RADU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 30485/16 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 282 (30 March 2023)

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> RADU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 30485/16 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 282 (30 March 2023) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/282.html Cite as: ECLI:CE:ECHR:2023:0330JUD003048516, CE:ECHR:2023:0330JUD003048516, [2023] ECHR 282

In the case of Radu and Others v. Romania,

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

          Tim Eicke, President,
          Branko Lubarda,
          Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 9 March 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

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 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. 23413/17 and 27383/17, 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 these applications, 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. 23413/17 and 27383/17 are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be declared inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.

10. Turning to other periods of the applicants’ detention 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 case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, 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, §§ 149‑59, 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.

III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS

14. In applications nos. 30485/16 and 23413/17, 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.

IV. 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, 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 applications nos. 30485/16, 23413/17 and 27383/17 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 30 March 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

{signature_p_2}

Viktoriya Maradudina Tim Eicke

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	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 non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1]
	30485/16 23/08/2016	Dinu RADU 1967	Mărgineni and Galați Prisons; Jilava Prison Hospital 26/10/2010 to 23/07/2012 1 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 28 day(s) Focșani Prison 24/12/2019 to 14/02/2020 1 month(s) and 22 day(s) Focșani and Mărgineni Prisons 03/03/2020 to 15/01/2021 10 month(s) and 13 day(s) Focșani and Mărgineni Prisons 23/01/2021 to 22/03/2022 1 year(s) and 2 month(s)	1.63 - 2.58 m²	overcrowding (save for 25/03/2011 - 05/04/2011, 24/12/2019 - 14/02/2020, 03/03/2020 - 02/07/2020), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to toilet, insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools, lack of toiletries		3,000
	40222/16 27/07/2016	Nicolae SZÖCSI 1966	Satu Mare County Police Station; Oradea, Gherla, Satu Mare and Arad Prisons; Dej and Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospitals 15/02/2006 to 23/07/2012 6 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 9 day(s) Oradea, Baia Mare and Satu Mare Prisons 24/12/2019 pending More than 2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 18 day(s)	1.30 - 2.89 m²	overcrowding (save for some short periods), deterioration in conditions of detention (cumulative effect of lack of physical exercise, breaches of hygiene regulations, lack of contact with the outside world), insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of toiletries		5,000
	40473/16 01/08/2016	Leonard STAN 1963	Galați Prison 24/12/2019 to 25/01/2020 1 month(s) and 2 day(s) Galați Prison 31/08/2021 to 21/02/2022 5 month(s) and 22 day(s) Galați Prison 01/03/2022 pending More than 10 month(s) and 13 day(s)	2.00 -2.57 m²	overcrowding (save for 01/03/2022 - 05/03/2022), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/ rodents, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, poor quality of potable water, insufficient physical exercise in fresh air		3,000
	52736/16 14/10/2016	Cristian NIŢĂ 1989	Bucharest Police detention facility no. 5; Rahova, Mioveni (Colibași) and Giurgiu Prisons; Jilava Prison Hospital 20/10/2009 to 23/07/2012 2 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 4 day(s) Jilava and Ploiești Prisons 24/12/2019 pending More than 3 year(s) and 24 day(s)	1.57 - 2.32 m²	overcrowding (save for 13/03/2012 - 23/07/2012), lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of bedding and bed linen, mouldy or dirty cell, insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of potable water and of food, insufficient quantity of food, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents		5,000
