FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF CIRIMPEI AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 44218/16 and 7 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
12 January 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Cirimpei 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 8 December 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:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. In application no. 50799/16, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning the loss of victim status by the applicant for the periods of detention specified in the appended table because he was 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 applicant in the afore-mentioned application, and he was, 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 this part of application no. 50799/16 is 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 application no. 50799/16, the applicant also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
15. The Court has examined the application 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 application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION16. 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.”
17. 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.
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 12 January 2023, 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]
44218/16
21/07/2016
George-Cornel CIRIMPEI
1973
Tonică Daniela
Husi
Botoşani County Police; Botoşani, Târgu Ocna, Iaşi and Focşani Prisons; Târgu Ocna and Jilava Prison Hospitals
14/11/2012 to
09/06/2016
3 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 27 day(s)
Târgu Ocna Prison Hospital
11/07/2016 to
30/08/2016
1 month(s) and 20 day(s)
2.09-2.85 m²
overcrowding (save for the various periods spent in prison hospitals and 14-19/03/2013, 10-14/05/2013, 17-24/05/2013, 11-18/06/2013, 14-17/02/2014, 22-25/08/2014), lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture
3,000
44736/16
20/07/2016
Cristian EDU
1983
Timişoara Police; Timişoara, Arad, Ploieşti, Focşani and Mărgineni Prisons
19/07/2014 to
12/07/2017
2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 24 day(s)
1.40-1.44 m²
overcrowding (between 6-13/02/2015, 10/04/2015-03/06/2015, 03/07/2015-08/12/2015)
inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food
3,000
50799/16
03/10/2016
Andrei URECHI
1985
Codlea Prison
23/12/2019 to
15/02/2021
1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 24 day(s)
Aiud Prison
30/08/2021
pending
More than 1 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 23 day(s)
342 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 09/02/2015 until 22/12/2019.
3,000
63750/16
23/11/2016
Dorel-Silviu BÎRGĂUAN
1969
Chiribucă Marcela
Suceava
Suceava County Police, Botoșani and Iași Prisons
11/05/2011 to
16/09/2017
6 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 6 day(s)
1.15-2.85 m²
overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air
5,000
16495/17
22/02/2017
Petre ILIE
1967
Bucharest Central Arrest; Rahova, Giurgiu, Slobozia, Craiova, Mărgineni and Ploieşti Prisons
25/09/2010 to
08/03/2017
6 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 12 day(s)
1.13-2.90 m²
overcrowding (save for 02-22/11/2010, 09/01/2013-05/02/2013, 18/09/2013-10/10/2013, 10/07/2014-28/10/2014, 10-16/04/2015, 10/09/2015-12/10/2015, 20/11/2015-19/05/2016), inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell
5,000
33300/17
27/04/2017
Lucian ANDRIUȚĂ
1982
Vaslui Police and Vaslui and Iași Prisons
18/06/2014 to
22/11/2016
2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 5 day(s)
1.23-2.86 m²
overcrowding (save for 18-24/06/2014), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, bunk beds, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light
3,000
59138/17
04/09/2017
Laviniu MOŞMONEA
1966
Găești Prison
25/04/2017 to
11/08/2017
3 month(s) and 18 day(s)
2.78 m²
overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to running water
1,000
6915/18
29/01/2018
Viorel PANTEA
1953
Mărgineni and Ploiești Prisons
17/11/2016 to
20/09/2017
10 month(s) and 4 day(s)
2.04-2.16 m²
overcrowding (save for 17-18/11/2016), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, mouldy or dirty cell
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.