FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 18551/16
Vasilică ANCHIDIN against Romania
and 14 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 21 January 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAWJoinder of the applications
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.Complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (inadequate conditions of detention)
The applicants complained about the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The Government argued mainly that the applicants had lost their victim status due to the fact that they had benefitted from the remedy offered by Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences. They asked the Court to reject the present applications for being incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention.
The applicants disagreed claiming that the compensation awarded to them had been insufficient.
The Court notes that, in its recent decision Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, 15 April 2020) it has examined similar applications as the ones in the present case and declared them inadmissible considering that the applicants had lost their victim status. The Court noted that Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences, adopted following the pilot judgment in the case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania (nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017) and in force between October 2017 and December 2019, had been an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law had set forth a compensatory remedy, available for periods of detention ranging from 2012 to 2019 and allowing the deduction of six days for 30 days spent in conditions of detention that fell short of standards compatible with Article 3 of the Convention (see Dîrjan and Ştefan, cited above, § 28). This benefit had impact on the term of the prison sentences giving the detainees an opportunity of earlier release on parole.
Turning to the circumstances of the present cases, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on their admissibility. The above-mentioned remedy was available to the applicants in the present applications and, indeed, they benefitted from it. Thus, on different dates, the domestic authorities, applying the provisions described in the abovementioned decision Dîrjan and Ştefan, awarded compensation, through the reduction of days, to the applicants for the entire period of detention spent in inadequate conditions of which they complained (for further details see the appended table).
The Court is therefore satisfied that the applicants have been afforded adequate redress and can no longer claim to be victims of a violation of their rights under Article 3 of the Convention in respect of the periods specified in the appended table. It follows that the applications in this part are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.Remaining complaints
In applications nos. 18551/16, 24394/16, 34095/16, and 38292/16, the applicants also raised complaints under Article 3 of the Convention in relation to periods of detention preceding the periods of detention specified in the appended table.
The Court has examined these applications 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 meet the admissibility criteria set out in Article 35 § 1 of the Convention as they were lodged outside the six-month time-limit.
It follows that this part of applications nos. 18551/16, 24394/16, 34095/16, and 38292/16 must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 11 February 2021.
{signature_p_2}
Liv TigerstedtArmen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated domestically
18551/16
03/05/2016
Vasilică ANCHIDIN
1975
Bacău, Vaslui, Tulcea and Iaşi Prisons
25/05/2015 to
02/04/2017
1 year and 10 months and 9 days
162 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 05/02/2015 - 29/03/2015 and 25/05/2015 - 08/11/2017
24394/16
01/08/2016
Valentin VELEA
1974
Velea Marcela
Galati
Galați, Brăila and Tulcea Prisons
03/06/2015 to
19/02/2019
3 years and 8 months and 17 days
468 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/12/2012 - 19/02/2019
34095/16
01/07/2016
Ionel CRISTEA
1976
Peter Irina Maria
Bucharest
Poarta Albă and Tulcea Prisons
28/09/2015 to
21/11/2018
3 years and 1 month and 25 days
438 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 - 21/11/2018
36792/16
20/07/2016
Cristian NICOLAI
1983
Galați and Brăila Prisons
07/03/2014 to
14/11/2017
3 years and 8 months and 8 days
264 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 - 14/11/2017
38292/16
29/07/2016
Aurelian MIHAI
1985
Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prison
13/02/2014 to
15/09/2016
2 years and 7 months and 3 days
384 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 - 31/10/2017
42369/16
21/09/2016
Gheorghe SĂNDULEASA
1981
Iași and Miercurea Ciuc Prisons
29/04/2015 to
22/08/2017
2 years and 3 months and 25 days
324 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 29/04/2015 - 29/11/2019
42427/16
19/09/2016
Petrică-Iulian ALUPEI
1993
Fernandez Pinilla Maria Del Carmen
Alicante
Bucharest Police detention facilities no. 5, Galați County Police Station, Tichilești, Bacău, Brăila and Galați Prisons
26/03/2014 to
12/02/2019
4 years and 10 months and 18 days
342 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 26/03/2014 - 23/12/2019
43923/16
24/10/2016
Constantin ȘTEFĂNESCU
1971
Rahova and Colibași Prisons
17/04/2015 to
10/06/2019
4 years and 1 month and 25 days
330 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 17/04/2015 - 23/12/2019
45054/16
25/07/2016
Cătălin HALIUC
1979
Biro Vasile Rareș
Satu Mare
Satu Mare County Police Station, Oradea, Arad and Satu Mare Prisons
09/02/2015 to
09/10/2018
3 years and 8 months and 1 day
246 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 09/02/2015 - 09/10/2018
45062/16
26/07/2016
Marian CORNEA
1980
Mărgărit Ionela
Bucarest
Galaţi and Brăila Prisons
25/09/2014 to
17/07/2018
3 years and 9 months and 23 days
270 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 25/09/2014 - 17/07/2018
45612/16
29/08/2016
Robert KÖPE-FALNAGY
1986
Miercurea-Ciuc, Mărgineni, Arad, Dej and Jilava Prisons
05/12/2012 to
25/04/2017
4 years and 4 months and 21 days
474 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 30/10/2012 - 03/09/2019
46783/16
25/10/2016
Istvan KOSKODAR
1977
Peter Irina Maria
Bucharest
Târgu-Mureş and Aiud Prisons
16/12/2015 to
19/03/2019
3 years and 3 months and 4 days
210 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 16/12/2015 - 19/03/2019
46831/16
13/12/2016
Constantin-Adrian NĂSTASE
1983
Câmpina Arrest, Mărgineni, Ploieşti, Jilava and Giurgiu Prisons
17/01/2013 to
13/02/2018
5 years and 28 days
172 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 17/01/2013 - 13/02/2018
47154/16
29/08/2016
Alin-Gabriel ANDREI
1991
Peter Irina Maria
Bucharest
Bucharest Central Arrest, Rahova and Giurgiu Prisons
30/07/2015 to
12/07/2017
1 year and 11 months and 13 days
312 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 30/07/2015 - 23/12/2019
47482/16
08/11/2016
Andrei SILEANU
1970
Peter Irina Maria
Bucharest
Rahova Prison
02/03/2016 to
24/04/2018
2 years and 1 month and 23 days
156 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 02/03/2016 - 24/04/2018
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