	9479/17 21/12/2016	Nistor‑Isai FAUR 1966	Arad County Police Station; Rahova, Timișoara and Arad Prisons; Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital 11/07/2013 pending More than 8 year(s) and 10 month(s)	-	no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/ rodents, poor quality of food, insufficient quantity of food, lack or inadequate furniture, inadequate temperature, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of fresh air, bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, insufficient physical exercise in fresh air		5,000
	12686/17 09/02/2017	Ioan ALBICIUC 1988	Gherla Prison 25/02/2020 to 30/07/2020 5 month(s) and 6 day(s) Gherla Prison 25/06/2021 to 15/11/2021 4 month(s) and 22 day(s) Gherla Prison 04/12/2021 to 23/05/2022 5 month(s) and 20 day(s)	1.56 - 2.90 m²	overcrowding (save for 04/12/2021 - 12/12/2021), bunk beds, infestation of cell with insects/ rodents, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, insufficient natural light, insufficient physical exercise in fresh air		3,000
	23413/17 18/04/2017	Ion CROCOVENEANŢĂ 1968	Drobeta‑Turnu Severin Prison 5 periods during the period between 29/12/2016 and 02/11/2018 Drobeta‑Turnu Severin Prisons; Jilava Prison Hospital 02/02/2020 to 12/06/2020 4 month(s) and 11 day(s) Arad and Drobeta‑Turnu Severin Prisons; Jilava Prison Hospital 07/07/2020 to 05/05/2021 9 month(s) and 29 day(s) Arad and Drobeta‑Turnu Severin Prisons 14/05/2021 to 16/09/2021 4 month(s) and 3 day(s) Drobeta‑Turnu Severin Prisons; Jilava Prison Hospital 08/10/2021 pending More than 1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 9 day(s)	1.95 -2.55 m²	overcrowding (only for 10/04/2017 - 18/04/2017, 25/02/2020 - 26/03/2020, 10/06/2021 - 24/06/2021), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of bedding and bed linen, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/ rodents, poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, deterioration in conditions of detention (cumulative effect of lack of physical exercise, breaches of hygiene regulations, lack of contact with the outside world)	216 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions, including the period from 12/02/2016 to 02/11/2018 (except for the periods mentioned in column no. 4)	3,000
	27383/17 09/06/2017	Nicolae BUJOR 1967	Târgu Ocna Prison Hospital 17/09/2016 to 04/10/2016 18 day(s) Târgu Ocna Prison Hospital 16/09/2017 to 29/09/2017 14 day(s) Brăila Prison; Târgu Ocna Prison Hospital 27/04/2018 to 02/04/2019 11 month(s) and 7 day(s) Tulcea Prison 23/12/2019 to 17/02/2020 1 month(s) and 26 day(s) Tulcea Prison 25/02/2020 to 23/10/2021 1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 29 day(s) Tulcea, Botoșani and Brăila Prisons 06/11/2021 pending More than 1 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 11 day(s)	2.05 - 2.81 m²	overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of fresh air, insufficient natural light, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of potable water, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to running water, inadequate temperature, deterioration in conditions of detention (cumulative effect of lack of physical exercise, breaches of hygiene regulations, lack of contact with the outside world)	210 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 02/01/2016 to 23/12/2019 (except for the periods mentioned in column no. 4)	3,000
	32382/17 21/04/2017	Marian ANDREI 1972	Mioveni (Colibași), Jilava, Mărgineni, Timișoara, Târgu Jiu, Deva and Drobeta‑Turnu Severin Prisons; Jilava, Dej, Mioveni (Colibași) and Rahova Prison Hospitals 08/01/2004 to 23/07/2012 8 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 16 day(s) Găești, Târgu‑Jiu, Drobeta‑Turnu Severin and Mărgineni Prisons; Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital 24/12/2019 pending More than 2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 18 day(s)	1.25 - 2.69 m²	overcrowding, bunk beds, poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/ rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of toiletries, poor quality of potable water, insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, insufficient physical exercise in fresh air		5,000
	37933/17 21/11/2017	Claudiu Adam OPREA 1981	Arad County Police Station; Arad Prison 02/10/2015 to 13/07/2017 1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 12 day(s) Arad Prison 27/07/2017 to 27/03/2018 8 month(s) and 1 day(s) Arad Prison 27/04/2018 to 18/04/2022 3 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 23 day(s) Arad Prison 13/05/2022 pending More than 8 month(s) and 4 day(s)	2 m²	overcrowding (only for the period spent in Arad County Police Station), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, deterioration in conditions of detention (cumulative effect of lack of physical exercise, breaches of the hygiene regulations, lack of contact with the outside world)		5,000

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