FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 17427/16
Constantin BUCLOIU against Romania
and 10 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 7 April 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, 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,
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 LAW
Joinder of the applicationsHaving 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 principally of 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 because 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 was insufficient.
The Court notes that in the 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 because 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, was an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law 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). That benefit had an impact on the term of the prison sentences, giving 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 the admissibility of those complaints. 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 laid down 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). Furthermore, the applicants were released from prison or were transferred to detention facilities they are not complaining about.
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, insofar as the conditions of their detention, described in the appended table, are concerned. 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 complaintsSome applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
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 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.
It follows that this part of the applications 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 5 May 2022.
Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan
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’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
17427/16
13/05/2016
Constantin BUCLOIU
1966
Iulia Ciocan
Craiova
Craiova, Bucharest - Rahova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Târgu Jiu Prisons
12/06/2013 to
14/12/2017
4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 3 day(s)
378 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 14/12/2017, except for short periods of time spent in prison hospitals, the infirmary of prisons or public hospitals
18387/16
19/07/2016
Sorin ILIOAIA
1965
Iași Prison
29/01/2016 to
08/03/2016
1 month(s) and 9 day(s)
Iași Prison
18/03/2016 to
29/04/2016
1 month(s) and 12 day(s)
Iași Prison
17/05/2016 to
24/06/2016
1 month(s) and 8 day(s)
Iași Prison
08/07/2016 to
09/08/2016
1 month(s) and 2 day(s)
Iași Prison
23/12/2016 to
28/12/2016
6 day(s)
Iași Prison
08/03/2017 to
15/03/2017
8 day(s)
Iași Prison
08/02/2019 to
15/02/2019
8 day(s)
228 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 28/08/2015 to 04/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Iași Prison
18648/16
29/06/2016
Costel
CIOATĂ-NEJLOVEANU
1975
Brăila Prison
03/12/2015 to
21/07/2017
1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 19 day(s)
Brăila Prison
04/08/2017 to
21/11/2017
3 month(s) and 18 day(s)
Brăila Prison
24/11/2017 to
31/07/2018
8 month(s) and 8 day(s)
288 days in compensation for the period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 28/08/2014 to 31/07/2018, including all the periods spent in Brăila Prison
28609/16
16/09/2016
Dănuț-Săbărel GHEORGHE
1985
Bucharest Central Arrest;
Bucharest - Rahova, Bucharest - Jilava and Ploieşti Prisons
06/01/2013 to
20/01/2017
4 year(s) and 15 day(s)
Bucharest - Jilava Prison
27/04/2017 to
04/05/2017
8 day(s)
312 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 06/01/2013 to 20/06/2017, including all the periods spent in the detention facilities he complains of
32927/16
01/07/2016
Constantin ADAM
1987
Iași and Tulcea Prisons
04/12/2015 to
08/11/2016
11 month(s) and 5 day(s)
Tulcea Prison
09/02/2017 to
21/02/2017
13 day(s)
Tulcea Prison
23/03/2017 to
31/03/2017
9 day(s)
Tulcea Prison
22/05/2017 to
26/05/2017
5 day(s)
Tulcea Prison
08/06/2017 to
20/06/2017
13 day(s)
522 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 13/12/2017, including all the periods spent in Iași and Tulcea Prisons
34005/16
02/12/2016
Andrei-Daniel CARAMAN
1987
Andreea-Gabriela Cadar
Galați
Galați Prison
08/04/2016 to
15/07/2016
3 month(s) and 8 day(s)
Galați Prison
05/08/2016 to
11/10/2016
2 month(s) and 7 day(s)
Galați Prison
25/10/2016 to
20/12/2016
1 month(s) and 26 day(s)
312 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 25/09/2012 to 20/12/2016
37940/16
22/08/2016
Cristea RIBIGIANU
1964
Constanța - Poarta Albă, Slobozia and Tulcea Prisons
03/03/2015 to
10/10/2017
2 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 8 day(s)
192 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 03/03/2015 to 07/11/2017
40837/16
05/09/2016
Săndel PALADE
1976
Vaslui Prison
30/09/2015 to
21/02/2017
1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 23 day(s)
318 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 21/02/2017, including all the period spent in Vaslui Prison
860/17
27/01/2017
George DUMITRACHE
1984
Bucharest - Rahova Prison, Bucharest - Jilava Prison Hospital
05/01/2016 to
18/08/2017
1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 14 day(s)
216 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 27/11/2015 to 10/12/2018, except for the period 09/06/2016 - 23/06/2016 spent in Bucharest - Jilava Prison Hospital
5314/17
06/01/2017
Marius RACS
1990
Vasile Rareş Biro
Satu Mare
Sălaj County Police Station; Satu Mare and Oradea Prisons
08/01/2016 to
05/05/2016
3 month(s) and 28 day(s)
Oradea Prison
10/05/2016 to
15/05/2016
6 day(s)
Oradea, Baia Mare and Satu Mare Prisons
25/05/2016 to
13/09/2016
3 month(s) and 20 day(s)
Satu Mare Prison
15/09/2016 to
13/04/2017
6 month(s) and 30 day(s)
Satu Mare Prison
07/07/2017 to
21/09/2017
2 month(s) and 15 day(s)
Satu Mare Prison
29/09/2017 to
20/12/2017
2 month(s) and 22 day(s)
114 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 08/01/2016 to 20/12/2017
30654/17
06/04/2017
Samet TAIR
1980
Andreea-Gabriela Cadar
Galați
Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison
15/10/2014 to
14/10/2016
2 year(s)
276 days in compensation for the periods spent in detention from 24/07/2012 to 23/12/2019, including all the period spent in Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison