IANUSCOVSCHI AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 18357/14 (Judgment : Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2020] ECHR 580 (30 July 2020)

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> IANUSCOVSCHI AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 18357/14 (Judgment : Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2020] ECHR 580 (30 July 2020) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2020/580.html Cite as: CE:ECHR:2020:0730JUD001835714, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2020:0730JUD001835714, [2020] ECHR 580

In the case of Ianușcovschi and Others v. Romania,

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

          Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
          Georges Ravarani,
          Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 9 July 2020,

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 under Article 3 of the Convention of the inadequate conditions of their detention.

THE LAW

I. 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.

II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

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

Article 3

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

7. The Government raised a preliminary objection concerning the applicants’ loss of victim status for the part of their detention starting from 24 July 2012 since they claimed that the applicants were afforded adequate redress based on Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences for this part of their 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 the applications concerned. Indeed, they were afforded adequate redress for the periods of detention starting from 24 July 2012 until the date of their release from prison.

9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of the applications 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. In application no. 18357/14, the Government raised a preliminary objection of non-compliance with the six-month time-limit, claiming that the applicant’s complaint regarding his initial detention period had been lodged out of time.

11. The Court observes that in application no. 18357/14 the applicant’s complaint regarding his initial detention which ceased on 4 May 2004 by his transfer to another prison facility in respect of which he did not raise any complaint, was lodged with the Court on 4 May 2015, that is, more than six months after the transfer.

12. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that this part of application no. 18357/14 was lodged outside the six-month time-limit and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

14. 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.

15. 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, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention were inadequate.

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

III. 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 case‑law (see, in particular, Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

19. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1. Decides to join the applications;

2. Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, as set out in the appended table, admissible and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;

3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;

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 30 July 2020, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Liv Tigerstedt Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström

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 Date of birth	Representative’s name and location	Facility Start and end date Duration	Sq. m per inmate	Specific grievances	Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1]	Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated domestically
	18357/14 04/05/2015	Mihai IANUȘCOVSCHI 10/06/1980		Focșani, Galați, Poarta Albă and Aiud Prisons 30/08/2004 to 23/07/2012 7 years and 10 months and 24 days	0.8-2.4 m²	overcrowding (save for the periods of 13/08/2010-20/10/2010, 14/06/2011-8/07/2011, 29/08/2011-5/09/2011, 20/09/2011-21/02/2012), poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to running water, inadequate temperature	5,000	414 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-17/07/2018
	33226/15 29/07/2015	Graţian-Ion MURONI 03/01/1972		Timișoara Prison 21/06/2000 to 23/07/2012 12 years and 1 month and 3 days	0.2-1.33 m²	overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen	5,000	234 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-16/11/2017
	36424/16 19/07/2016	Graţian-Ion MURONI 03/01/1972			0.2-1.33 m²		5,000
	1875/16 08/02/2016	Gheorghe TRUŞCANU 12/02/1960		Călărași Police, Slobozia, Rahova and Poarta Albă Prisons 01/01/2011 to 23/07/2012 1 year and 6 months and 23 days	1.8-2.7 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	3,000	384 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-08/05/2018
	2862/16 19/02/2016	Liviu-Crăciunel MOLDOVAN 25/12/1981		Mureș County Police, Târgu-Mureș, Jilava, Arad, Gherla, Giurgiu, Aiud, Timișoara and Bârcea Mare Prisons, Dej Prison Hospital 07/04/2001 to 23/07/2012 11 years and 3 months and 17 days	0.6 - 2 m²	overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen	5,000	438 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-23/01/2019
	5463/16 14/03/2016	Iosif MARCU 06/06/1958		Dâmbovița County Police, Mărgineni, Ploiești, Arad and Movila Vulpii Prisons 18/02/2001 to 23/07/2012 11 years and 5 months and 6 days	1.1-2.4 m²	overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to potable water, small courtyard	5,000	378 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-08/05/2018
	6814/16 15/04/2016	Nicu MUTU 05/06/1979	Irina Maria Peter Bucharest	Buzău County Police, Jilava Prison Hospital, Focșani Prison 04/02/2011 to 23/07/2012 1 year and 5 months and 20 days	1.5 - 2 m²	overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, bunk beds, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	3,000	420 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-02/05/2018
	15347/16 08/02/2016	Gheorghe-Viorel ANTON 30/03/1987	Alina Gherman Iași	Suceava County Police, Botoșani, Bacău, Rahova and Iași Prisons 31/07/2009 to 23/07/2012 2 years and 11 months and 24 days	2,2 m²	overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food	3,000	372 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-31/10/2017
	17753/16 04/07/2016	Dan-Ștefan MORARIU 04/02/1972		Bucharest General Police Inspectorate, Rahova, Giurgiu, Colibași, Slobozia and Tulcea Prisons 22/02/2007 to 23/07/2012 5 years and 5 months and 2 days	1.52 - 1.8 m²	overcrowding, lack of privacy for toilet (Bucharest General Police Inspectorate)	5,000	396 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-03/04/2018
	31261/16 21/06/2016	Gheorghe DUMITRU 28/05/1965		Mărgineni, Ploiești and Giurgiu Prisons 16/03/2005 to 23/07/2012 7 years and 4 months and 8 days	1.33 - 1.8 m²	overcrowding, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities	5,000	336 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-27/11/2017
	32057/16 02/07/2016	Eduard UNGUREANU 20/05/1978	Irina Maria Peter Bucharest	Dâmbovița Police, Mărgineni, Ploiești, Rahova and Jilava Prisons, Rahova Prison Hospital 02/03/2004 to 23/07/2012 8 years and 4 months and 22 days	1.33 -2.79 m²	overcrowding, poor quality of bedding and bed linen/food/potable water, inadequate sanitary facilities, bunk beds, insects, dirty and mouldy cell, lack of hygienic products, small and inadequate courtyard	5,000	432 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-01/11/2018
	40561/16 13/08/2016	Cristian TĂNASE 25/12/1990	Irina Maria Peter Bucharest	Bucharest General Police Inspectorate, Bucharest Police detention facility no. 15, Rahova Prison 12/05/2011 to 23/07/2012 1 year and 2 months and 12 days	1.6-2.7 m²	overcrowding (save for the period of 23/08/2011-22/12/2011), poor quality of food, lack of ventilation during summer and heating during winter, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, small courtyard, lack of privacy for toilet	3,000	354 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-19/10/2017
	44512/16 26/07/2016	Florin-Alexandru MICU 24/10/1988	Ionela Mărgărit Bucharest	Rahova and Galați Prisons 22/03/2012 to 23/07/2012 4 months and 2 days	1-2 m²	overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, small courtyard	1,000	390 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012-05/12/2017

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