FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF CAIA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 996/18 and 10 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
15 December 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Caia and Others v. Romania,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Anja Seibert-Fohr,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 24 November 2022,
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 Romanian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.
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
JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION6. 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. In applications nos. 4375/18, 21301/18, 40983/19, 58248/18, 8799/20, 13170/20, 14090/20 and 17466/20, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning loss of victim status by the applicants for the periods of detention specified in the appended table because they were afforded adequate redress based on Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences for those specific periods of detention.
8. The Court notes that the domestic remedy introduced in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romania and applicable until December 2019 was held to be an effective one in the case of Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, §§ 23-33, 15 April 2020). This remedy was available to the applicants in these applications, and they were, indeed, afforded adequate redress for certain periods of detention (for details see the appended table).
9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of applications nos. 4375/18, 21301/18, 40983/19, 58248/18, 8799/20, 13170/20, 14090/20 and 17466/20 are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be declared inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
10. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants’ detention as specified in the appended table, 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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). 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 Muršić, cited above, §§ 122‑41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑59, 10 January 2012).
11. In the leading case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania (nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
12. 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 (including its findings in the case of Polgar v Romania, no. 39412/19, §§ 94-97, 20 July 2021), the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention, as described in the appended table, were inadequate.
13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS14. In applications nos. 996/18, 4375/18, 21301/18, 40983/19, 58248/19 and 14090/20, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
15. 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 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.
16. It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION17. 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.”
18. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Rezmiveș and Others, cited above), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
19. The Court further 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,
Decides to join the applications;Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, for the periods specified in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention for the periods specified in the appended table below;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 15 December 2022, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
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
Sq. m per inmate
Specific grievances
Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated by national authorities
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]
996/18
12/12/2017
Gheorghe CAIA
1953
Butuc Simona Ioana
Bucharest
Târgu Mureș and Aiud Prisons
11/02/2016 to
13/06/2017
1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 3 day(s)
1.91 - 2.34 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods 12/02/2016 - 27/10/2016 and 15/11/2016 - 24/11/2016), no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air
3,000
4224/18
19/03/2018
Gheorghe MIHAI
1972
Peter Irina Maria
Bucharest
Bucharest - Rahova and Giurgiu Prisons
04/02/2016 to
14/11/2016
9 month(s) and 11 day(s)
Giurgiu, Botoșani and Bucharest - Jilava Prisons
18/11/2016 to
28/09/2017
10 month(s) and 11 day(s)
1.70 - 2.90 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 16/01/2017 - 28/08/2017), lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture
3,000
4375/18
14/02/2018
Petru DEMIAN
1970
Ţigan Augustin‑Viorel
Ceica
Satu Mare Prison
10/11/2015 to
08/06/2016
6 month(s) and 30 day(s)
Satu Mare Prison
23/12/2019 to
27/01/2020
1 month(s) and 5 day(s)
Oradea and Satu Mare Prisons
28/04/2021
pending
More than 1 year(s) and 6 month(s)
2.37 - 2.94 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods 23/12/2019 - 26/01/2020 and 09/09/2021 - 07/03/2022), lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
456 days in compensation for a total period of 2,284 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 22/12/2019 in Oradea and Satu Mare Prisons, except for the periods mentioned in column no. 5 and for short periods spent in infirmary or transit rooms
3,000
21301/18
24/04/2018
Vasile-Dănuț SURDA
1976
Trif Nicoleta
Arad
Arad Prison
01/07/2014 to
09/07/2015
1 year(s) and 9 day(s)
Arad Prison
19/01/2016 to
23/01/2016
5 day(s)
Arad Prison
26/08/2016 to
24/07/2017
10 month(s) and 29 day(s)
2.14 - 2.50 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 01/07/2014 - 22/07/2014), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, passive smoking
96 days in compensation for a total period of 490 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 01/07/2014 to 25/10/2017, including all the periods spent in Timișoara Prison except for days spent in transit rooms
3,000
42580/18
15/10/2018
Radu-Ionuț ANDREI
1993
Târgu Jiu Prison
10/11/2020 to
09/05/2022
1 year(s) and 6 month(s)
2.12 - 2.93 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods 10/11/2020 - 09/12/2020, 29/03/2021 - 05/05/2021, 07/07/2021 - 16/08/2021, 04/10/2021 - 18/10/2021, 21/02/2022 - 22/02/2022 and 28/02/2022 - 07/03/2022), no or restricted access to warm water, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
3,000
40983/19
04/09/2019
Cristian Ioan CALIN
1976
Pop Maria‑Teodora
Oradea
Satu Mare Prison
26/04/2019 to
01/07/2019
2 month(s) and 6 day(s)
Satu Mare Prison
12/07/2019 to
19/09/2019
2 month(s) and 8 day(s)
Satu Mare Prison
01/10/2019 to
12/11/2019
1 month(s) and 12 day(s)
2.60 m²
overcrowding (except for the periods 07/05/2019 - 30/06/2019, 12/07/2019 - 18/09/2019 and 17/10/2019 - 12/11/2019), mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
6 days in compensation for a total period of 56 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 26/03/2019 to 12/11/2019 in Satu Mare Prison, except for the periods mentioned in column no. 5
1,000
58248/19
02/12/2019
Aurel MOLNAR
1956
Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison
23/12/2019 to
17/02/2020
1 month(s) and 26 day(s)
Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison
28/02/2020 to
13/07/2020
4 month(s) and 16 day(s)
2.24 - 2.80 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature
354 days in compensation for a total period of 1,771 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 09/09/2014 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison except for the period 03/11/2016 - 11/11/2016 spent in infirmary
1,000
8799/20
03/03/2020
Dănuţ‑Marin POPA
1993
Craiova Prison
23/12/2019 to
03/04/2020
3 month(s) and 12 day(s)
2.06 - 2.17 m²
overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, inadequate temperature, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food
48 days in compensation for a total period of 264 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 03/04/2019 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Craiova Prison
1,000
13170/20
19/05/2020
Iulian‑Remus VEZETEU
1981
Cojeanu Vasile‑Iulian
Botoșani
Găești Prison
23/12/2019 to
05/02/2020
1 month(s) and 14 day(s)
-
lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
90 days in compensation for a total period of 461 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 19/09/2018 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Botoșani, Iași and Găești Prisons
1,000
14090/20
22/04/2020
Călin RUJA
1983
Arad Prison
26/11/2018 to
14/03/2019
3 month(s) and 17 day(s)
Arad Prison
22/05/2019 to
18/06/2019
28 day(s)
Arad, Deva and Aiud Prisons
30/07/2019
pending
More than 3 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 28 day(s)
-
poor quality of food, constant electric light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
126 days in compensation for a total period of 655 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 22/05/2017 to 22/12/2019 in Aiud, Timișoara and Deva Prisons, except for days spent in infirmary and the periods mentioned in column no. 5
3,000
17466/20
20/05/2020
Marian‑Aurel CURUIMAN
1982
Craiova Prison
23/12/2019 to
30/06/2020
6 month(s) and 8 day(s)
Craiova Prison
05/07/2021
pending
More than 1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 23 day(s)
2.75 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 04/06/2020 - 30/06/2020), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture
522 days in compensation for a total period of 2,629 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Craiova Prison
3,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.