FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF GOGOȘ AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 583/19 and 9 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
9 June 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Gogoș 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 19 May 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. 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 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, (including its findings in the recent 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. 5800/19, 5890/19, 10822/19, 11783/19, 30580/19 and 35183/19, 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.
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 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.
18. 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 9 June 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 domestically
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
583/19
17/01/2019
Aurel GOGOȘ
1974
Focșani Prison
23/12/2019 to
06/03/2020
2 month(s) and 13 day(s)
Focșani Prison
06/06/2020 to
02/07/2020
27 day(s)
Focșani Prison
20/08/2020 to
11/09/2020
23 day(s)
1.80 m²
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
174 days in compensation for a total period of 899 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 06/07/2017 to 22/12/2019 in Focșani Prison
1,000
5800/19
19/02/2019
Sorin MICLOŞ
1971
Arad Prison
15/02/2019 to
18/07/2021
2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 4 day(s)
2.90 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 15/02/2019 - 06/01/2020), inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of toiletries
468 days in compensation for a total period of 2,347 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 22/12/2019, except for the period spent in Arad Prison, and for days spent in transit rooms
3,000
5886/19
19/02/2019
Adrian-Costel MUNTEANU
1982
Caraș-Severin County Police Station; Timișoara and Arad Prisons; Mioveni Prison Hospital
12/03/2012 to
24/07/2012
4 month(s) and 13 day(s)
Arad and Timișoara Prisons; Bucharest - Rahova Prison Hospital
11/02/2013
pending
More than 9 year(s) and 2 month(s)
1.74 - 2.50 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods 11/02/2013 - 11/05/2013, 17/05/2013 - 13/12/2013, 18/12/2013 - 14/03/2019, 16/03/2019 - 09/12/2019 and 16/07/2020 - 25/07/2020), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of toiletries, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell
36 days in compensation for a total period of 202 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 11/02/2013 in Timișoara Prison
5,000
5890/19
15/02/2019
Ion Alexandru BRÎNZARU
1988
Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison
23/12/2019 to
28/09/2020
9 month(s) and 6 day(s)
2.42 m²
overcrowding (except for the period 18/03/2020 - 28/09/2020), mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
216 days in compensation for a total period of 1,097 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 16/12/2016 to 22/12/2019, except for the period 31/01/2019 - 05/02/2019 spent in
Constanța - Poarta Albă Prison Hospital
1,000
7083/19
27/02/2019
Mircea SĂLĂJAN
1973
Daiana Carmen Sălăjan
Jibou
Satu Mare Prison
23/12/2019 to
15/12/2020
11 month(s) and 23 day(s)
2.10 m²
overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
90 days in compensation for a total period of 463 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 12/09/2018 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Satu Mare Prison during this time
1,000
10822/19
12/03/2019
Marian-Nicușor PETRE
1973
Ploiești Prison
23/12/2019 to
15/09/2020
8 month(s) and 24 day(s)
2.08 - 2.40 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 10/03/2020 - 25/03/2020), lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
120 days in compensation for a total period of 607 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 04/04/2018 to 22/12/2019, except for the days spent in prison hospitals or transit rooms
1,000
11783/19
21/06/2019
Gheorghe IONIŢĂ
1967
Giurgiu Prison
01/03/2017 to
11/07/2017
4 month(s) and 11 day(s)
Giurgiu Prison
23/12/2019
pending
More than 2 year(s) and 4 month(s)
-
overcrowding, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food
510 days in compensation for a total period of 2,555 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 22/12/2019, except for the period indicated in column no. 5 and for the days spent in prison hospitals or transit rooms
3,000
23920/19
18/04/2019
Paul-Marian BĂLĂŞOIU
1982
Craiova Prison
23/12/2019
pending
More than 2 year(s) and 4 month(s)
2.29 - 2.75 m²
overcrowding, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, inadequate temperature
108 days in compensation for a total period of 556 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 14/06/2018 to 22/12/2019 in Craiova Prison
3,000
30580/19
12/07/2019
Constantin MILITARU
1957
Craiova Prison
23/12/2019 to
21/01/2020
30 day(s)
Craiova Prison
22/10/2020 to
31/03/2022
1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 10 day(s)
2.62 - 2.75 m²
overcrowding (except for the period 23/12/2019 - 21/01/2020), lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food
444 days in compensation for a total period of 2,224 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 25/06/2013 to 22/12/2019, except for the periods spent in infirmary and transit rooms, as well as in prison hospitals, of which he did not complain
3,000
35183/19
12/06/2019
Marin BURDUȘEL
1981
Târgu Jiu Prison
23/12/2019 to
20/10/2020
9 month(s) and 28 day(s)
2.91 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 23/12/2019 - 20/10/2020), lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
90 days in compensation for a total period of 470 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 10/08/2018 to 22/12/2019, except for the periods spent in infirmary and transit rooms, as well as in prison hospitals, of which he did not complain
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.