Přehled
Rozhodnutí
FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 52769/18
Valentim Manuel GRAIS DA SILVA
against Portugal
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 19 January 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Anja Seibert-Fohr,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 29 October 2018,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant was represented by Mr V. Carreto, a lawyer practising in Torres Vedras.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Portuguese Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
Complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (inadequate conditions of detention)
- Conditions of detention in Alcoentre Prison
In the present application, having examined all the material before it and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that it cannot be established that the applicant suffered in Alcoentre Prison from severe overcrowding of the kind that could entail on its own a violation of Article 3 of the Convention (see Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, § 114, 20 October 2016). Nor can it be found that the cumulative effect of the other aspects of the detention which the applicant complained about reached the threshold of severity required to characterise the treatment as inhuman or degrading within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention (see Bokor v. Portugal, (dec.) no. 5227/18, §§ 32‑34, 10 December 2020).
In view of the above, the Court finds that these complaints are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
- Conditions of detention before the applicant’s transfer to Alcoentre Prison
Considering the conclusion above, the Court finds that the applicant’s transfer to Alcoentre Prison, on 12 July 2017, interrupted the “continuing situation” of his conditions of detention. The applicant’s complaints concerning his conditions of detention prior to that transfer are therefore belated (see, for instance, Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 77-78, 10 January 2012) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 9 February 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
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 |
52769/18 29/10/2018 | Valentim Manuel GRAIS DA SILVA 1966 | Carreto Vítor Torres Vedras | Torres Novas Prison 06/08/2015 to 12/07/2017 1 year and 11 months and 7 days *** Alcoentre Prison 12/07/2017 pending More than 5 years and 4 months and 26 days | 4 m² *** 1 inmate 4.29 m² | poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities *** lack or inadequate furniture |