FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF LAE AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Applications nos. 7448/16 and 14 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
14 June 2018
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Lae and Others v. Romania,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
Georges Ravarani,
Marko Bošnjak, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedtm Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 24 May 2018,
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 applications were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
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
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 ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained 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 application no. 28362/16, the Government raised a preliminary objection of non-compliance with the six-month time-limit, claiming that the applicant’s complaint regarding his initial detention was lodged out of time.
8. The Court observes that the applicant’s complaint regarding his initial detention in Iaşi County Police Arrest and in Poarta Albă Prison respectively, ceased on 14 November 2011 by his transfer to other prison facilities in respect of which he did not raise any complaint. Indeed, by letter of 1 March 2018, the applicant informed the Court that from
18 February 2010 to 12 February 2015, he was detained in nine different prison facilities. The Court further notes that the application was lodged with the Court on 6 September 2016, that is, more than six months later.
9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that this part of the application was lodged outside the six-month time-limit and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
10. 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 ‑141, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑159, 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, as well as the Government’s objection concerning the application of the six-month rule to the continuous situation of the applicants’ conditions of detention in the applications nos. 14726/16, 14898/16, 38846/16, 43750/16, 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.
13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
14. 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.”
15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
16. 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, as set out in the appended table, admissible and the remainder of the application no. 28362/16 inadmissible;
3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;
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 14 June 2018, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtVincent A. De Gaetano
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
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 pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros)[1]
7448/16
21/07/2016
Gheorghe Lae
09/04/1974
Mărgineni Prison
04/06/2015
pending
More than 2 years and 10 months and 24 days
1.47-1.57 m²
overcrowding, poor quality of food, insufficient out-of-cell time and space, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water
3,000
14726/16
24/06/2016
Ion Şoma
09/06/1960
Caraş-Severin County Police Arrest
21/11/2014 to
20/05/2015
6 months
Timişoara Prison
20/05/2015 to
01/10/2015
4 months and 12 days
Arad Prison
01/10/2015
pending
More than 2 years and 6 months and 26 days
4.83-5.26 m²
2.67 m²
4.35-5.80 m²
small courtyard, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, poor quality of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
overcrowding (save for the period of 28/07/2015-01/10/2015), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, poor quality of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, small courtyard
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, poor quality of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
3,000
14898/16
11/04/2016
Constantin Nicula
17/10/1968
Gherla Prison
23/04/2010
pending
More than 8 years and 6 days
1.61-2.91 m²
overcrowding (save for the period of 28/03/2013-03/12/2013), poor quality of food, passive smoking, no or restricted access to shower
5,000
16170/16
28/06/2016
Maricel-Relu Iancu
10/04/1984
Galaţi Prison
07/10/2013
pending
More than 4 years and 6 months and 20 days
1.6-1.84 m²
overcrowding, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to running water
3,000
16200/16
08/06/2016
József Károly
12/03/1971
Bucharest Police Section no. 6, Jilava Prison Hospital, Jilava Prison, Gherla Prison
20/10/2003 to
07/12/2016
13 years and 1 month and 18 days
2.19 - 2.9 m²
overcrowding (save for the period of 07/11/2016-07/12/2016), poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to running water in Bucharest Police Section no. 6, lack or inadequate furniture, inadequate courtyards
5,000
28362/16
06/09/2016
Dan Riscu
11/11/1971
Poarta Albă Prison
12/02/2015
pending
More than 3 years and 2 months and 14 days
1.65-2.29 m²
overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
3,000
33673/16
11/07/2016
Flavian-Florin Feraru
25/09/1988
Iaşi Prison, Galaţi Prison, Vaslui Prison
27/07/2011
pending
More than 6 years and 9 months and 2 days
1.2 - 2.66 m²
overcrowding (save for the period of 11/10/2016-06/12/2016), lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
5,000
38834/16
09/08/2016
Ilie Şamu
24/05/1986
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Alba County Police Arrest
21/01/2015 to
25/02/2015
1 month and 5 days
Aiud Prison
25/02/2015
pending
More than 3 years and 2 months and 1 day
4.48-4.75 m²
1.67-2.73 m²
lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature
overcrowding (save for the periods of 14/05/2015-22/06/2015, 16/07/2015-19/08/2015, 16/10/2015-18/01/2016, 21/01/2016-26/01/2016, 03/05/2016-04/05/2016), lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
3,000
38846/16
28/07/2016
Samir Curt
26/01/1989
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Bucharest Central Arrest, Rahova Prison
04/09/2015
pending
More than 2 years and 7 months and 23 days
1.96-2.45 m²
overcrowding (save for the period of 17/11/2015-28/07/2016), lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, small courtyard, insufficient hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet in Bucharest Central Arrest, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature
3,000
40581/16
11/08/2016
Cezar Gheorghe
31/07/1961
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Bucharest Central Arrest, Rahova Prison
08/05/2015
pending
More than 2 years and 11 months and 20 days
2.04-2.44 m²
overcrowding (save for the period of 24/11/2015-16/02/2016), poor quality of food, small courtyards, insufficient hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet in Bucharest Central Arrest, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature
3,000
43750/16
29/08/2016
Sorin Marian
09/12/1976
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Sibiu County Police Arrest, Rahova Prison, Aiud Prison
14/03/2011
pending
More than 7 years and 1 month and 15 days
1.44-2.80 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods of 14/03/2011-30/05/2011, 28/09/2011-23/02/2012, 04/07/2012-02/08/2012, 15/01/2015-30/01/2015, 10/02/2015-19/02/2015, 11/05/2015-12/05/2015, 24/06/2015-03/07/2015), lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, small courtyards, insufficient hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet in Sibiu County Police Arrest, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature
5,000
44466/16
26/07/2016
Cezar Stănescu
02/09/1978
Ionela Mărgărit
Bucharest
Brăila Prison
07/11/2014
pending
More than 3 years and 5 months and 20 days
1.66-2.52 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods of 30/09/2015-05/10/2015 and 01/03/2016-23/03/2016), poor quality of food, small courtyard, insufficient hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air
3,000
46293/16
23/08/2016
Costică Caraiman
12/08/1957
Bacău County Police Arrest, Bacău Prison, Iaşi Prison, Vaslui Prison
15/05/2014
pending
More than 3 years and 11 months and 13 days
1.3-2.60 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods of 15/05/2014-30/07/2014, 18/08/2016-22/09/2016), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell
3,000
48282/16
08/09/2016
Petru Filimon
23/11/1989
Baia Mare Prison, Gherla Prison
29/06/2016
pending
More than 1 year and
9 months and 28 days
2.18 - 2.3 m²
overcrowding (save for the period of 29/06/2016-30/06/2016), poor quality of food
3,000
49508/16
11/08/2016
Georgel Bercu
30/09/1979
Ionela Mărgărit
Bucharest
Galaţi Prison,
Brăila Prison
Rahova Prison
11/12/2009
pending
More than 8 years and 4 months and 17 days
1.28-1.8 m²
2.04 m²
overcrowding, poor quality of food, small courtyards, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air
overcrowding (save for the period of 07/04/2011-11/04/2011)
5,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy