FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 36830/15
David SAVU against Romania
and 11 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 1 July 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
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,
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 LAWJoinder of the applications
Having 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 of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on 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 Government argued 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 was insufficient.
The Court notes that in a recent 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 considering that 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 (no. 61467/12 and three others, 25 April 2017) and in force between October 2017 and December 2019, had been an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law had 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). This benefit had impacted the term of the prison sentences and had given 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 described 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 did not complain 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. It follows 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 complaints
In applications nos. 36830/15 and 39090/16 the applicants also raised complaints under Article 3 of the Convention in relation to a period of detention preceding the detention period specified in the appended table.
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, they do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Article 35 § 1 of the Convention as they were lodged outside the six-month time-limit.
It follows that this part of applications nos. 36830/15 and 39090/16 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 22 July 2021.
{signature_p_2}
Viktoriya MaradudinaArmen Harutyunyan
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
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 domestically
36830/15
09/03/2016
David SAVU
1973
Miercurea Ciuc, Gherla, Aiud and Codlea Prisons
09/03/2015 to 12/12/2019
4 years and 9 months and 4 days
492 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 19/12/2019
58622/15
25/01/2016
Ciprian-Gabriel GANEA
1988
Codlea, Miercurea Ciuc and Mărgineni Prisons
17/02/2015 to 25/01/2019
3 years and 11 months and 13 days
228 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 17/02/2015 to 25/01/2019
24405/16
07/09/2016
Costel-Florin APETREI
1980
Bacău County Police and Bacău, Iași and Vaslui Prisons
14/11/2013 to 22/08/2016
2 years and 9 months and 9 days
270 days in compensation for a total period of
detention spent in inadequate conditions from 14/11/2013 to 17/01/2018
28461/16
06/06/2016
Vasile NEDELUȘ
1968
Mioveni Prison
12/12/2014 to 25/10/2019
4 years and 10 months and 14 days
360 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 12/12/2014 to 28/11/2019
31902/16
28/06/2016
Constantin GĂLUȘCĂ
1956
Bacău Police and Bacău and Iași Prisons
19/07/2015 to 08/09/2017
2 years and 1 month and 21 days
234 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 19/07/2015 to 10/06/2019
38841/16
07/12/2016
Andrei-Florinel TARCAN
1991
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Rahova Prison
27/10/2015 to 27/03/2018
2 years and 5 months and 1 day
294 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 12/08/2015 to 24/11/2019
39090/16
24/08/2016
Ioan-Petru GLIGOR
1981
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Aiud and Timișoara Prisons
22/05/2015 to 20/09/2019
4 years and 3 months and 30 days
474 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 06/12/2019
39620/16
08/11/2016
Alexandru Marian VĂDUVA
1987
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest
Bucharest Police and Rahova, Giurgiu and Jilava Prisons
13/07/2013 to 01/02/2018
4 years and 6 months and 20 days
336 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 13/07/2013 to 13/03/2018
44484/16
26/07/2016
Petru-Marian FLUERAȘ
1981
Ionela Mărgărit
Bucharest
Brăila and Galați Prisons
17/06/2014 to 27/09/2016
2 years and 3 months and 11 days
Brăila and Galați Prisons
02/06/2017 to 13/02/2018
8 months and 12 days
222 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 27/05/2014 to 27/09/2016 and 02/06/2017 to 20/02/2018
51397/16
21/09/2016
Costel PATRAȘCU
1987
Ionela Mărgărit
Bucharest
Galaţi Police and Galaţi and Brăila Prisons
23/07/2013 to 07/09/2018
5 years and 1 month and 16 days
372 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 23/07/2013 to 10/01/2019
65014/16
03/11/2016
Sergiu BOTISAN
1989
Vasile Rareş Biro
Satu Mare
Maramureș County Police and Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons
27/04/2015 to 13/03/2018
2 years and 10 months and 15 days
228 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 27/04/2015 to 26/06/2018
69416/16
29/12/2016
Arun VARGA
1978
Baia Mare Prison
29/01/2016 to 28/08/2017
1 year and 7 months
Baia Mare Prison
21/03/2018 to 17/10/2018
6 months and 27 days
156 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 29/01/2016 to 28/08/2017 and 21/03/2018 to 17/10/2018
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy