FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF HODOS-BARA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 15849/17 and 6 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
6 July 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Hodos-Bara and Others v. Romania,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Tim Eicke, President,
Branko Lubarda,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 15 June 2023,
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.
7. As regards the admissibility of the applications, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning loss of victim status by the applicants for certain 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 the 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). The Court only accepts the Government’s objection in respect of the applicant in application no. 38337/17 insofar as he benefited from the abovementioned remedy and therefore finds that a part of this application (the relevant details described in the appended table) 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.
9. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants’ detention, the details of which are indicated 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).
10. 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.
11. 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 during the periods indicated in the appended table were inadequate.
12. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION13. 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.”
14. 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 application no. 38337/17 inadmissible;Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;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 6 July 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
{signature_p_1} {signature_p_2}
Viktoriya Maradudina Tim Eicke
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]
15849/17
05/04/2017
Elemér HODOS-BARA
1965
Mureş County Police Station; Mureş, Rahova, Giurgiu and Gherla Prisons
04/09/2009 to
23/07/2012
2 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 20 day(s)
1.62-2.66 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
3,000
30709/17
17/05/2017
Gheorghe MUSTAȚĂ
1972
Găești Prison
24/12/2019 to
28/01/2020
1 month(s) and 5 day(s)
< 3m²
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air
1,000
33099/17
05/07/2017
Halım ATMA
1972
Bucharest General Police Inspectorate, Poarta Albă Prison
25/11/2008 to
23/07/2012
3 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 29 day(s)
Tulcea Prison
24/12/2019
pending
More than 3 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 18 day(s)
1.71-2.77 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
5,000
38337/17
02/08/2017
Tibor MOLDOVAN
1972
Târgu Mureș, Aiud, Bistrița Năsăud, Deva Bârcea Mare and Rahova Prisons
04/09/2009 to
23/07/2012
2 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 20 day(s)
1.2-1.87 m²
lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, overcrowding, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
384 days in compensation for a total period of 1,921 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 – 28/11/2017
3,000
24784/18
16/05/2018
Carmen Claudia VLĂSCEANU
1976
Bacău and Târgșor Prisons
09/03/2017 to
21/11/2017
8 month(s) and 13 day(s)
1.55-2.91 m²
overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air
1,000
33768/18
09/07/2018
Răzvan-Lucian MURARI
1984
Paul Cristea
Oradea
Bihor Police Station, Oradea Prison
11/10/2017 to
06/04/2018
5 month(s) and 27 day(s)
2.77m²
lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, mouldy or dirty cell, overcrowding
1,000
63775/19
26/09/2020
Dragoș-Claudiu GROSU
1980
Brăila Prison
23/12/2019 to
03/12/2020
11 month(s) and 11 day(s)
1.82-2.81 m²
overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.