European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FOURTH SECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASE OF CHIRIAC AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

 

(Applications nos. 57831/13, 68807/13, 69701/13, 69716/13,

80547/13, 142/14, 1730/14, 17108/14, 20213/14,

21880/14 and 29617/14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

3 March 2016

 

 

 

 

This judgment is final. It may be subject to editorial revision.




In the case of Chiriac 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 11 February 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.

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

11.  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 do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out 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 under Article 3 of the Convention raised by the applicants in respect of the material conditions of detention;

 

5.  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 3 March 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 non-pecuniary damage per applicant (in euros)[i]
1.	57831/13 09/09/2013	Claudiu Adrian CHIRIAC 16/06/1988		Miercurea Ciuc Penitentiary 25/02/2012 to 15/11/2013 1 year(s) and 9 month(s)	1.28 - 3.3 m²	overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene	4,400
2.	68807/13 08/10/2013	Augustin Viorel ŢIGAN 16/08/1958	Demeter Ioan Petru Satu Mare	Satu Mare Penitentiary 15/03/2013 to 29/08/2013 0 year(s) and 6 month(s)   Timișoara Penitentiary 02/09/2013 to 10/02/2014 0 year(s) and 6 month(s)	1.16 - 1.93 m²         1.63 - 2.34 m²	overcrowding           overcrowding	3,000
3.	69701/13 28/10/2013	Vasile STOLERU 24/11/1975	Stoleru Adriana Elena Poloboc, Neamț County	Bacău Police Inspectorate and Bacău Penitentiary 24/08/2011 to 24/04/2014 2 year(s) and 9 month(s)	3.2 m²         2.13 - 3.96 m²	Bacău Police Inspectorate - overcrowding, insufficient walking time outside the cell     Bacău Penitentiary - overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene	6,200
4.	69716/13 23/10/2013	Ionel GHIRVASE 02/12/1963	Dănilă Monica Cotu-Vameș, Neamț County	Arrest Centre of Neamț Police Inspectorate and Bacău Penitentiary 19/06/2013 to 06/01/2014 0 year(s) and 7 month(s)	n/a           2.14 - 3.38 m²	Arrest Centre of Neamt Police Inspectorate - lack of a bathroom in the cell, insufficient access to showers (once per week)   Bacău Penitentiary - overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene	3,000
5.	80547/13 19/11/2013	Ghiță SPĂTARU 28/07/1982		Galați Penitentiary 14/06/2011 pending 4 year(s) and 8 month(s)	1.71 m²	overcrowding, lack of sufficient natural light	9,600
6.	142/14 13/12/2013	Dănuț STOICA 02/03/1981	Ţîru Sorin Prejmer, Brașov County	Miercurea Ciuc Penitentiary 15/03/2013 to 07/07/2014 1 year(s) and 4 month(s)	0.87 - 1.9 m²	overcrowding	3,600
7.	1730/14 19/12/2013	Valentin IOSIF 13/01/1979		Penitentiaries of Jilava, Rahova, Giurgiu and Aiud 23/06/2006 to 18/12/2014 8 year(s) and 6 month(s)                   Jilava Penitentiary 05/05/2015 to 03/09/2015 0 year(s) and 4 month(s)	1.52 - 1.93 m²   1.56 - 2.05 m²   3.33 m²         1.88 - 3.9 m²       1.52 - 1.93 m²	Jilava Penitentiary - overcrowding   Rahova Penitentiary - overcrowding   Giurgiu Penitentiary - overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene     Aiud Penitentiary - overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene     overcrowding	12,000
8.	17108/14 17/03/2014	Tudorel MIHAI 01/09/1966		Slobozia Penitentiary 13/04/2012 to 15/05/2014 2 year(s) and 2 month(s)	2.04 - 2.47 m²	overcrowding	5,100
9.	20213/14 07/04/2014	Gheorghe MUSTAFA 04/01/1976		Târgu Jiu Penitentiary 14/08/2013 to 29/08/2014 1 year(s) and 1 month(s)	0.95 - 1.31 m²	overcrowding, insufficient access to warm water, lack of an adequate place to serve meals	3,200
10.	21880/14 31/03/2014	Radu Cristian DEAC 02/05/1979		Cluj Police Inspectorate and Penitentiaries of Gherla and Baia Mare 20/03/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 10 month(s)	2.4 m²     1.73 - 2.06 m²       2.05 - 2.73 m²	Cluj Police Inspectorate - overcrowding   Gherla Penitentiary - overcrowding     Baia Mare Penitentiary - overcrowding	6,300
11.	29617/14 06/06/2014	Djihlah MAYAN-NA 02/03/1990		Rahova Penitentiary 03/07/2012 to 20/03/2014 1 year(s) and 9 month(s)	1.56 - 2.05 m²	overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, lack of an adequate space to store goods	4,400

 




---

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