FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF JUHÁSZ AND OTHERS v. HUNGARY
(Application no. 6467/13 and 9 other applications -
see list appended)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
7 January 2016
This judgment is final. It may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Juhász and Others v. Hungary,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
Egidijus Kūris,
Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,
and Hasan Bakırcı, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 3 December 2015,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The cases originated in applications against Hungary 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 applications were communicated to the Hungarian Government (“the Government”).
THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants, their representatives 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 and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. In the application no. 44056/13, the applicant also raised complaints under other provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention, which read as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Article 13
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority...”
7. 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, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑165, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 36‑40, 7 April 2005).
8. In the leading case of Varga and Others v. Hungary (nos. 14097/12, 45135/12, 73712/12, 34001/13, 44055/13, and 64586/13, 10 March 2015), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
9. 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 inadequate.
10. The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy by which to submit their complaints concerning their conditions of detention.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.
III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
12. In the application no. 44056/13, the applicant also raised complaints under other Articles of the Convention.
13. The Court has examined the complaint 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 do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.
14. It follows that this part of the application is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. 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.”
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Varga and Others v. Hungary, nos. 14097/12, 45135/12, 73712/12, 34001/13, 44055/13, and 64586/13, §§ 118-124, 10 March 2015), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
17. 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,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law admissible and the remainder of application no. 44056/13 inadmissible;
3. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the lack of any effective remedy;
4. 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 7 January 2016, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Hasan BakırcıVincent A. De Gaetano
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant name
Date of birth
Representative name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Sq. m. per inmate
Specific grievances
Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage
per applicant
(in euros)[i]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application
(in euros)[ii]
6467/13
18/01/2013
Gyula JUHÁSZ
04/08/1969
Budapest Prison
17/08/2010 to
20/09/2013
3 year(s) and 2 month(s)
2 m²
shower only once a week, cockroaches, bedbugs, only cold water in cell
11,500
31957/13
13/05/2013
Péter András NYERGES
21/07/1984
Baranya County Prison
10/10/2008 to
04/07/2009
0 year(s) and 9 month(s)
Somogy County Prison
04/07/2009 to
04/01/2010
0 year(s) and 7 month(s)
Budapest Prison
23/08/2010 to
25/09/2013
3 year(s) and 2 month(s)
2.5 m²
2.1 m²
2.5 m²
shower only once a week, bedbugs
shower only once a week, bedbugs
shower only once a week, bedbugs, no proper separation of toilet
15,500
33715/13
13/05/2013
László BOGÁR
26/02/1959
Tolna County Prison
02/04/2009 to
10/10/2011
2 year(s) and 7 month(s)
Budapest Prison
10/10/2011 to
02/10/2013
2 year(s)
2.7 m²
3 m²
shower only once a week, bedbugs, no proper separation of toilet
bedbugs, no proper separation of toilet
15,800
44029/13
03/07/2013
András Gábor GÁBRYEL
31/07/1973
Budapest Correctional Facility
27/03/2008 to
25/09/2008
0 year(s) and 6 month(s)
Budapest Prison
25/09/2009 to
27/06/2014
4 year(s) and 10 month(s)
2 m²
3 m²
shower only once a week, bedbugs, cockroaches, no proper separation of toilet, no proper ventilation in the cell
shower only once a week, bedbugs, cockroaches, no proper separation of toilet, no proper ventilation in the cell
18,000
44056/13
02/07/2013
László JURCSÁN
25/05/1983
Pálhalma Prison
17/01/2013 to
21/02/2014
1 year(s) and 2 month(s)
3.2 m²
shower only once a week, bedbugs, cockroaches
5,500
45122/13
08/07/2013
József Pál BAKI
08/05/1955
Budapest Prison
10/06/2010 to
06/04/2014
3 year(s) and 10 month(s)
2.9 m²
bedbugs, cockroaches, no proper separation of toilet
13,500
64543/13
26/09/2013
Miklós ZORD
17/02/1989
Somogy County Prison
29/07/2011 to
15/08/2011
0 year(s) and 1 month(s)
Sopronkőhida Prison
15/08/2011 to
28/08/2014
3 year(s) and 1 month(s)
3 m²
1.75 m²
no proper ventilation in the cell
no proper ventilation in the cell
11,500
593/14
20/12/2013
Alajos MÁTYÁS
20/12/1964
Visontai Csongor
Budapest
Budapest Prison, Block "A"
10/05/2012 to
31/05/2012
0 year(s) and 1 month(s)
Budapest Prison, Block "B"
01/06/2012 to
24/03/2014
1 year(s) and 10 month(s)
3 m²
3.25 m²
shower only once a week, no proper separation of toilet, no proper ventilation in the cell, only cold water in cell
no proper ventilation in the cell, only cold water in cell
7,800
300
597/14
18/12/2013
Zsolt NAGY
27/03/1983
Sopronkőhida Prison
17/06/2013 to
23/11/2014
1 year(s) and 6 month(s)
3 m²
6,500
1384/14
20/12/2013
József MINYÁK
27/04/1971
Lukács Zoltán
Gyöngyös
Szeged Prison
01/10/1995 to
18/11/2014
19 year(s) and 2 month(s)
2.2 m²
no proper separation of toilet, insufficient heating during winter
26,000
[i] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
[ii] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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