Communicated on 4 September 2018
FOURTH SECTION
Applications nos. 66592/16 and 67581/16
Florin BARONCEA against Romania
and Dumitru BILICI against Romania
lodged on 10 November 2016 and 27 March 2017 respectively
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applications concern the applicants’ complaints that they had contracted tuberculosis while in prison, as a result of the improper conditions of detention.
The applicant in application no. 66592/16 had lodged civil tort claims against State authorities asking for non-pecuniary damages incurred on account of the harm suffered; by a final judgment of 22 May 2016 the Botoşani County Court allowed the applicant’s claims and granted him RON 10,000 (approximately EUR 2,100). The applicant claims that this amount does not constitute appropriate reparation, in view of the irreversible harm suffered.
The applicant in application no. 67581/16 had similarly asked for
non-pecuniary damages before the delegate judge of the penitentiary. His claims were finally dismissed on 16 February 2017 by the Arad
First-Instance Criminal Court, notably on the ground that such claims should have been brought by the applicant before the civil courts in tort proceedings.
QUESTIONS IN RESPECT OF INDIVIDUAL APPLICATIONS
1. Application no. 66592/16
Can the applicant claim to be a victim of a breach of Article 3 of the Convention in view of the judgment of 22 May 2016 granting him moral damages for the harm invoked (see also Fűlöp v. Romania, no. 18999/04, § 55, 24 July 2012)?
2. Application no. 67581/16
Has the applicant properly exhausted the available domestic remedies in respect of his complaint under Article 3 of the Convention, taking also into consideration on the one hand the reasoning of the domestic judgment of 16 February 2017, and on the other hand the Court’s relevant case-law on the matter (see Fűlöp, v. Romania, no. 18999/04, § 31, 24 July 2012)?
The parties are requested to substantiate their replies by means of examples of recent court decisions in connection with breaches of this kind.
COMMON QUESTION tO THE PARTIES
Has there been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the applicants’ infection with tuberculosis while in prison, allegedly due to the inadequate conditions of detention therein?
Appendix
Application no. 66592/16
Florin BARONCEA is a Romanian national who was born in 1976, lives in Botoșani and is represented by A. Drăgoi
Application no. 67581/16
Dumitru BILICI is a Romanian national who was born in 1986 and lives in Cermei, Arad
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