FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 27168/21
Nuno Gonçalo SOUSA ESPADA against Portugal
and 3 other applications
(see appended table)
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 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 applicant,
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”).
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 current period of detention, the applicants were detained at Elvas Prison (application no. 27168/21), Caxias Prison (application no. 2273/22), Caxias and Alcoentre Prisons (application no. 2292/22), and Carregueira Prison (application no. 8642/22).
Having regard to all of 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 their 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, no. 5227/18, § 34, 10 December 2020).
In view of the above, the Court finds that the complaints related to these periods of the applicants’ detention (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 their last prison transferConcerning applications nos. 27168/21 and 8642/22, in light of the conclusion above, the Court finds that the applicants’ transfer to the last prison facility interrupted the “continuing situation” of their conditions of detention. Therefore, the applicants’ complaints concerning the conditions of detention regarding the period 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), and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
Remaining complaintsUnder Article 13 of the Convention, the applicants 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 applies 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 purposes of Article 13.
It follows that this complaint must also be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 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 5 October 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Faris Vehabović
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of an effective remedy in this respect)
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
27168/21
19/05/2021
Nuno Gonçalo SOUSA ESPADA
1979
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Beja Prison
21/03/2013 to
03/10/2013
6 months and 13 days
Beja Prison
17/12/2013 to
02/10/2018
4 years and 9 months and 16 days
Elvas Prison
02/10/2018 to
02/11/2019
1 year and 1 month and 1 day
Elvas Prison
02/11/2019 to
02/10/2020
11 month and 1 day
Elvas Prison
02/10/2020 to
15/08/2021
10 months and 14 days
7 inmates
2.33 m²
1 toilet
2 inmates
3.50 m²
1 toilet
4 inmates
3.88 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
6.06 m²
1 toilet
4 inmates
3.88 m²
1 toilet
absence of an alarm system in the cell, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, overcrowding, humidity
idem
lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient quantity of food
idem
idem
2273/22
03/01/2022
José Carlos MARQUES VARELA
1979
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Caxias Prison
11/04/2019 to
24/10/2019
6 months and 14 days
Caxias Prison
24/10/2019 to
07/03/2020
4 months and 13 days
Caxias Prison
07/03/2020 to
04/02/2021
10 months and 29 days
Caxias Prison
04/02/2021 to
12/05/2021
3 months and 9 days
Caxias Prison
12/05/2021 to
21/06/2022
1 year and 1 month and 10 days
Caxias Prison
21/06/2022 to
19/08/2022
1 month and 30 days
2 inmates
5.50 m²
1 toilet
4 inmates
4 m²
1 toilet
2 inmates
5.5 m²
1 toilet
4 inmates
4.04 m²
1 toilet
7 inmates
4.34 m²
1 toilet
3 inmates
5.85 m²
1 toilet
inadequate temperature,
poor quality of food, absence of an alarm system in the cell
idem
idem
idem
idem
idem
2292/22
03/01/2022
Ricardo Filipe MOURATO TARRIO
1979
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Caxias Prison
26/10/2019 to
26/08/2021
1 year and 10 months and 1 day
Caxias Prison
26/08/2021 to
23/05/2022
8 months and 28 days
Alcoentre Prison
23/05/2022 to
15/06/2022
24 days
Alcoentre Prison
15/06/2022 to
07/07/2022
23 days
Alcoentre Prison
07/07/2022
pending
More than 11 months and 29 days
2 inmates
5.50 m²
1 toilet
7 inmates
5.85 m²
1 toilet
2 inmates
6.38 m²
1 toilet
5 inmates
4.80 m²
1 toilet
4 inmates
3.90 m²
1 toilet
absence of an alarm system in the cell, humidity
humidity, poor quality of food
lack or inadequate furniture, lack of fresh air
lack or inadequate furniture, inadequate temperature, humidity
idem
8642/22
07/02/2022
Marcos APARECIDO CAMARGO
1947
Vítor Carreto
Torres Vedras
Lisbon Prison
15/08/2014 to
27/03/2015
7 months and 13 days
Carregueira Prison
27/03/2015 to
18/06/2015
2 months and 23 days
Carregueira Prison
18/06/2015 to
28/08/2017
2 years and 2 months and 11 days
Carregueira Prison
28/08/2017 to
16/10/2018
1 year and 1 month and 19 days
Carregueira Prison
16/10/2018 to
17/06/2019
8 months and 2 days
Carregueira Prison
17/06/2019 to
20/09/2021
2 years and 3 months and 4 days
Carregueira Prison
20/09/2021
pending
More than 1 year and 9 months and 16 days
2 inmates
3.72 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
5.08 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
4.43 m²
1 toilet
1 inmate
8.16 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
4.43 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
5.08 m²
1 toilet
6 inmates
4.43 m²
1 toilet
inadequate temperature, humidity, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, absence of an alarm system in the cell, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, overcrowding
mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient quantity of food
idem
idem
idem
idem
idem