FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 7404/13
Roman HUDOROVAC against Slovenia
and 5 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 13 November 2014 as a Committee composed of:
Angelika Nußberger, President,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Vincent A. De Gaetano, judges
and Stephen Phillips, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the dates indicated in the attached 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:
THE FACTS
The applicants Mr Roman Hudorovac, Mr Simon Tkalčec, Mr Nermin Čatić, Mr Luka Gregorič, Mr Dušan Vulić and Mr Senad Begić are Slovenian nationals. Their birthdates are indicated in the attached table. The applicant Mr Tkalčec was represented before the Court by Mrs Darja Roblek, a lawyer practising in Kranj. The applicant Mr Begić was represented before the Court by Mrs Maja Ramšak, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana.
The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs Nataša Pintar Gosenca, State Attorney.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicants were detained in the remand section of Ljubljana prison. At the time of lodging their applications to the Court they had not been in Ljubljana prison any longer as they were later at liberty, or they had been transferred to Dob prison. They complained solely about the conditions of detention in Ljubljana prison.
The individual circumstances are indicated in the attached table.
B. Relevant domestic law and practice
For the relevant domestic law and practice see Bizjak v. Slovenia (dec.), no. 25516/12, 8 July 2014, §§ 6-11.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complained that the conditions of their detention in Ljubljana prison amounted to a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.
Under Article 13 of the Convention the applicants complained that they had not had at their disposal any effective domestic remedy for their complaints under Article 3.
THE LAW
As the applications are similar in terms of both fact and law, the Court decides to join them.
A. Complaint under Article 3 of the Convention
The applicants complained that the conditions of their detention had been inhuman and degrading. They invoked Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The applicants alleged, in particular, that they had suffered from severe overcrowding, inadequate ventilation during the summer and excessive restrictions on out-of-cell time.
The Government, relying on the same arguments as in the case of Bizjak (cited above, §§ 17-22), pleaded non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They argued that the applicants had an effective remedy at their disposal, a claim for compensation under Article 179 of the Civil Code, which they had failed to use.
The applicants maintained that a claim for compensation could not be considered effective. They alleged that the domestic proceedings had been lengthy, that the amount of compensation awarded by domestic courts is low (with the judgment of 9 May 2011 domestic courts awarded only EUR 2,290) and that there is only one domestic judgment awarding compensation for inadequate conditions of detention.
As regards the relevant principles on the rule on exhaustion of domestic remedies, the Court refers to paragraphs 24‑26 of its decision in the case of Bizjak, where it has already assessed the effectiveness of a claim for compensation in respect of allegedly inadequate conditions of detention. In Bizjak, the applicant had already been released from Ljubljana prison at the time of lodging his application to the Court.
The Court concludes that the remedy at issue should in principle be used by a person in the applicant’s situation who intends to claim that his or her prison conditions were incompatible with Article 3 of the Convention (see Bizjak, cited above, § 34).
The factual background in the present case is similar to the one in the case of Bizjak. At the time of lodging of their applications to the Court the applicants in the present case were no longer detained in Ljubljana prison.
Furthermore, the applicants’ objections as to the ineffectiveness of the remedy, namely the length of domestic compensation proceedings, the amount of compensation awarded at domestic level and the existence of only one judgment awarding compensation, are based on the same arguments as those adduced by the applicant in Bizjak (cited above, § 23). Those allegations were not accepted in Bizjak (cited above, §§ 35-44) and the Court sees no reasons that would lead it to reach a different conclusion in the present case.
As the situation of the applicants in the present case is similar to the one of the applicant in the case of Bizjak and as the Court sees no reason to depart from the findings in that case, it concludes, as in Bizjak, that the applicants were obliged, under Article 35 of the Convention, to pursue the remedy under Article 179 of the Civil Code, which they have not done.
Therefore, this complaint must be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.
B. Complaint under Article 13 of the Convention
The applicants complained that they did not have any effective remedy at their disposal as regards the conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 13 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
As in Bizjak (cited above, § 48), the Court concludes that, even assuming that Article 13 is applicable, it has already found that a claim for compensation under Article 179 of the Civil Code would have provided the applicants with a potentially effective remedy for their complaints under Article 3 of the Convention and that that finding is valid also in the context of the complaint under Article 13 of the Convention.
It follows that this complaint is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Stephen Phillips Angelika Nußberger
RegistrarPresident
Appendix
No
Application No
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Period of detention
7404/13
23/01/2013
Roman HUDOROVAC
29/11/1986
Dob
From 15/07/2011 to 09/10/2012
18461/13
08/03/2013
Simon TKALČEC
01/02/1988
Mirna
From 02/12/2011 to 01/10/2012
41587/13
22/06/2013
Nermin ČATIĆ
16/07/1985
Dob
From 14/05/2012 to 08/05/2013
41591/13
22/06/2013
Luka GREGORIČ
12/04/1989
Dob
From 22/12/2011 to 22/12/2012
From 02/01/2013 to 09/01/2013
44506/13
27/06/2013
Dušan VULIĆ
01/10/1974
Ljubljana
From 30/10/2011 to 28/12/2012
61563/13
23/09/2013
Senad BEGIĆ
14/11/1964
From 21/08/2012 to 27/03/2013
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy