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6.10.2022
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FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 20359/20
João Miguel SARREIRA ALBUQUERQUE against Portugal
and 3 other applications

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 6 October 2022 as a Committee composed of:

Armen Harutyunyan, President,

Jolien Schukking,

Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.

The applicants’ complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the lack of an effective remedy in this respect were communicated to the Portuguese Government (“the Government”).

THE LAW

  1. Joinder of the applications

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

  1. Complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (inadequate conditions of detention)

In the present applications, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the complaints about the conditions of detention are inadmissible.

  1. Conditions of detention concerning the last period of detention

The applicants were detained in different prison facilities. During their last, most recent and/or current period of detention, the applicants were detained at Alcoentre Prison (application no. 20359/20), Carregueira Prison (applications nos. 46240/20 and 26363/20) and Pinheiro da Cruz Prison (application no. 28884/20).

Having regard to all of the available material and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that it cannot be established that the applicants suffered in these prison facilities from severe overcrowding of the kind that could entail, on its own, a violation of Article 3 (see Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, 20 October 2016) nor can it be found that the cumulative effect of the other aspects of the detention which the applicants complained about reached the threshold of severity required to characterise the treatment as inhuman or degrading within the meaning of Article 3 (see Bokor v. Portugal, no. 5227/18, § 32-34, 10 December 2020).

In view of the above, the Court finds that the complaints related to these periods of the applicants’ detention (for further details see the appended table) are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.

  1. Conditions of detention before their last prison transfer

Concerning application no. 28884/20, in light of the conclusion above, the Court finds that the applicant’s transfer to the last prison facility interrupted the “continuing situation” of detention. Therefore, the applicant’s complaints concerning the conditions of his detention during the period prior to his last prison transfer are belated (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 75-78, 10 January 2012) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

  1. Complaints under Article 13 (lack of effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention)

Under Article 13 of the Convention, the applicants also complained of the lack of an effective remedy in respect of their conditions of detention. The Court notes that, according to its established case-law, Article 13 of the Convention applies only where an individual has an “arguable claim” to be the victim of a violation of a Convention right (see Boyle and Rice v. the United Kingdom, 27 April 1988, § 52, Series A no. 131, and Narcisio v. Netherlands (dec.), no. 47810/99, 27 January 2005). Having regard to the findings above as to the applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention, the Court concludes that they are not “arguable” for the purposes of Article 13. It follows that this complaint must also be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Declares the applications inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 27 October 2022.

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

Other complaints under well-established case-law

20359/20

04/05/2020

João Miguel SARREIRA ALBUQUERQUE

1973

Vítor Carreto

Torres Vedras

Alcoentre Prison

03/10/2019 to

30/08/2020

10 months and 28 days

Alcoentre Prison

30/08/2020 to

04/11/2020

2 months and 6 days

1 inmate

4.81-8.9 m²

1 toilet

2 inmates

8.9 m²

1 toilet

lack or insufficient quantity of food

Idem

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention.

26365/20

16/06/2020

João RIBEIRO JOSÉ

1945

Vítor Carreto

Torres Vedras

Carregueira Prison

07/04/2016 to

05/09/2016

4 months and 30 days

Carregueira Prison

05/09/2016 to

22/06/2021

4 years and 9 months and 18 days

Carregueira Prison

22/06/2021

pending

More than 1 year and 2 months and 19 days

6 inmates

5.12 m²

1 toilet

5 inmates

6.14 m²

1 toilet

3 inmates

8 m²

1 toilet

lack of fresh air

Idem

Idem

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention.

28884/20

07/07/2020

Bento Manuel ARSÉNIO PEREIRA

1969

Vítor Carreto

Torres Vedras

Setúbal Prison

30/11/2001 to

06/06/2002

6 months and 8 days

Beja Prison

06/06/2002 to

10/11/2008

6 years and 5 months and 5 days

Lisbon Central Prison

10/11/2008 to

28/10/2010

1 year and 11 months and 19 days

Pinheiro da Cruz Prison

28/10/2010

pending

More than 11 years and 10 months and 10 days

3 inmates

1.667 m²

1 toilet

7 inmates

1,57 m²

1 toilet

2 inmates

3 m²

1 toilet

1 inmate

5.55 m²

1 toilet

overcrowding

overcrowding

overcrowding

poor quality of food, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention.

46240/20

13/10/2020

Casimiro JOSÉ FERREIRA

1958

Vítor Carreto

Torres Vedras

Carregueira Prison

18/08/2015 to

26/08/2015

9 days

Carregueira Prison

26/08/2015 to

09/03/2017

1 year and 6 months and 12 days

Carregueira Prison

09/03/2017 to

20/04/2018

1 year and 1 month and 12 days

Carregueira Prison

20/04/2018 to

01/01/2019

8 months and 13 days

Carregueira Prison

01/01/2019

pending

More than 3 years and 8 months and 8 days

1 inmate

7.7 m²

1 toilet

5 inmates

6.14 m²

1 toilet

5 inmates

6.76 m²

1 toilet

5 inmates

6.76 m²

1 toilet

6 inmates

5.12 m²

1 toilet

poor quality of food, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease

Idem

Idem

Idem

Idem

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention.