FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 32298/16
Aurel MÎNDRILĂ against Romania
and 8 other applications
(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 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
The list of applicants is set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
Joinder of the applicationsHaving 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)The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.
The Government argued mainly that the applicants had lost their victim status because they had benefitted from the remedy offered by Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences. They asked the Court to reject the present applications for being incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention.
The applicants disagreed, claiming that the compensation awarded to them was insufficient.
The Court notes that in the decision Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, 15 April 2020) it has examined similar applications as the ones in the present case and declared them inadmissible because the applicants had lost their victim status. The Court noted that Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences, adopted following the pilot judgment in the case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania (nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017) and in force between October 2017 and December 2019, was an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law set forth a compensatory remedy, available for periods of detention ranging from 2012 to 2019 and allowing the deduction of six days for 30 days spent in conditions of detention that fell short of standards compatible with Article 3 of the Convention (see Dîrjan and Ştefan, cited above, §28). That benefit had an impact on the term of the prison sentences, giving detainees an opportunity of earlier release on parole.
Turning to the circumstances of the present cases, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility of those complaints. The above-mentioned remedy was available to the applicants in the present applications and, indeed, they benefitted from it. Thus, on different dates, the domestic authorities, applying the provisions laid down in the abovementioned decision Dîrjan and Ştefan, awarded compensation, through the reduction of days, to the applicants for the entire period of detention spent in inadequate conditions of which they complained (for further details see the appended table). Furthermore, the applicants were released from prison or were transferred to detention facilities they are not complaining about.
The Court is therefore satisfied that the applicants have been afforded adequate redress and can no longer claim to be victims of a violation of their rights under Article 3 of the Convention, insofar as the conditions of their detention, described in the appended table, are concerned.
In view of the above, the Court finds that the applications in this part are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
Remaining complaintsIn applications nos. 57501/16, 23800/17, 20345/18 and 54745/18 the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.
The Court has examined these complaints and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.
It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 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 6 July 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Tim Eicke
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
Domestic compensation awarded
(in days)
based on total period calculated by national authorities
32298/16
25/05/2016
Aurel MÎNDRILĂ
1978
Craiova and Iași Prisons
01/09/2012 to
29/09/2016
4 year(s) and 29 day(s)
270 days in compensation
for a total period of 1,357 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between 01/09/2012 and 29/09/2016
57501/16
23/09/2016
Iliana-Emiliana MIHAI
1967
Constanta Vișan
Galați
Bucharest Central Arrest; Târgșor Prison; Jilava Prison Hospital
31/03/2015 to
01/11/2017
2 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 2 day(s)
180 days in compensation
for a total period of 913 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between
09/04/2015-16/04/2015, 30/04/2015-18/06/2015, 26/06/2015-25/02/2016 and 04/03/2016-01/11/2017
23800/17
20/03/2017
Dorel ROGOZAN
1962
Vasile Rareş Biro
Satu Mare
Cluj County Police Station, Gherla, Arad and Baia Mare Prisons
17/02/2010 to
29/04/2015
and
13/05/2015 to
24/10/2018
8 year(s) and 7 month(s)
294 days in compensation
for a total period of 1,481 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between
24/07/2012 and 24/10/2018
35188/17
06/05/2017
Daniel-Nicolae LUPUȚ
1989
Vasile Rareş Biro
Satu Mare
Satu Mare Prison
18/02/2016 to
07/11/2016
8 month(s) and 21 day(s)
168 days in compensation
for a total period of 846 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
including the period between
18/02/2016 and 07/11/2016
35766/17
04/05/2017
Gigi-Claudiu TOMA
1974
Dolj County Police Station; Craiova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin - Vânjulet and Rahova Prisons
15/05/2014 to
24/10/2017
3 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 10 day(s)
246 days in compensation
for a total period of 1,251 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between
15/05/2014 and
24/10/2017
38000/17
21/07/2017
Ionuț DOROBANȚU
1978
Rahova, Jilava and Ploiești Prisons
21/10/2016 to
21/10/2017
1 year(s) and 1 day(s)
72 days in compensation
for a total period of 366 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between
21/10/2016 and
21/10/2017
48906/17
29/09/2017
Tudor POPA
1973
Galați Prison
05/05/2016 to
23/12/2019
3 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 19 day(s)
240 days in compensation
for a total period of 1,213 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between
05/05/2016 and 23/12/2019
20345/18
17/04/2018
Viorel-Dănuț GÎNGA
1977
Botoșani and Iași Prisons
05/05/2017 to
29/08/2017
and
21/10/2017 to
28/11/2017
and
23/12/2017 to
30/03/2018
and
21/04/2018 to
03/05/2019
1 year(s) and 8 month(s)
108 days in compensation
for a total period of 563 days spent in detention in
inadequate conditions
between
21/10/2017-28/11/2017, 23/12/2017-30/03/2018 and 21/04/2018-03/05/2019
54745/18
12/11/2018
Vasile-Urizan ROSTAȘ
1982
Bucharest Central Arrest, Rahova, Iași, Botoșani, Găești Prisons Rahova Prison Hospital, Târgu-Ocna Prison Hospital
12/04/2013 to
16/05/2018
5 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 5 day(s)
336 days in compensation
for a total period of 1,708 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions
between
12/04/2013 to
16/05/2018 (with the exception of the periods spent in prison hospitals),