FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF VELCU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 63313/16 and 11 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
7 July 2022
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Velcu 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 16 June 2022,
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, which reads as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. In applications nos. 63313/16 and 57969/19, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning loss of victim status by the applicants for the 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 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). This remedy was available to the applicants in the present applications, and they were, indeed, afforded adequate redress for certain periods of detention (for details see the appended table).
9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of applications nos. 63313/16 and 57969/19 are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
10. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants’ detention as specified 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).
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, 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 appended table, were inadequate.
13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS14. In application no. 63313/16, the applicant also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
15. The Court has examined the application 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 application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION16. 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.”
17. 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.
18. 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;Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, for the 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 specified in the appended table below;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 July 2022, 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
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Sq. m per inmate
Specific grievances
Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated domestically
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]
63313/16
24/10/2016
Constantin VELCU
1985
Arad Prison
03/07/2014 to
17/07/2014
15 day(s)
Arad Prison
24/07/2014 to
08/09/2014
1 month(s) and 16 day(s)
Arad Prison
14/05/2015 to
09/07/2015
1 month(s) and 26 day(s)
Arad Prison
16/07/2015 to
14/07/2016
11 month(s) and 29 day(s)
-
no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
288 days in compensation for a total period of 1,455 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 15/11/2013 to 15/03/2019, except for the periods indicated in column no. 4 and the periods spent in transit rooms
3,000
57969/19
20/10/2019
Cosmin LĂZĂROIU
1979
Arad Prison
29/05/2017
pending
More than 5 year(s) and 3 day(s)
-
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food
198 days in compensation for a total period of 1,003 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 29/05/2017, including all the periods spent in Mioveni (Colibași) and Craiova Prisons
5,000
21346/20
06/05/2020
Cozmin JITARIU
1990
Gherla Prison
23/12/2019 to
25/11/2020
11 month(s) and 3 day(s)
2.35 - 2.50 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 02/10/2020 - 25/11/2020), inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food
1,000
21540/20
21/08/2020
Marian SCARLAT
1982
Bucharest - Rahova,
Bucharest - Jilava, Focșani and Timișoara Prisons
12/12/2019 to
08/02/2021
1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 28 day(s)
Timișoara Prison
01/03/2021 to
06/03/2021
6 day(s)
Timișoara Prison
18/03/2021 to
28/05/2021
2 month(s) and 11 day(s)
Timișoara and Focșani Prisons
14/06/2021 to
21/12/2021
6 month(s) and 8 day(s)
1.59 - 2.75 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 23/12/2019 - 08/01/2020), mouldy or dirty cell, lack of toiletries
3,000
21904/20
18/05/2020
Mircea-Vasile ILIUŢĂ
1969
Gherla Prison
23/12/2019 to
10/07/2020
6 month(s) and 18 day(s)
2.18 - 2.94 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 13/02/2020 - 20/02/2020), mouldy or dirty cell, lack of toiletries, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
1,000
23032/20
25/05/2020
Ionuţ BĂRBULESCU
1970
Craiova - Pelendava and Târgu-Jiu Prisons
23/12/2019 to
15/12/2020
11 month(s) and 23 day(s)
2.53 - 2.93 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods
23/12/2019 - 09/01/2020, 20/01/2020 - 17/02/2020, 24/02/2020 - 06/11/2020 and 11/11/2020 - 17/11/2020), lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture
1,000
25465/20
11/06/2020
Constantin ROMANESCU
1982
Constanța - Poarta Albă and Craiova - Pelendava Prisons
17/12/2019 to
08/11/2021
1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 23 day(s)
2.09 - 2.36 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 16/09/2020 - 08/11/2021), mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature
3,000
27512/20
10/08/2020
Vasile-Valentin NEDELEA
1987
Bucharest - Rahova Prison
23/12/2019 to
12/11/2020
10 month(s) and 21 day(s)
2.44 m²
overcrowding (save for the period 23/12/2019 - 07/01/2020), mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air
1,000
27555/20
07/09/2020
Marian-Marius MATEI
1974
Bucharest - Rahova Prison
31/12/2019
pending
More than 2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 1 day(s)
2.09 - 2.17 m²
overcrowding (save for the periods 31/12/2019 - 21/01/2020 and 18/09/2020 - pending), lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture
3,000
28776/20
07/08/2020
Silviu MOȚOC
1986
Botoșani Prison
11/02/2020 to
02/06/2021
1 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 23 day(s)
2.85 m²
overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food
3,000
28780/20
18/08/2020
Cătălin-Adrian CORODEA
1981
Ploiești Prison
23/12/2019
pending
More than 2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 9 day(s)
2.25 - 2.34 m²
overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water
3,000
36142/20
07/09/2020
Ionel RĂDUȚ
1972
Bucharest - Jilava Prison
23/12/2019
pending
More than 2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 9 day(s)
1.92 - 2.94 m²
overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
3,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.