FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF DRĂGAN AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 9816/16 and 5 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
28 October 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Drăgan and Others v. Romania,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 7 October 2021,
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 under Article 3 of the Convention 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 some applications, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning the applicants’ loss of victim status for the periods of detention specified in the appended table (see column no. 8), 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 some of the applicants in the present 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 the applications 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.
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, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention were, for the periods specified in the appended table, inadequate.
13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS14. In applications nos. 16069/16 and 16073/16, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention, related to the conditions of their detention during periods preceding the start date specified in the appended table.
15. The Court has examined these complaints 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 that part of the above-mentioned 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 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, as specified in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of applications nos. 16069/16 and 16073/16 inadmissible;Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention for the periods indicated 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 28 October 2021, 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 domestically
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
9816/16
21/03/2016
Viorel-Eugen DRĂGAN
1973
Olt County Police Station and Craiova Prison
01/04/2012 to
24/07/2012
3 month(s) and 24 day(s)
1.27-1.96 m²
insufficient sanitary facilities, lack of natural light and fresh air, lack of furniture, overcrowding (save for the period 01/04/2012 - 30/05/2012), small courtyard (Olt County Police Station), lack of a toilet in the cell and running water (Olt County Police Station)
540 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 - 23/12/2019
1,000
12217/16
21/03/2016
Silviu-Stelian GĂDEAN
1976
Arad Prison
06/03/2015 to
08/09/2016
1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 3 day(s)
Arad Prison
16/12/2016 to
14/06/2017
5 month(s) and 30 day(s)
3 m²
insects, poor quality of food, access to the courtyard only during weekends, small courtyard
3,000
16069/16
18/05/2016
Pavel TALPEŞ
1960
Tulcea Prison
07/08/2020 to
5/10/2020
1 month(s) and 28 day(s)
1.3 - 3.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of potable water, no or restricted access to warm water
516 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 23/12/2019
1,000
16073/16
01/07/2016
Codruț-Mihail TICĂ
1977
Arad Prison
02/04/2015 to
17/08/2015
4 month(s) and 16 day(s)
Arad Prison
24/08/2015 to
23/12/2015
4 month(s)
Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prison
24/12/2019 to
27/02/2020
2 month(s) and 4 day(s)
1,33 m²
no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature
no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, overcrowding
396 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 - 23/12/2019, with the exception of the periods spent in Arad Prison (see Column no. 5) and other facilities he did not complain of (prison hospitals).
1,000
33626/16
25/01/2017
Elvis LĂCĂTUȘ
1991
Stoica Nicolae
Cluj Napoca
Aiud Prison
05/12/2019
pending
More than 1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 11 day(s)
0,77 - 1.6 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, constant electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, poor quality of food
288 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 22/09/2015 - 04/12/2019
3,000
35256/16
07/06/2016
Mihai-Ovidiu LEŞ
1989
Arad County Police Station and Arad Prison
08/11/2014 to
20/11/2018
4 year(s) and 13 day(s)
Arad Prison
14/12/2018 to
10/05/2020
1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 27 day(s)
bunk beds, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, lack or inadequate furniture, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of potable water
5,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.