FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF LĂCĂTUȘU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 19796/16 and 9 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
2 March 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Lăcătușu 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 2 February 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 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. 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).
8. 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.
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. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION11. 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.”
12. 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 applications admissible;Holds that these applications 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;
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 2 March 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
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)
[1]
19796/16
12/10/2016
Valentin LĂCĂTUȘU
1957
Bucharest General Police Inspectorate, Iasi, Botosani and Vaslui Prisons
10/04/2014 to
04/04/2017
2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 26 day(s)
1.10-3.33 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
3,000
19902/16
23/05/2016
Levente KOPACZ
1979
Miercurea Ciuc, Târgu-Mureș, Gherla, Aiud Prisons and Dej Hospital Prison
22/06/2004 to
23/07/2012
8 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 2 day(s)
1.26-1.85 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to potable water, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to shower, insufficient number of sleeping places
5,000
20364/16
07/04/2016
Emil DUMITRU
1977
Câmpina Police Station and Mărgineni Prison
06/05/2015 to
07/10/2015
5 month(s) and 2 day(s)
0.6-3.1 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
1,000
20689/16
23/05/2016
Lucian Bogdan BRAN
1980
Giurgiu and Timiș County Police Stations, Timișoara, Jilava, Satu-Mare, Arad, Aiud, Bârcea Mare and Baia Mare Prisons, Jilava Hospital Prison
10/07/2001 to
08/03/2016
14 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 28 day(s)
0.42-1.42 m²
overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to shower/running water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature, mouldy or dirty cell, insufficient number of sleeping places
5,000
23288/16
12/05/2016
Valentin VIDAT
1957
Râmnicu-Vâlcea Police Station, Colibași, Târgu-Jiu Prisons,
20/10/2013 to
28/12/2016
3 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 9 day(s)
0.74-1.45 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds
3,000
28346/16
17/10/2016
Bogdan DĂNILĂ
1989
Vaslui County Police Station. Vaslui, Iași and Tulcea Prisons
06/10/2014 to
05/10/2016
2 year(s)
1-2 m²
overcrowding, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food
3,000
28508/16
21/07/2016
Cristian NICULAE
1985
Călărași County Police Station. Slobozia, Rahova, Poarta-Albă, Jilava and Tulcea Prisons
19/03/2013 to
26/09/2017
4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 8 day(s)
1.3-1.8 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to toilet/shower, no or restricted access to potable water, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, bunk beds
3,000
29293/16
11/07/2016
Adrian-Nicolae RĂIBULEȚ
1986
Brașov County Police Station, Codlea, Aiud, Jilava, Târgu-Mureș and Miercurea-Ciuc Prisons
01/04/2005 to
23/07/2012
7 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 23 day(s)
1.1-1.75 m²
overcrowding, poor quality of potable water, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, insufficient number of sleeping places, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
5,000
33742/16
12/08/2016
Petrișor-Mirel ORBULEȚU
1968
Liliana Claudia Bentoiu
Craiova
Craiova, Pelendava and Drobeta Turnu-Severin Prisons
30/01/2014 to
17/01/2017
2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 19 day(s)
1-1.6 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower
3,000
33943/16
16/08/2016
Ioan COCOTĂ
1969
Deva and Aiud Prisons
14/06/2012 to
23/07/2012
1 month(s) and 10 day(s)
1-2 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.