European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FOURTH SECTION

 

 

 

CASE OF MATEI AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

 

(Applications nos. 32435/13, 34092/14, 46833/14, 48459/14, 49302/14, 51491/14, 52446/14, 53438/14, 54354/14, 54542/14, 54682/14, 55491/14, 56258/14, 58288/14, 59242/14, 60919/14, 61680/14 and 62661/14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

7 April 2016

 

 

 

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

 




In the case of Matei 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 17 March 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 and 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, Bahnă v. Romania, no. 75985/12, § 53, 13 November 2014; Toma Barbu v. Romania, no. 19730/10, § 71, 30 July 2013; Remus Tudor v. Romania, no. 19779/11, § 38, 15/04/2014).

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 7 April 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.	32435/13 01/04/2013	Costică MATEI 18/10/1961		Aiud Penitentiary 01/09/2009 to 24/04/2011 1 year(s) and 8 month(s)   Aiud Penitentiary 27/05/2011 to 08/05/2014 3 year(s)   Aiud Penitentiary 11/07/2014 to 01/07/2015 1 year(s)   Currently detained in Gherla Penitentiary	1.19 - 2.5 m²       2.42 - 3.42 m²       2.6 - 3.06 m²	overcrowding         overcrowding           overcrowding	11,400
2.	34092/14 08/09/2014	George Ionuț NICOLAE 21/12/1985	Kovacs Andreea Bucharest	Bucharest General Police Detention Centre, Bucharest 5th Police Station and Rahova Penitentiary 09/06/2012 pending 3 year(s) and 9 month(s)	1.81 - 2.41 m²       3.85 m²         2.4 m²	Bucharest General Police Detention Centre - overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene   Bucharest 5th Police Section - overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene   Rahova Penitentiary - overcrowding, insufficient access to warm water	8,000
3.	46833/14 11/08/2014	Marian ROTARU 21/08/1958		Dolj Police Inspectorate, Craiova Penitentiary, Pelendava Penitentiary, Târgu Jiu Penitentiary and Drobeta Turnu Severin Penitentiary 27/03/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 11 month(s)	n/a         1.29 - 1.52 m²   2.18 - 3.37 m²         1.24 - 1.79 m²           1.43 - 2.16 m²	Dolj Police Inspectorate - poor conditions of hygiene, lack of a toilet in the cell   Craiova Penitentiary - overcrowding   Pelendava Penitentiary - overcrowding, insufficient sanitary facilities, insufficient access to warm water   Târgu Jiu Penitentiary - overcrowding, insufficient sanitary facilities, lack of an adequate place to serve meals   Drobeta Turnu Severin Penitentiary - overcrowding, insufficient access to warm water	4,700
4.	48459/14 30/07/2014	Alberto Marian STOIAN 01/05/1988	Peter Irina Maria Bucharest	Bucharest Police Detention Centre No. 1, Rahova Penitentiary and Jilava Penitentiary 21/01/2013 pending 3 year(s) and 1 month(s)	2.07 - 2.89 m²     2.4 m²     1.05 - 2.87 m²	Bucharest Police Detention Centre No. 1 - overcrowding   Rahova Penitentiary - overcrowding   Jilava Penitentiary - overcrowding	6,800
5.	49302/14 12/09/2014	Ilie JILCU 24/07/1958		Târgu Jiu Penitentiary 09/01/2013 to 29/08/2014 1 year(s) and 8 month(s)	1.32 - 1.63 m²	overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, insufficient sanitary facilities	4,200
6.	51491/14 31/07/2014	Simona GROSU 11/10/1982		Târgșor Penitentiary 06/02/2014 pending 2 year(s) and 1 month(s)	1.44 - 2.78 m²	overcrowding, limited access to warm water and passive smoking for certain periods of detention	5,000
