European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FOURTH SECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASE OF MACOVEI AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

 

(Applications nos. 50109/13, 63887/13, 73496/13, 17415/14, 20965/14, 24212/14, 24906/14, 27050/14, 36990/14, 37117/14, 39499/14, 39598/14, 40769/14, 42747/14,

48620/14 and 55840/14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

18 February 2016

 

 

 

 

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




In the case of Macovei and Others v. Romania,

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

          Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
          Egidijus Kūris,
          Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,
and Hasan Bakırcı, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 28 January 2016,

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 applications were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).

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:

Article 3

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

7.  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, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90-94, ECHR 2000-XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139-165, 10 January 2012). 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, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 39, 7 April 2005, and Ananyev and Others, cited above, §§ 145-147, 149).

8.  In the leading case of Iacov Stanciu v. Romania, no. 35972/05, 24 July 2012, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

9.  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 (see appended table for details).

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

11.  In applications nos. 63887/13, 73496/13, 17415/14, 20965/14, 24212/14, 24906/14, 27050/14, 36990/14, 37117/14, 39499/14, 40769/14, 42747/14, 48620/14 and 55840/14 the applicants also complained of other aspects concerning material conditions of detention. In the light of its findings above, the Court does not consider it necessary to examine these remaining aspects (see Epistatu v. Romania, no. 29343/10, § 55, 24 September 2013 and Bahnă v. Romania, no. 75985/12, § 53, 13 November 2014).

III.  REMAINING COMPLAINTS

12  Some applicants raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.

13  The Court has examined the applications listed in the appended table 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.

It follows that this part of the applications is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.

IV.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

14.  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.”

15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Butiuc and Dumitrof v. Romania, no. 19320/07, 15 July 2014), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

16.  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 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;

 

4.  Holds that there is no need to examine the remaining issues raised under Article 3 of the Convention in applications nos. 63887/13, 73496/13, 17415/14, 20965/14, 24212/14, 24906/14, 27050/14, 36990/14, 37117/14, 39499/14, 40769/14, 42747/14, 48620/14 and 55840/14 in respect of the material conditions of detention;

 

