European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FOURTH SECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASE OF TAMÁSI AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY

 

(Applications nos. 65853/13 and 9 other applications

- see list appended)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

7 January 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 




In the case of Tamási and Others v. Hungary,

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 3 December 2015,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1.  The cases originated in applications against Hungary 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 Hungarian Government (“the Government”).

THE FACTS

3.  The list of applicants, their representatives 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 and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law.

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 ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION

6.  The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention, which read as follows:

Article 3

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

Article 13

“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority...”

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 extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “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, §§ 36-40, 7 April 2005).

8.  In the leading case of Varga and Others v. Hungary (nos. 14097/12, 45135/12, 73712/12, 34001/13, 44055/13, and 64586/13, 10 March 2015), 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.

10.  The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy by which to submit their complaints concerning their conditions of detention.

11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

12.  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.”

13.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case-law (see, in particular, Varga and Others v. Hungary, nos. 14097/12, 45135/12, 73712/12, 34001/13, 44055/13, and 64586/13, §§ 118-124, 10 March 2015), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

14.  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 applications admissible;

 

3.  Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the lack of an effective remedy;

 

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 7 January 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 Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)

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 non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]	Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application (in euros)[2]
1.	65853/13 10/10/2013	Viktor TAMÁSI 09/03/1980	Karsai Dániel András Budapest	Budapest Correctional Facility, Block III. ("Maglódi/Venyige") 30/04/2010 to 13/01/2011 0 year(s) and 9 month(s)   Budapest Prison 13/01/2011 pending 4 year(s) and 10 month(s)	3.75 m²             2.8 m²	shower only once a week, infestation of the cell with insects         shower only once a week, toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, infestation of the cell with insects	18,800	300
2.	66364/13 15/10/2013	Gergely HORVÁTH 13/01/1975	Karsai Dániel András Budapest	Budapest Correctional Facility 23/10/2010 to 19/09/2011 0 year(s) and 11 month(s)   Budapest Prison 19/09/2011 to 19/04/2013 1 year(s) and 8 month(s)	3 m²           3.1 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, shower only once a week, infestation of the cell with insects   shower only once a week, toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, lack of (adequate) heating, lack of requisite medical assistance	9,800	300
3.	67136/13 17/10/2013	József SZABÓ 01/10/1966	Turán Tünde Budapest	Budapest Prison 23/05/2011 to 31/05/2012 1 year(s) and 1 month(s)       Budapest Prison 01/06/2012 to 30/07/2014 2 year(s) and 2 month(s)     Budapest Prison 30/07/2014 to 20/09/2014 0 year(s) and 2 month(s)	3 m²             2.7 m²           3.4 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell           toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, infestation of the cell with insects, only cold water in cell   infestation of the cell with insects, only cold water in cell	12,300	300
4.	67607/13 14/10/2013	Attila MOLNÁR 29/05/1978		Szeged Prison 23/05/2011 to 12/11/2013 2 year(s) and 6 month(s)   Márianosztra Prison 12/11/2013 to 01/07/2014 0 year(s) and 8 month(s)   Szeged Prison 01/07/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 4 month(s)	3 m²         2 m²         3.75 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, only cold water in cell               toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, only cold water in cell, infestation of the cell with insects	15,500
5.	69003/13 21/10/2013	Péter Gyula KÁLMÁN 30/06/1972	Gulyás Gábor Budapest	Budapest Prison 16/02/2012 to 01/06/2012 0 year(s) and 4 month(s)   Budapest Prison 01/06/2012 to 05/01/2015 2 year(s) and 8 month(s)	2.6 m²         3.4 m²	infestation of the cell with insects       toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, infestation of the cell with insects	11,000	300
6.	71318/13 07/11/2013	Zsolt BÓNYAI 31/05/1979	Karsai Dániel András Budapest	Budaörs Police Station 25/05/1998 to 12/11/1998 0 year(s) and 6 month(s)   Budapest Correctional Facility, Block II. ("Gyorskocsi") 12/11/1998 to 01/11/1999 1 year(s)   Budapest Prison, Block "A" 01/11/1999 to 16/11/2000 1 year(s) and 1 month(s)   Szeged Prison 17/12/2001 to 28/10/2002 0 year(s) and 11 month(s)   Budapest Prison 28/10/2002 to 19/09/2013 10 year(s) and 11 month(s)	2.6 m²         2.6 m²             2.9 m²           2.8 m²         2.6 m²	shower only once a week         shower only once a week             shower only once a week, toilet not separated from the rest of the cell       toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, shower only once a week     shower only once a week, toilet not separated from the rest of the cell	26,000	300
7.	71359/13 12/11/2013	István FEKETE 24/04/1987		Szeged Prison 18/12/2012 pending 2 year(s) and 11 month(s)	1.6 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, infestation of the cell with insects	10,800
8.	71523/13 30/10/2013	Imre BALOGH 08/01/1958	Sánta Szabolcs Budapest	Bács-Kiskun County Prison 14/11/2012 to 17/06/2013 0 year(s) and 8 month(s)   Bács-Kiskun County Prison 26/06/2013 to 30/07/2013 0 year(s) and 2 month(s)   Bács-Kiskun County Prison 06/08/2013 to 21/08/2013 0 year(s) and 1 month(s)	2.3 m²           2.6 m²           2.6 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, infestation of the cell with insects     infestation of the cell with insects         infestation of the cell with insects	5,000	300
9.	72597/13 13/11/2013	Károly NAGY 17/03/1969		Budapest Prison 25/12/2009 pending 5 year(s) and 11 month(s)	3 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell	19,800
10.	79737/13 12/12/2013	Rezső József MIHALOVICS 12/07/1952		Budapest Prison 27/06/2012 to 22/06/2014 2 year(s)	2.9 m²	toilet not separated from the rest of the cell, infestation of the cell with insects	8,000

 

 




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

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