7.	52446/14 12/09/2014	Marcel Valeriu BOBU 27/03/1971		Târgu Jiu Penitentiary 14/11/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 4 month(s)	1.04 - 2.88 m²	overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, insufficient sanitary facilities for certain periods of detention	5,400
8.	53438/14 18/08/2014	Arpad CSUKUR 13/07/1982		Maramureș Police Inspectorate, Gherla Penitentiary and Baia Mare Penitentiary 04/01/2013 pending 3 year(s) and 2 month(s)	3.81 m²           2.38 - 3.33 m²   1.65 - 2.71 m²	Maramureș Police Inspectorate - overcrowding, lack of adequate lighting and ventilation   Gherla Penitentiary - overcrowding   Baia Mare Penitentiary - overcrowding	6,900
9.	54354/14 12/09/2014	Costin Bogdan HUIDAN 05/03/1985		Timișoara Penitentiary 30/01/2014 to 13/10/2015 1 year(s) and 9 month(s)	2.38 - 3.5 m²	overcrowding, worn-out bunk beds, worn-out mattresses, cells infested with insects	4,400
10.	54542/14 13/08/2014	Dorin DRAGOTOIU 17/10/1972		Târgu Jiu Penitentiary 18/03/2014 pending 2 year(s)	1.37 - 1.93 m²	overcrowding, insufficient natural lighting and ventilation, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, insufficient sanitary facilities, insufficient access to warm water	4,800
11.	54682/14 01/10/2014	Vasile BOZA 23/02/1974		Brăila Penitentiary 31/05/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 9 month(s)	1.23 - 3.55 m²	overcrowding, lack of adequate light and ventilation, insufficient sanitary facilities and access to showers   Brăila District Court’s arrest premises on 25/08/2014 - overcrowding (0.25 m² of individual space)	6,200
12.	55491/14 25/08/2014	Mirel Vasile TITILINCU 17/11/1987		Penitentiaries of Colibași and Târgu Jiu 29/04/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 10 month(s)	1.41 - 1.85 m²   1.48 - 2.74 m²	Colibaşi Penitentiary - overcrowding   Târgu Jiu Penitentiary - overcrowding until 19/01/2015 and lack of adequate light	4,500
13.	56258/14 26/08/2014	Traian Ioan RUS 14/05/1983		Bistrița Penitentiary 24/06/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 8 month(s)	1.30 - 2.48 m²	overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene	4,200
14.	58288/14 17/09/2014	Mircea Răzvan SPIRIDON 16/08/1979		Bistrița Penitentiary 14/02/2014 to 10/02/2015 1 year(s)   Bistrița Penitentiary 24/04/2015 to 29/04/2015 0 year(s) and 1 month(s)	1.21 - 2.48 m²       2.17 - 2.48 m²	overcrowding, insufficient sanitary facilities, poor conditions of hygiene   overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene	3,200
15.	59242/14 02/10/2014	Florinel-Victoraș BREBAN 18/10/1986	Breban Gyongyi-Edina Ulciug, Sălaj County	Sălaj Police Inspectorate and Satu Mare Penitentiary 23/01/2014 pending 2 year(s) and 1 month(s)	n/a         1.3 - 1.93 m²	Sălaj Police Inspectorate - lack of adequate separation between the cell and the toilet   Satu Mare Penitentiary - overcrowding, lack of an adequate place to serve meals, poor quality of food, small courtyard, poor conditions of hygiene	5,000
16.	60919/14 02/10/2014	Ninel Constantin BÎRZĂNEANU 14/08/1980		Craiova Penitentiary 16/04/2014 to 12/11/2014 0 year(s) and 7 month(s)	1.29 - 1.95 m²	overcrowding, poor quality of food	3,000
17.	61680/14 22/10/2014	Gigel GHEORGHE 09/11/1991		Galați Penitentiary 07/08/2014 pending 1 year(s) and 7 month(s)	1.6 - 2 m²	overcrowding, insufficient access to warm water	4,100
18.	62661/14 12/09/2014	Valentin BOBU 22/10/1991		Târgu Jiu Penitentiary 14/11/2013 pending 2 year(s) and 4 month(s)	1.04 - 2.65 m²	overcrowding, insufficient number of beds for certain periods of detention, insufficient sanitary facilities, lack of an adequate place to serve meals	5,400

 




---

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