FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 50683/19
Bruno Daniel COSTA FERNANDES against Portugal
and 6 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 8 September 2022 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, 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
1. The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
2. The applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Portuguese Government (“the Government”). In some of the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
Joinder of the applications3. Having 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)4. In the present applications, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the complaints about the conditions of detention are inadmissible.
Conditions of detention concerning the last period of detention5. Following the placement (for applicant in application no. 50715/19) or the most recent transfer from another detention facility (for the remaining applicants), the applicants are detained at the Carregueira Prison (applications nos. 50683/19; 50693/19; 50695/19; 50699/19; 50705/19; and 50710/19) or Vale de Judeus Prison (application no. 50715/19).
6. Having regard to all of the available material and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that it cannot be established that the applicants suffered in these prison facilities from severe overcrowding of the kind that could entail, on its own, a violation of Article 3 (see Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, 20 October 2016) nor can it be found that the cumulative effect of the other aspects of the detention which the applicants complained about reached the threshold of severity required to characterise the treatment as inhuman or degrading within the meaning of Article 3 (see Bokor v. Portugal, no. 5227/18, § 34, 10 December 2020).
7. In view of the above, the Court finds that the complaints related to these periods of the applicants’ detention (for further details see the appended table) are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
Conditions of detention before their last prison transfer8. Concerning applications nos. 50683/19, 50693/19, 50695/19, 50699/19, 50705/19, and 50710/19, in light of the conclusion above (paragraph 7), the Court finds that the applicants’ transfer to the last prison facility interrupted the «continuing situation» of their conditions of detention. Therefore, the applicants’ complaints concerning the conditions of detention regarding the period prior to their last prison transfer are belated (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 77-78, 10 January 2012, and Eskerkhanov and Others v. Russia, nos.18496/16 and 2 others, § 31, 25 July 2017) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
Remaining complaints9. The applicants also raised other complaints under various Convention provisions.
10. Invoking Article 8 of the Convention, the applicants complained that five-minute telephone calls per day were insufficient to maintain contact with their family and friends. The Court notes that this limitation is established in section 132 of the prison regulation. Furthermore, the Committee on the Prevention Against Torture (CPT) has considered five minutes per day of telephone calls to be satisfactory (see Bădulescu v. Portugal, no. 33729/18, §§ 36-37, 20 October 2020). Given the other means of communication available to the applicants as detainees to maintain contact with their family and friends, it follows that this complaint is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
11. Under Article 10 of the Convention, the applicants complained of the lack of access to the Internet, namely, to access government sites and relevant legal information. The Court’s case-law has established that Article 10 cannot be interpreted as imposing a general obligation to provide access to the Internet, or to specific Internet sites, for prisoners (see Kalda v. Estonia, no. 17429/10, § 45, 19 January 2016). It is also noted that the applicant did not submit any request in this regard to the Director of the prison. It follows that this complaint is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
12. Under Article 13 of the Convention, the applicants complained of the lack of an effective remedy in respect of their conditions of detention. The Court notes that, according to its established case-law, Article 13 of the Convention applies only where an individual has an “arguable claim” to be a victim of a violation of a Convention right (see Boyle and Rice v. the United Kingdom, 27 April 1988, § 52, Series A no. 131, and Narcisio v. Netherlands (dec.), no. 47810/99, 27 January 2005). Having regard to the findings above as to the applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (paragraphs 7 and 8), the Court concludes that they are not “arguable” for the purposes of Article 13. It follows that this complaint must also be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 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 29 September 2022.
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
50683/19
11/09/2019
Bruno Daniel COSTA FERNANDES
1984
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Setúbal Prison
08/07/2015 to
21/12/2017
2 years and 5 months and 14 days
***
Carregueira Prison
21/12/2017 to
08/01/2018
19 days
***
Carregueira Prison
08/01/2018 to
31/01/2018
24 days
***
Carregueira Prison
31/01/2018 to
15/01/2019
11 months and 16 days
***
Carregueira Prison
15/01/2019
pending
More than 3 years and 5 months and 17 days
5 inmates
1 m²
1 toilet
***
1 inmate
23 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6,76 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6,14 m²
1 toilet
***
6 inmates
5,12 m²
1 toilet
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of toiletries, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, bad odour, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of access to the internet, overcrowding
***
poor quality of food, no access to the internet, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, bad odour, limited access to the telephone
***
Idem
***
Idem
***
Idem
50693/19
11/09/2019
Paulo HENRIQUE AMARAL
1967
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Setúbal Prison
25/02/2016 to
30/12/2016
10 months and 6 days
***
Carregueira Prison
30/12/2016 to
12/01/2017
14 days
***
Carregueira Prison
12/01/2017 to
07/05/2018
1 years and 3 months and 26 days
***
Carregueira Prison
07/05/2018 to
14/03/2019
10 months and 8 days
***
Carregueira Prison
14/03/2019
pending
More than 3 years and 3 months and 17 days
5 inmates
2,5 m²
1 toilet
***
1 inmate
23 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.14 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.14 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.14 m²
1 toilet
overcrowding, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of toiletries, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, bad odours, limited access to the telephone and no access to the internet
***
poor quality of food, no access to the internet and limited access to the telephone, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities
***
Idem
***
Idem
***
Idem
50695/19
11/09/2019
Paulo Manuel ROQUE PEREIRA
1977
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Setúbal Prison
07/01/2017 to
07/05/2018
1 year and 4 months and 1 days
***
Carregueira Prison
07/05/2018 to
04/09/2019
1 years and 3 months and 29 days
8 inmates
1,5 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.14 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of fresh air, lack of requisite medical assistance, mouldy or dirty cell, limited access to the telephone and no access to the internet, lack of toiletries
***
poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, no access to the internet and limited access to phone calls
50699/19
11/09/2019
Luis Manuel de Jesus TAVARES CARNEIRO
1962
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Setúbal Prison
18/11/2015 to
07/10/2016
10 months and 20 days
***
Carregueira Prison
07/10/2016 to
10/10/2016
4 days
***
Carregueira Prison
10/10/2016 to
09/10/2018
2 years
***
Carregueira Prison
09/10/2018
pending
More than 3 years and 8 months and 21 days
5 inmates
1,5 m²
1 toilet
***
1 inmate
23 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.14 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.14 m²
1 toilet
lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, inadequate temperature, overcrowding, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, limited access to the telephone and no access to the internet
***
poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, no access to the internet and limited access to the telephone
***
Idem
***
Idem
50705/19
11/09/2019
Luis Alfredo LOPES DOS SANTOS
1950
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Setúbal Prison
25/02/2016 to
24/01/2017
11 months
***
Carregueira Prison
24/01/2017 to
30/01/2017
7 days
***
Carregueira Prison
30/01/2017 to
16/05/2017
3 months and 17 days
***
Carregueira Prison
16/05/2017 to
31/12/2018
1 year and 7 months and 16 days
***
Carregueira Prison
01/01/2019 to
22/08/2019
7 months and 22 days
***
Carregueira Prison
22/08/2019 to
09/06/2020
9 months and 19 days
***
Carregueira Prison
09/06/2020
pending
More than 2 years and 22 days
5 inmates
1 m²
1 toilet
***
1 inmate
23 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6.76 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6,14 m²
1 toilet
***
6 inmates
5.12 m²
1 toilet
***
6 inmates
5,64 m²
1 toilet
***
6 inmates
5,12 m²
1 toilet
lack of fresh air, lack of toiletries, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, overcrowding, inadequate temperature, limited access to the telephone and no access to the internet, lack of privacy for toilet
***
poor quality of food, no access to the telephone and limited access to the internet
***
Idem
***
Idem
***
Idem
***
Idem
***
Idem
50710/19
11/09/2019
Jose Manuel ROSADO BATISTA
1974
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Setúbal Prison
07/07/2016 to
20/06/2017
11 months and 14 days
***
Carregueira Prison
20/06/2017 to
23/06/2017
4 days
***
Carregueira Prison
23/06/2017 to
15/03/2018
8 months and 21 days
***
Carregueira Prison
15/03/2018
pending
More than 4 years and 3 months and 16 days
3 inmates
1,5 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6,14 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
6,14 m²
1 toilet
***
5 inmates
9,9 m²
1 toilet
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, lack of toiletries, lack of requisite medical assistance, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, inadequate temperature, overcrowding, sharing cells with inmate suffering from a mental illness, bad odours, limited access to the telephone and no access to the internet
***
poor quality of food, no access to the internet and limited access to the telephone
***
Idem
***
Idem
50715/19
11/09/2019
Miguel Jorge CARRILHO DA SILVA
1952
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Prison de Vale de Judeus
13/05/2016
pending
More than 5 years and 9 months and 18 days
1 inmate
6.98 m²
1 toilet
poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, no access to the internet and limited access to the telephone