FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 42563/21
Joaquim Laurentino OLIVEIRA RODRIGUES against Portugal
and 5 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 29 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 Portuguese Government (“the Government”). In some of the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under other provisions of the Convention.
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)In the present applications, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the complaints about the conditions of detention are inadmissible.
Conditions of detention concerning the last period of detentionThe applicants were detained in different prison facilities. During their last, most recent and/or entire period of their detention (for further details see appended table), the applicants were detained at Caxias Prison (applications nos. 42563/21 and 60352/21), Carregueira Prison (applications nos. 42781/21 and 59170/21), Prison Hospital of Caxias and Central Prison of Lisbon (application no. 59170/21) and Vale de Judeus Prison (applications nos. 60342/21 and 60356/21).
Having regard to all the available material and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that it cannot establish that the applicants suffered in these prison facilities 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, 20 October 2016) nor can it be found that the cumulative effect of the other aspects of the detention which the applicants 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, § 34, 10 December 2020).
It follows that the complaints concerning these periods of detention in the facilities indicated above (for further details see the appended table) are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 a) and 4 of the Convention.
Conditions of detention before the last prison transfer (applications nos. 60352/21 and 60356/21)Concerning additional complaints under Article 3 raised in applications nos. 60352/21 (about the conditions of detention in the Lisbon Judicial Police Prison) and 60356/21 (about the conditions of detention in the Lisbon Central Prison), in light of the conclusion above, the Court finds that the applicants’ transfer to a prison with adequate conditions of detention interrupted the “continuing situation” of their conditions of detention. Therefore, the complaints concerning the conditions of detention prior to their last prison transfer are belated (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 75-78, 10 January 2012). Accordingly, these complaints must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
Remaining complaintsUnder Article 13 of the Convention, the applicants in applications nos. 42781/21, 59170/21, 60342/21, 60352/21 and 60356/21, complained of the lack of an effective remedy in respect of their conditions of detention. The Court notes that, according to its established case-law, Article 13 of the Convention applied only where an individual has an “arguable claim” to be victim of a violation of a Convention right (see Boyle and Rice v. the United Kingdom, 27 April 1988, § 52, Series A no. 131; and Narcisio v. Netherlands (dec.), no. 47810/99, 27 January 2005). Having regard to the findings above as to the applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention about their conditions of detention, the Court concludes that they are not “arguable” for the purpose of Article 13.
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 20 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
Sq. m per inmate
Specific grievances
42563/21
21/09/2021
Joaquim Laurentino OLIVEIRA RODRIGUES
1970
Carlos Geremia
Folkestone, UK
Caxias Prison
02/07/2021 to
04/06/2022
11 months and 3 days
Caxias Prison
04/06/2022 to
13/06/2022
10 days
Caxias Prison
13/06/2022 to
15/07/2022
1 month and 3 days
4 inmates
3.21 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
6.10 m²
1 toilet
3 inmates
3.21 m²
1 toilet
poor quality of food, psychological distress
idem
idem
42781/21
18/08/2021
Vitor Manuel FIDALGO FAUSTO
1977
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Carregueira Prison
12/02/2016 to
19/01/2021
4 years and 11 months and 8 days
Carregueira Prison
19/01/2021 to
12/05/2022
1 year and 3 months and 24 days
Carregueira Prison
12/05/2022 to
22/10/2022
5 months and 11 days
5 inmates
6.10 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
5.09 m²
1 toilet
3 inmates
7 m²
1 toilet
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light
idem
idem
59170/21
30/11/2021
Manuel José LOUREIRO COSTA
1947
Carreto Vítor
Torres Vedras
Prison Hospital of Caxias
16/10/2021 to
25/10/2021
10 days
Central Prison of Lisbon
25/10/2021 to
15/12/2021
1 month and 21 days
Carregueira Prison
15/12/2021 to
21/02/2022
2 months and 7 days
2 inmates
2.5-3.5 m²
1 toilet
2 inmates
5.88 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
5.09 m²
1 toilet
lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food
lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food
poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food
60342/21
03/12/2021
Mário Hugo TEIXEIRA LOPES
1982
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Vale de Judeus Prison
30/04/2019 to
20/12/2021
2 years and 7 months and 21 days
1 inmate
5.70 m²
1 toilet
absence of an alarm system in the cell, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient preventive and control measures of the COVID-19 pandemic
60352/21
03/12/2021
Paulo Luís DA SILVA ANTUNES
1981
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Lisbon Judicial Police Prison
12/11/2019 to
27/11/2019
16 days
***
Caxias Prison
27/11/2019 to
22/04/2020
4 months and 27 days
Caxias Prison
22/04/2020 to
25/01/2021
9 months and 4 days
Caxias Prison
25/01/2021 to
02/12/2021
10 months and 8 days
Caxias Prison
02/12/2021 to
28/01/2022
1 month and 27 days
2 inmates
1 toilet
***
3 inmates
3.67 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
5.86 m²
1 toilet
3 inmates
3.67 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
7.25 m²
1 toilet
inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, absence of an alarm system in the cell, lack of requisite medical assistance, overcrowding
***
absence of an alarm system in the cell, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient quantity of food
idem
idem
idem
60356/21
03/12/2021
Ivandro António REIS LOPES
1980
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Lisbon Central Prison
11/01/2011 to
10/10/2013
2 years and 9 months
***
Vale de Judeus Prison
11/12/2015
pending
More than 7 years and 5 months and 6 days
2 inmates
1.75 m²
1 toilet
***
1 inmate
5.70 m²
1 toilet
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of requisite medical assistance, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient preventive and control measures of COVID-19 pandemic
***
inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient preventive and control measures of COVID-19 pandemic