FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF RUSETI AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 67616/16 and 19 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
16 December 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Ruseti 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 25 November 2021,
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. Following the death of Mr Trif (application no. 20127/17), his children informed the Court of their wish to pursue the application introduced by the applicant.
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.
THE LOCUS STANDI ISSUE FOR APPLICATION NO. 20127/176. On 6 January 2021, after the communication of the case, the representative of the applicant in application no. 20127/17 informed the Court that the applicant, Mr Trif, had died on 14 November 2020 and that the applicant’s children, Ms Natalia-Diana Bulzan and Mr Lucian-Felician Trif, wanted to pursue the application in their father’s stead.
7. The representative mentioned that, at the date of his death, the applicant was not married. She also submitted documents issued by a notary office according to which the applicant’s children had accepted the inheritance opened following the death of their father.
8. This information and documents were communicated to the Government for information. No comments on the matter have been received from them.
9. The Court considers that the documents provided are sufficient to prove the legal standing of the heirs. Moreover, the Court considers that the applicant’s children have a legitimate interest in obtaining the findings of the violations of the Convention alleged by the late applicant (see, mutatis mutandis, Morgoci v. the Republic of Moldova, no. 13421/06, §§ 37‑42, 12 January 2016).
10. Accordingly, the Court decides that Ms Natalia-Diana Bulzan and Mr Lucian-Felician Trif have standing to continue the proceedings in respect of application no. 20127/17 on behalf of late Mr Trif.
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION11. 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.”
12. 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).
13. 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.
14. Having examined all the material submitted to it and the arguments raised by the parties, including the Government’s objection related to the non‑exhaustion of domestic remedies, 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 table appended below, were inadequate.
15. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS16. In applications nos. 10290/17, 16587/17, 19395/17 and 20127/17, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
17. 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 CONVENTION18. 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.”
19. 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.
20. 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;Decides that Ms Natalia-Diana Bulzan and Mr Lucian-Felician Trif, the children of the applicant in application no. 20127/17, have locus standi in the proceedings;Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, for 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 indicated in the table appended below;Holds(a) that the respondent State is to pay to the heirs of the deceased applicant, Mr Trif, jointly, and to each of the remaining 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 16 December 2021, 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]
67616/16
19/12/2016
Narcis-George RUSETI
1976
Craiova, Drobeta Turnu Severin and Găești Prisons
05/05/2014 to
11/01/2017
2 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 7 day(s)
1.30-2.91 m²
overcrowding (save for 28/05-10/06/2015 and 16/08/2016-11/01/2017), bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell
3,000
743/17
10/03/2017
Ruslan NANI
1981
Vaslui Prison
05/11/2015 to
11/10/2016
11 month(s) and 7 day(s)
1.91-2.86 m²
overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to running water, poor quality of food
1,000
8841/17
19/01/2017
Ionuţ Daniel DUMITRESCU
1995
Vâlcea County Police and Colibași and Craiova Prisons
23/05/2014 to
22/09/2016
2 year(s) and 4 month(s)
1.38-2.90 m²
overcrowding (save for 23/05-17/06/2014 and 14‑18/05/2015), mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air
3,000
9323/17
08/03/2017
Bruno-Alessandro DICHIARA
1988
Târgoviște Police, Rahova Prison Hospital and Mărgineni and Ploiești Prisons
28/09/2014 to
15/11/2016
2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 19 day(s)
1.16-2.5 m²
overcrowding (save for 28/09-27/11/2014 and 19‑23/12/2014), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of toiletries, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, insufficient number of sleeping places
3,000
10135/17
02/03/2017
Nicolae NAE
1971
Brașov County Police, Jilava and Colibași Prison Hospitals and Codlea, Mărgineni, Ploiești and Găești Prisons
26/06/2013 to
23/06/2017
3 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 29 day(s)
0.91-2.85 m²
overcrowding (save for 27/09-07/10/2013; 14‑21/12/2015 and 23/05-13/07/2016), inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of privacy for toilet
3,000
10290/17
24/03/2017
Marin NEAGU
1968
Nicoleta Nedelea
Bucharest
