FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 10444/18
Manix-Ioan LĂCĂTUȘ
against Romania
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 application lodged on 27 March 2018,
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, Mr Manix-Ioan Lăcătuș, was born in 1973. He was represented by Mr R. Mureșan, a lawyer practising in Baia Mare.
The applicant’s complaint under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention was communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
Having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the application is inadmissible.
In particular, the Court notes that the applicant complained about the inadequate conditions of detention he had been held in from 21 May 1999 to 30 November 2017. However, from the information submitted by the Government, it resulted that the applicant had been released from prison on 20 November 2013. In reply to the Government’s observations, the applicant confirmed that he had been released from prison on 20 November 2013, but he submitted that he was reincarcerated shortly afterwards. The Government noted that the applicant was indeed reincarcerated, but only on 20 June 2018 which is subsequent to the date the applicant lodged his application before the Court. The applicant did not contest this information.
Against this background, the Court must determine whether the applicant complied with the six-month time-limit established by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention given that the six-month rule is a public policy rule and that, consequently, it has jurisdiction to apply it of its own motion, even if the Government have not raised that objection (see Sabri Güneş v. Turkey [GC], no. 27396/06, § 29, 29 June 2012).
The Court reiterates that in the absence of an effective remedy for that grievance, the complaint about inadequate conditions of detention should have been introduced within six months of the last day of the applicant’s detention (see Iacov Stanciu v. Romania, no. 35972/05, §136, 24 July 2012). The applicant introduced his complaints before the Court on 27 March 2018, which is more than six months after the end of his detention on 20 November 2013. The Court also notes that the applicant did not make any complaints related to the conditions of his detention after his reincarceration in June 2018. Accordingly, this application has been introduced out of time and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 5 October 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Faris Vehabović
Acting Deputy Registrar President