FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 19395/21
António José MATOS DUARTE
against Portugal
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 15 June 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Tim Eicke, President,
Branko Lubarda,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 24 March 2021,
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 details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant was represented by Mr V. Carreto, a lawyer practising in Torres Vedras.
The applicant’s complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and lack of an effective remedy in this respect were communicated to the Portuguese Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
Complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (inadequate conditions of detention)Conditions of detention in Sintra PrisonIn the present application, having examined all the material before it and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that it cannot be established that the applicant suffered in Sintra Prison, between 16 May 2017 and 5 March 2021, 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, § 114, 20 October 2016). Nor it can be found that the cumulative effect of the other aspects of the detention which the applicant 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 (dec.) no. 5227/18, §§ 32-34, 10 December 2020).
In view of the above, the Court finds that these complaints are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
Conditions of detention in Leiria PrisonConsidering the conclusion above, the Court finds that the applicant’s transfer to Sintra Prison on 16 May 2017 interrupted the “continued situation” of his conditions of detention. The applicant’s complaints concerning his conditions of detention prior to that transfer are therefore belated (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 77-78, 10 January 2012) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
Complaint under Article 13 of the Convention (lack of an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention)The applicant also raised a complaint under Article 13 of the Convention alleging lack of any effective remedy in respect of the inadequate conditions of detention.
According to the Court’s established case-law, Article 13 applies only where an individual has an “arguable claim” to be the victim of a violation of a Convention right (see Boyle and Rice v. the United Kingdom, 27 April 1988, § 52, Series A no. 131).
Having regard to the findings above in respect of the applicant’s complaints under Article 3 of the Convention, the Court concludes that the applicant did not have an “arguable claim” and that therefore Article 13 is not applicable. It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 6 July 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Tim Eicke
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of and effective remedy in this regard)
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
19395/21
24/03/2021
António José MATOS DUARTE
1960
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Leiria Prison
06/01/2016 to
16/05/2017
1 year and 4 months and 11 days
***
Sintra Prison
16/05/2017 to
05/03/2021
3 years and 3 months and 16 days
8 inmates
3.91 m²
1 toilet
***
3 inmates
4.2 m²
1 toilet
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet
***
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food