FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Applications nos 49580/16 and 61860/19
Săndel DONICI
against Romania
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 23 November 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 applicant,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAWJoinder of the applications
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)
Having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the present applications are inadmissible.
The applicant complained principally of the inadequate conditions of his detention. He relied on Article 3 of the Convention. In application no. 49580/16, the applicant complained about the period of detention served since 8 March 2009 in the Vaslui County Police Station, and the Vaslui, Iași, Rahova, Giurgiu, Poarta Albă, Craiova and Tulcea Prisons. In application no. 61860/19 he complained about the period of detention served since 7 December 2018 in the Găești Prison. He was released from detention on 5 April 2023.
The Government argued that the applicant had failed to exhaust the available effective remedies for the complaints about the inadequate conditions of his detention, as the action in tort had become an effective remedy for grievances similar to those of the applicant, allowing him to have the violation of the Convention acknowledged, either explicitly or in substance, and to receive adequate and sufficient compensation at domestic level. The Government expressly referred to Vlad v. Romania (dec.), no. 122/17, 15 November 2022, and invited the Court to declare the cases inadmissible.
The Court recalls that in Polgar v. Romania, no. 39412/19, §§ 94-96, 20 July 2021, it held that an action in tort, based on Articles 1349 and 1357 of the Romanian Civil Code, as interpreted consistently by the national courts, had represented since 13 January 2021 an effective remedy for individuals who considered that they had been subjected to inadequate conditions of detention, and who were no longer being held in conditions that were allegedly contrary to the Convention. Subsequently, in Vlad, cited above, §§ 24-32, the Court considered it appropriate to apply an exception to the general principle that the effectiveness of a given remedy was to be assessed with reference to the date on which the application was lodged.
For all the above reasons and in the light of all the material in its possession, since the applicant was released from detention on 5 April 2023, thus having ceased to be held in conditions of detention allegedly contrary to the Convention after the moment when the tort action had been considered as representing an effective remedy (see, mutatis mutandis, Polgar, § 96 and Vlad, § 23, both cited above), but did not inform the Court of having brought such an action before the domestic courts, his applications must be dismissed for failure to exhaust domestic remedies.
In the light of the foregoing, the Court considers that there is no need to address any other objections raised by the Government and decides that these applications must be dismissed on the ground that domestic remedies had not been exhausted, pursuant to Article 35 §§ 1 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 14 December 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
49580/16
12/09/2016
Săndel DONICI
1975
Vaslui County Police Station; Vaslui, Iași, Rahova, Giurgiu, Poarta Albă, Craiova and Tulcea Prisons and Găești Prison
08/03/2009 to 05/04/2023
14 year(s) and 29 day(s)
(including the periods
spent in the Găești Prison)
61860/19
11/03/2020
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