5.  Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, with the exception of cases nos. 50109/13 and 63887/13, 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 18 February 2016, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Hasan Bakırcı                                                          Vincent A. De Gaetano
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 name Date of birth	Representative 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]
1.	50109/13 15/07/2013	Mihai MACOVEI 08/08/1958		Târgu Mureș Penitentiary - several transits during the following period of detention: 08/01/2013 to 26/11/2013 0 year(s) and 11 month(s)	n/a	passive smoking and poor conditions of hygiene	n/a (no claim under Article 41 of the Convention)
2.	63887/13 30/09/2013	Daniel Nicolae LUPUȚ 16/11/1989		Satu Mare Penitentiary 08/08/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 4 month(s)	1.43 - 1.56 m²	overcrowding, poor quality of food	n/a (no claim under Article 41 of the Convention)
3.	73496/13 11/11/2013	Gilbert Cristian DUMITRU 25/02/1973		Slobozia Penitentiary 14/08/2013 to 24/04/2014 0 year(s) and 9 month(s)	1.46 - 2.54 m²	overcrowding	3,000
4.	17415/14 17/03/2014	Gheorghe TIMIȘ 19/08/1970		Gherla Penitentiary 28/02/2013 16/11/2015 2 year(s) and 10 month(s)	1.94 - 3.48 m²	overcrowding, inadequate toilet facilities, lack of an adequate place to store clothes and food, insufficient access to common showers	6,200
5.	20965/14 02/07/2014	Ionel DASCĂL 16/08/1963	Caba Dorin Oradea	Penitentiaries of Oradea, Satu-Mare, Aiud (transits of one night), Jilava, and Miercurea Ciuc 16/10/2012 pending 3 year(s) and 2 months	1.1 - 3.8 m²	Oradea Penitentiary - overcrowding (2.07 - 2.52 m² of individual space).   Satu-Mare Penitentiary - overcrowding (1.40 - 1.93 m² of individual space).   Aiud Penitentiary (transits of one night) - overcrowding (1.6 - 3.8 m² of individual space).   Jilava Penitentiary - overcrowding (1.1 m² of individual space).   Miercurea-Ciuc Penitentiary - overcrowding (2.78 m² of individual space).	6,900
6.	24212/14 07/04/2014	Cristian GULIE 31/10/1987		Târgu-Jiu Penitentiary 30/04/2013 to 29/08/2014 1 year(s) and 4 month(s) Currently detained in Drobeta Turnu Severin Penitentiary	1.15 - 1.18 m²	overcrowding, insufficient access to warm water, lack of an adequate place to serve meals	3,600
7.	24906/14 06/06/2014	Tiberiu IURA 19/06/1963		Gherla Penitentiary 10/11/2008 pending 7 year(s) and 1 month(s)	1.45 - 3.17 m²	overcrowding, lack of a shower and warm running water in the cell	14,000
8.	27050/14 05/08/2014	Cătălin Daniel ION 15/11/1976		Craiova Penitentiary 02/06/2011 to 17/06/2013 2 year(s) and 1 month(s)   Craiova Penitentiary 18/07/2013 to 27/02/2014 0 year(s) and 8 month(s)   Craiova Penitentiary 17/04/2014 to 06/11/2014 0 year(s) and 7 month(s)   Currently detained in Târgu-Jiu Penitentiary	1.37 - 2.05 m²         1.12 - 2.93 m²         1.3 - 1.51 m²	overcrowding           overcrowding           overcrowding	7,200
9.	36990/14 16/06/2014	Ionuț Andrei OPRIȘ 05/02/1985	Buruian Valeria Mirșid, Sălaj County	Sălaj Police Inspectorate, Oradea Penitentiary and Satu Mare Penitentiary 01/10/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 2 month(s)	n/a           2 m²               1.6 - 2.2 m²	Sălaj Police Inspectorate - lack of an adequate separation between the cell and the toilet   Oradea Penitentiary - overcrowding, insufficient access to showers and insufficient time for walking outside the cell   Satu Mare Penitentiary - overcrowding, insufficient toilet facilities and access to showers, poor quality of food, worn-out mattresses, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, infestation of the cell with insects	5,100
10.	37117/14 29/05/2014	Marian Ionuț BARBU 18/07/1980		Jilava Penitentiary 01/11/2012 to 25/02/2013 0 year(s) and 4 month(s)   Jilava Penitentiary 11/03/2013 to 11/07/2013 0 year(s) and 4 month(s)   Jilava Penitentiary 02/08/2013 to 07/04/2014 0 year(s) and 9 month(s)   Jilava Penitentiary 08/05/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 7 month(s)	1.17 - 1.76 m²         1.30 - 1.76 m²         1.17 - 1.76 m²         1.30 - 1.76 m²	overcrowding, infestation of the cell with insects       overcrowding, infestation of the cell with insects       overcrowding, infestation of the cell with insects       overcrowding, infestation of the cell with insects	6,600
11.	39499/14 01/08/2014	Andrei DINCĂ 29/07/1967		Brăila Penitentiary 12/06/2012 to 26/08/2014 2 year(s) and 3 month(s)   Brăila Penitentiary 02/09/2014 22/10/2014 0 year(s) and 2 month(s)   Brăila Penitentiary 22/10/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 2 month(s)	1.35 - 2.71 m²         2.03 - 2.71 m²         n/a	overcrowding, lack of a shower in the cell and limited access to a common shower     overcrowding, lack of a shower in the cell and limited access to a common shower     lack of a shower in the cell and limited access to a common shower	7,500
12.	39598/14 20/05/2014	Ciprian CRIPEŞ 01/09/1961		Târgu-Jiu Penitentiary 17/02/2014 to 07/04/2014 0 year(s) and 2 month(s)   Currently detained in Jilava Penitentiary	1.5 m²	overcrowding, lack of an adequate space to serve meals, insufficient toilet facilities for the number of detainees, inadequate natural lighting and ventilation	3,000
13.	40769/14 10/07/2014	Viorel COBZARU 14/03/1985		Târgu-Jiu Penitentiary 29/05/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 7 month(s)	1.59 - 1.99 m²	overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, lack of adequate ventilation, insufficient access to warm water, lack of an adequate space for walking outside the cell.	5,900
14.	42747/14 10/07/2014	Sergiu Mihăiță MICLĂUȘ 07/05/1982		Baia Mare Penitentiary 21/05/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 7 month(s)	1.16 - 1.39 m²	overcrowding, lack of an adequate space to serve meals and of adequate furniture, lack of adequate ventilation, limited access to warm water, poor quality of food	5,900
15.	48620/14 21/07/2014	Sebastian STAVILĂ 29/04/1972		Bistrița Penitentiary 12/03/2013 to 06/02/2014 1 year(s)       Bistrița Penitentiary 25/03/2014 to 05/02/2015 0 year(s) and 11 month(s)   Bistrița Penitentiary 08/05/2015 pending 0 year(s) and 7 month(s)	1.21 - 3.3 m²           2.44 m²           2.44 m²	overcrowding, insufficient toilet facilities and access to showers, lack of an adequate place to serve meals   overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals       overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals	5,700
16.	55840/14 10/09/2014	Gavrilă Simion BINDIU 30/08/1984		Bistrița Penitentiary 20/03/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 9 month(s)	1.21 - 2.44 m²	overcrowding, insufficient access to warm water	4,400

 

 




---

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