Slobozia Police and Slobozia, Poarta Albă and Găești Prisons
10/02/2010 to
03/05/2017
7 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 24 day(s)
1.48-2.68 m²
overcrowding (save for 05/09-22/09/2016), lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
5,000
10571/17
30/05/2017
Viorel ZAMFIR
1965
Codlea Prison
24/05/2016 to
11/07/2017
1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 18 day(s)
0.76-1.96 m²
overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, constant electric light, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of toiletries, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
3,000
11054/17
03/02/2017
Valentin-Daniel AXINTE
1989
Ionela Mărgărit
Bucharest
Galați and Brăila Prisons
06/07/2016 to
11/04/2017
9 month(s) and 6 day(s)
1.50-2.81 m²
overcrowding (save for 31/10-10/11/2016 and 26/01-01/02/2017), bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of potable water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell
1,000
11056/17
03/02/2017
Florin MIHALCEA
1987
Ionela Mărgărit
Bucharest
Galați and Brăila Prisons
11/05/2016 to
17/08/2017
1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 7 day(s)
1.20-2.25 m²
overcrowding, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of potable water, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food
3,000
14698/17
14/02/2017
Dezső MOLNAR
1963
Eva Molnar
Sfântu-Gheoghe
Codlea Prison
11/02/2016 to
09/08/2017
1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 30 day(s)
1.60-1.92 m²
overcrowding, lack of toiletries, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient natural light, bunk beds, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, lack or inadequate furniture
3,000
14719/17
21/04/2017
Alecu-Silviu TUDOSE
1987
Buzău County Police and Mărgineni and Ploiești Prisons
24/10/2013 to
17/10/2017
3 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 24 day(s)
1.09-2.15 m²
overcrowding (save for 24/10-18/11/2013), lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, bunk beds, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, poor quality of food
3,000
14975/17
16/02/2017
Gavril-Istvan VARGA
1983
Adina Mădălina Gurău
Oradea
Oradea Prison
19/06/2015 to
11/10/2016
1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 23 day(s)
1.83-2.66 m²
overcrowding (save for 19/06-10/07/2015; 04/11/2015-11/02/2016 and 28/04-11/10/2016), inadequate temperature, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to shower
3,000
16380/17
20/02/2017
Dan-Adrian AMARIEI
1979
Claudia Nadina Daciana Cândea
Timișoara
Arad and Timișoara Prisons
05/03/2012 to
06/12/2016
4 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 2 day(s)
2.14-2.25 m²
overcrowding (save for 05/04/2012-05/11/2015 and 05/05-16/12/2016), lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to running water, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, poor quality of food
3,000
16587/17
20/03/2017
Gheorghe BUD
1969
Focșani Prison
04/10/2016 to
11/11/2016
1 month(s) and 8 day(s)
Focșani Prison
22/11/2016 to
13/12/2016
22 day(s)
Focșani Prison
17/01/2017 to
20/01/2017
4 day(s)
Focșani Prison
21/03/2017 to
25/05/2017
2 month(s) and 5 day(s)
1.44 m²
1.54 m²
1.66 m²
1.66 m²
overcrowding
overcrowding
overcrowding
overcrowding
1,000
18051/17
01/03/2017
Andrii LEMAK
1987
Vasile Rareş Biro
Satu Mare
Satu Mare County Police and Satu Mare Prison
04/01/2016 to
06/09/2016
8 month(s) and 3 day(s)
1.13-1.93 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture, constant electric light, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to warm water
1,000
18416/17
21/03/2017
Fănel CUȚI
1986
Galați and Brăila Prisons
02/11/2016 to
25/04/2017
5 month(s) and 24 day(s)
1.16-2 m²
overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, bunk beds, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or insufficient natural light
1,000
19395/17
24/04/2017
Dumitru STAN
1972
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Jilava and Găești Prisons
14/07/2015 to
28/02/2017
1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 15 day(s)
1.71-2.94 m²
overcrowding (save for 15/07-25/08/2015), no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of potable water, lack or inadequate furniture
3,000
20127/17
09/03/2017
Ionel TRIF
Born in 1969
Died on 14/11/2020
Heirs
Lucian-Felician TRIF
1995
Natalia-Diana BULZAN
1999
Nicoleta Iuga
Arad
Bistrița, Gherla and Timișoara Prisons
31/03/2016 to
13/09/2016
5 month(s) and 13 day(s)
1.87-2.25 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
1,000,
to be paid jointly to the two heirs of late Mr Trif
24701/17
31/07/2017
Viorel BIȘOC
1980
Alina Gherman
Miroslava
Iași and Botoșani Prisons
01/09/2015 to
21/02/2017
1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 21 day(s)
1.28-2.86 m²
overcrowding, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
3,000
26899/17
27/03/2017
Constantin Nicusor TODEA
1992
Cezara-Maria Nichita-Costescu
Timișoara
Arad and Timișoara Prisons
12/02/2014 to
16/05/2017
3 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 5 day(s)
1.74-2.27 m²
overcrowding (save for 26/03/2014- 25/02/2016), constant electric light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food
3,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.