European Court of Human Rights

 

 

 

FIFTH SECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASE OF KIRILOV AND OTHERS v. BULGARIA

 

(Application no. 12487/09 and 12 other applications -

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

 

 

22 June 2017

 

 

 

 

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




In the case of Kirilov and Others v. Bulgaria,

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

          Nona Tsotsoria, President,

          Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer,

          Latif Huseynov, judges,

and Karen Reid, Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 1 June 2017,

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

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in applications against Bulgaria 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 set out in the appended table.

2.  The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS

3.  The list of applicants, who complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention and of the lack of an effective domestic remedy in that respect, and the relevant details of their applications are set out in the appended table.

THE LAW

I.  JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

4.  In view of the similar subject matter of the applications, it is appropriate to examine them jointly.

II.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION

5.  The applicants chiefly complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention and of the alleged lack of an effective domestic remedy in that respect. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention, which provide:

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 [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”

6.  The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions. The details of their detention are set out in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding poor conditions of detention (see, a recent authority, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96-101, ECHR 2016). It notes in particular that a severe lack of space in a detention cell weighs heavily for establishing whether conditions of detention amount to “degrading treatment” within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention, and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (ibid., §§ 122-41).

7.  In the pilot case of Neshkov and Others v. Bulgaria (nos. 36925/10 and 5 others, 27 January 2015), the Court already found a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

8.  Having examined all the material before it, the Court finds no fact or argument to persuade it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, it considers that the conditions of the applicants’ detention amounted to degrading treatment.

9.  The Court further finds that at the relevant time the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of this complaint.

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

III.  REMAINING COMPLAINTS

11.  The applicants in applications nos. 12487/09, 5138/11, 58285/13, and 2341/14 also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.

12.  The Court has examined those 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, they 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.

13.  It follows that these complaints must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 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.  Having regard to the materials in its possession and its settled case-law, the Court finds it reasonable to award by way of just satisfaction the sums set out 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 allegedly inadequate conditions of detention of the applicants and the alleged lack of an effective domestic remedy in that respect, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;

 

3.  Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention;

 

4.  Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts set out in the appended table, plus any tax that may be chargeable in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(b)  that in applications nos. 31243/10, 61221/10, 57661/14, 69695/14 and 12873/15 the respondent State is to pay directly to the applicant’s representatives the amounts set out in the appended table, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants, in respect of costs and expenses;

(c)  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 22 June 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

   Karen Reid                                                                   Nona Tsotsoria
       Registrar                                                                         President




APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 and Article 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 / Date of registration	Representative name and location	Facility Start and end date Duration	Sq. m. per inmate	Specific grievances	Domestic award (in euros)	Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage per applicant (in euros)[1]	Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application (in euros)[2]
1.	12487/09 11/02/2009	Krasimir Milanov Kirilov 12/04/1968		Shumen Investigation Detention Facility 07/12/2005 to 01/03/2006 2 month(s) and 23 day(s)   Pleven Prison 01/03/2006 to 30/06/2009 3 year(s) and 4 month(s)	2 m²	Poor ventilation, insufficient natural light, lack of toilet in the cell, the applicant had to resort to using a plastic bottle to relieve his needs, lack of bedlinen and pillow. Limited access to showers, lack of outdoor walks.     Overcrowding		7,700
2.	31243/10 07/06/2010	Giorgi Zaridze 01/01/1969	Runevski Nikolay Stefanov Sofia	Haskovo Investigation Detention Facility 13/03/2010 to 11/06/2010 2 month(s) and 30 day(s)	2 m²	Lack of sufficient space in the cell, limited access to toilet (the applicant had to use a plastic bottle), lack of natural light and insufficient artificial lighting, lack of running water in the cell, no access to radio or television, insufficient time for outdoor activities (fifteen to twenty minutes per day).		1,000	200
3.	61221/10 30/09/2010	Adelin Manev Dermanski 14/09/1970	Ekimdzhiev Mihail Tiholov Plovdiv	Lovech Investigation Detention Facility 16/04/2010 to 04/05/2010 19 day(s)   Lovech Investigation 08/06/2010 to 30/06/2010 23 day(s)   Lovech Investigation 29/07/2010 to 18/10/2010 2 month(s) and 20 day(s)	2.6 m²	Overcrowding; insalubrious cells; lack of an outdoor exercise area; exercise limited to fifteen minutes per day in an inside corridor; lack of adequate ventilation; lack of adequate area for visits; insufficient natural light; constant artificial lighting at night; torn up, old and dirty mattresses and pillows; lack of warm water; lack of segregation of smokers and non-smokers; detainees were monitored by the authorities while taking showers.		1,500	200
4.	5138/11 06/12/2010	Vatyu Neykov Valchev 12/09/1940		3rd District Police Directorate, Plovdiv 01/11/2010 to 02/11/2010 2 day(s)     Plovdiv Investigation Detention Facility 02/11/2010 to 02/03/2011 4 month(s) and 1 day(s)   Plovdiv Prison 02/03/2011 to 01/04/2011 1 month(s)	4 m²   1-1.5 m²	Insalubrious blanket and pillow.   Toilet not partitioned from the rest of the cell and situated in immediate proximity to the dining table.   Bunk beds, overcrowding, rat infestation of the cells.		1,700
5.	51789/11 18/07/2011	Mario Aleksiev Mihaylov 05/05/1962		Belene Prison 23/11/2007 to 08/06/2009 1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 17 day(s)   Pleven Prison 09/06/2009 to 15/10/2013 4 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 7 day(s)   Belene Prison 15/10/2013 pending More than 3 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 18 day(s)	2 m²   2 m²	Overcrowding, bunk beds, poor hygiene.   Overcrowding, bunk beds, poor hygiene, cells invested with cockroaches and rats, poor quality of drinking water.   Overcrowding, bunk beds, poor hygiene.		15,000
6.	58285/13 16/09/2013	Mariyan Nikolov Pfeifer 19/08/1964		Lovech Prison 28/05/2012 to 07/08/2015 3 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 11 day(s)	2.7 m²	Overcrowding, insufficient heating and low temperature in winters, very high temperature in summer, insufficient natural light as the newly integrated toilet blocks one of the windows of the cell, bad quality of the food, cell infested with cockroaches and bedbugs.		7,100
7.	75750/13 21/11/2013	D.S. 13/06/1982		Burgas Prison 09/11/2012 to 07/06/2013 6 month(s) and 30 day(s)	1.7 m²	No integral sanitation in the cells, limited access to a toilet between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (the applicant was obliged to resort to a plastic bucket in the cell), lack of running water due to low water pressure, overcrowding, bunk beds, dirty, humid and mouldy cells infested with cockroaches inadequate ventilation, insufficient natural light		1,900
8.	2341/14 12/12/2013	Georgi Ivanov Gochev 30/10/1959		Burgas Investigation Detention Facility and Burgas Prison 23/03/2012 to 13/08/2015 3 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 22 day(s)   Zhitarovo - open-type prison hostel (cell no. 8) 14/08/2015 to 15/10/2015 2 month(s) and 2 day(s)	0.9 m²	Overcrowding, triple bunk beds, lack of integrated toilet facilities in the cells, the applicant had to use a plastic bucket to relieve himself, lack of running water in the cell, dirty and dilapidated common showers and toilets, inadequate medical care, inadequate ventilation, no segregation of smokers and non-smokers.   overcrowding, the applicant had to use a plastic bucket to relieve himself, lack of running water in the cell		7,700
9.	49673/14 15/08/2014	Mladen Spasov Mladenov 23/09/1969		Sofia Prison 11/02/1999 to 28/09/2005 6 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 18 day(s)		Inadequate ventilation, very high temperatures in the summer, lack of integrated sanitary facilities in the cell, limited access to showers (once a week), limited access to the common toilets (twice a day), the applicant had to resort to a plastic bucket for sanitary needs, poor hygiene	829	12,400
10.	57661/14 12/08/2014	Svetoslav Iliev Hristov 20/09/1968	Ekimdzhiev Mihail Tiholov Plovdiv	Plovdiv Investigation Detention Facility 16/05/2003 to 31/10/2003 5 month(s) and 16 day(s)	1.24-4.2 m²	Overcrowding during most of the applicant’s stay, dirty and humid cells, lack of integrated toilets and limited access to the common toilets (the applicant had to use the integrated sink to relieve himself), lack of natural light, inadequate ventilation in the cells, limited access to showers (once a week), no cutlery provided for the detainees’ meals, lack of furniture for storing food or clothes, old and insalubrious mattresses, blankets and pillows.		1,700	200
11.	69695/14 09/10/2014	Rumen Parvanov Parvanov 05/11/1963	Ekimdzhiev Mihail Tiholov Plovdiv	Keramichna Fabrika Open-type Hostel 28/01/2012 to 07/02/2013 1 year(s) and 11 day(s)		Poor hygiene; dilapidation of the cell; insufficient heating during the colder months of the year; very high temperatures in summer; limited access to toilet and shower facilities: at night the applicant had to use a bucket placed in a small corridor between two cells; during the day he used insalubrious, dilapidated and unheated common sanitary facilities located outside of the hostel’s main building; limited access to running water; lack of access to hot water; inadequate laundry facilities and insufficient quantity of detergents; vermin and cockroach infestation in the canteen and the corridors; poor quality of the food; inadequate healthcare; no separation of smokers and non-smokers.	511	2,600	200
12.	12873/15 05/03/2015	Stoil Georgiev Rukov 28/12/1979	Stoyanov Valeri Stoyanov Pazardzhik	Pazardzhik Prison 11/07/2011 to 21/09/2011 2 month(s) and 11 day(s)   Pazardzhik Prison 17/11/2011 to 14/02/2012 2 month(s) and 29 day(s)   Pazardzhik Prison 13/06/2012 to 23/09/2012 3 month(s) and 11 day(s)   Pazardzhik Prison 02/04/2013 to 11/07/2014 1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 10 day(s)   Pazardzhik Prison, cell 808 21/11/2014 to 30/04/2015 5 month(s) and 10 day(s)	2.25-2.5 m²	Overcrowding; inadequate ventilation; poor hygiene; dilapidated cells; insufficient quantity and inadequate quality of the food.		5,700	200
13.	42027/15 20/08/2015	Atanas Mitkov Karastoykov 15/04/1985		Plovdiv Investigation Detention Facility 01/06/2013 to 19/12/2013 6 month(s) and 19 day(s)   Plovdiv Prison 19/12/2013 to 10/12/2014 11 month(s) and 22 day(s)   Pazardzhik Prison 10/12/2014 to 12/10/2015 10 month(s) and 3 day(s)		Poor hygiene in the cell; insufficient natural light; inadequate ventilation; showers once a week; limited access to hot water; toilet not partitioned from the rest of the cell; poor quality and insufficient quantity of the food; lack of any possibility or facilities for physical exercise; constant artificial light in the cell; no separation of smokers and non-smokers.   Overcrowding; no separation of smokers and non-smokers; poor hygiene and mould in the cell; paint peeling off the walls; poor quality and insufficient quantity of the food; infestation with cockroaches and other insects.   Overcrowding; poor hygiene; mouldy cell infested with cockroaches and other insects; paint peeling off the walls; unpleasant nauseating smell; poor ventilation; poor quality of the food and of the drinking water; food parcels damaged by the prison administration; and food often rendered unsuitable for consumption.		5,600

 

 




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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.