FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 8894/18
Dorel-Vasile CHIRILĂ against Romania
and 5 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 14 September 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Faris Vehabović, President,
Anja Seibert-Fohr,
Anne Louise Bormann, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
Joinder of the applicationsHaving regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
Complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (inadequate conditions of detention)The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention during the periods described in the appended table. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.
The Government argued mainly that the applicants had lost their victim status because they had benefitted from the remedy offered by Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences. They asked the Court to reject the present applications for being incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention.
The applicants disagreed, claiming that the compensation awarded to them was insufficient.
The Court notes that in the decision Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, 15 April 2020) it has examined similar applications as the ones in the present case and declared them inadmissible because the applicants had lost their victim status. The Court noted that Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences, adopted following the pilot judgment in the case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania (nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017) and in force between October 2017 and December 2019, was an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law set forth a compensatory remedy, available for periods of detention ranging from 2012 to 2019 and allowing the deduction of six days for 30 days spent in conditions of detention that fell short of standards compatible with Article 3 of the Convention (see Dîrjan and Ştefan, cited above, § 28). That benefit had an impact on the term of the prison sentences, giving detainees an opportunity of earlier release on parole.
Turning to the circumstances of the present cases, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility of those complaints. The above-mentioned remedy was available to the applicants in the present applications and, indeed, they benefitted from it. Thus, on different dates, the domestic authorities, applying the provisions laid down in the abovementioned decision Dîrjan and Ştefan, awarded compensation, through the reduction of days, to the applicants for the entire period of detention spent in inadequate conditions of which they complained (for further details see the appended table). Furthermore, the applicants were released from prison or were transferred to detention facilities they are not complaining about.
The Court is therefore satisfied that the applicants have been afforded adequate redress and can no longer claim to be victims of a violation of their rights under Article 3 of the Convention, insofar as the conditions of their detention, described in the appended table, are concerned. It follows that the applications in this part (see appended table for factual details) 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.
Remaining complaintsIn applications nos. 8894/18, 11464/18, 32495/18, 34648/18 and 38056/18, the applicants also raised additional complaints under Article 3 of the Convention related to the conditions of their detention during other periods not covered by the remedy discussed above.
The Court has examined these complaints 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.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 5 October 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Faris Vehabović
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
Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated by national authorities
8894/18
06/02/2018
Dorel-Vasile CHIRILĂ
1968
Botoșani, Iași and Tulcea Prisons
17/03/2015 to
22/11/2017
2 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 6 day(s)
186 days in compensation for a total period of 948 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 17/03/2015 to 22/11/2017, including all the periods spent in the detention facilities he complained of, except for the periods spent in transit rooms and infirmary
11464/18
30/10/2018
Petrea IONIȚĂ
1964
Vaslui, Iași, Bacău and Găești Prisons
09/01/2018 to
03/10/2018
8 month(s) and 25 day(s)
48 days in compensation for a total period of 245 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 09/01/2018 to 03/10/2018, including all the periods spent in the detention facilities he complained of, except for the periods spent in transit rooms
17923/18
03/07/2018
Andrei-Cosmin NEGUȚ
1975
Mioveni Prison
06/02/2017 to
21/03/2017
1 month(s) and 16 day(s)
Mioveni and Târgu Jiu Prisons
23/03/2017 to
17/04/2018
1 year(s) and 26 day(s)
150 days in compensation for a total period of 778 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 06/02/2017 to 17/04/2018 in Mioveni and Târgu Jiu Prisons
32495/18
08/10/2018
Ilie PĂCURARU
1966
Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prison
27/07/2017 to
04/09/2018
1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 9 day(s)
78 days in compensation for a total period of 405 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 27/07/2017 to 04/09/2018
34648/18
13/07/2018
Gheorghe CARABET
1987
Bacău, Iași and Vaslui Prisons
12/06/2014 to
28/07/2015
1 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 17 day(s)
Vaslui and Găești Prisons
11/08/2015 to
10/02/2018
2 year(s) and 6 month(s)
264 days in compensation for a total period of 1,327 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 12/06/2014 to 10/02/2018, including all the periods spent in the detention facilities he complained of, except for periods totalling 19 days spent in prison hospital and transit rooms
38056/18
18/09/2018
Mihail-Florin COVLESCU
1981
Craiova and Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prisons
28/02/2013 to
04/07/2013
4 month(s) and 7 day(s)
Craiova and Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prisons
11/07/2013 to
07/12/2018
5 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 27 day(s)
408 days in compensation for a total period of 2,036 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 28/02/2013 to 07/12/2018, including all the periods spent in the detention facilities he complained of, except for the periods spent in prison hospital and transit rooms