MUNTEAN

1984

Arad Prison

11/11/2019 to 28/11/2019

18 day(s)

Arad Prison

05/12/2019 to

16/07/2020

7 month(s) and 12 day(s)

-

infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient natural light

24 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 12/01/2017 to 24/05/2017

120 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 05/03/2018 to 23/12/2019 (except for the periods spent in Arad Prison)

1,000

18172/17

08/02/2017

Béla TALPOS

1968

Ioan Cătălin Daniel Trif

Satu Mare

Oradea, Baia Mare and Satu Mare Prisons; Dej Prison Hospital

30/12/2015 to

22/02/2017

1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 24 day(s)

1.30 -2.23 m²

overcrowding (save for 30/12/2015 - 21/01/2016; 11/04/2016 - 04/05/2016; 20/10/2016-18/11/2016), bunk beds, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, constant electric light, mouldy or dirty cell

3,000

23886/17

21/03/2017

Ciprian-Dudu DEACU

1976

Găești and Codlea Prisons

10/04/2015 to

18/03/2016

11 month(s) and 9 day(s)

Găești and Codlea Prisons

24/03/2016 to

09/01/2017

9 month(s) and 17 day(s)

2.25 -2.76 m²

overcrowding (save for 14/04/2016-20/04/2016), lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities

3,000

43379/17

12/02/2018

Vasile CERCEL

1982

Arad Prison

07/11/2016 to

28/11/2016

22 day(s)

Arad Prison

15/12/2016 to

27/11/2017

11 month(s) and 13 day(s)

Arad Prison

21/12/2017 to

18/08/2018

7 month(s) and 29 day(s)

-

bunk beds, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of food

6 days in compensation for certain periods of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 03/11/2016 to 18/08/2018 (except for the periods shown in column no. 5)

3,000

52795/17

17/07/2017

Ioan MOTTL

1976

Marius-Sorin Moldovan

Cluj Napoca

Timiş County Police Station; Timişoara, Jilava, Baia Mare, Dâmbovița (Mărgineni), Aiud, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Craiova, Arad and Gherla Prisons; Jilava, Dej and Mioveni Prison Hospitals

20/08/1997 to

31/01/2017

19 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 12 day(s)

1.34 -2.72 m²

overcrowding (save for certain rather scattered periods), no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food, bunk beds, insufficient number of sleeping places, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen

5,000

75492/17

17/10/2017

Ştefan VUŞCA

1985

Cristea Paul

Oradea

Oradea Prison

25/05/2016 to

12/09/2017

1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 19 day(s)

1.46 m²

overcrowding (save for 25/05/2016 - 15/06/2016, 27/04/2017-12/09/2017), mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents

3,000

80865/17

22/11/2017

Radu-Sebastian POPA

1973

Rahova Prison

12/11/2014 to

13/07/2017

2 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 2 day(s)

2.41 -2.79 m²

overcrowding (save for 01/02/2017-07/07/2017), mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food

3,000


[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.