Last Updated on July 22, 2021 by LawEuro
FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF ALBULESCU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
(Application no. 25290/16 and 9 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
22 July 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Albulescu and Others v. Romania,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Armen Harutyunyan, President,
Jolien Schukking,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 1 July 2021,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Romania lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Romanian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
4. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. The Government raised a preliminary objection concerning the applicants’ loss of victim status for the periods of detention specified in the appended table because they were afforded adequate redress based on Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences for those specific periods of detention.
8. The Court notes that the domestic remedy introduced in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romania and applicable until December 2019 was held to be an effective one in the case of Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, §§ 23-33, 15 April 2020). This remedy was available to the applicants in the present applications and they were, indeed, afforded adequate redress for certain periods of detention (for details see the appended table).
9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of the applications 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.
10. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants’ detention as specified in the appended table, the Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122‑141, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑159, 10 January 2012).
11. In the leading case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
12. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention were, for the periods specified in the appended table, inadequate.
13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
14. In applications nos. 43430/16 and 48548/16 the applicants also raised complaints under Article 3 of the Convention in relation to periods of detention preceding the start date specified in the appended table.
15. 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 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 these parts of applications nos. 43430/16 and 48548/16 must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
16. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
17. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
18. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, as specified in the appended table, admissible and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;
3. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention for the periods indicated in the appended table below;
4. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 22 July 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Armen Harutyunyan
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 | Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated domestically | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant
(in euros) |
| 1. | 25290/16
21/03/2016 |
Iulian-Ionuț ALBULESCU
1989 |
|
Rahova and Ploiești Prisons
24/12/2019 pending More than 1 year and 5 months and 17 days |
2,62-2,80 m² | overcrowding (save for 24/12/2019 – 03/02/2020 and 05/03-06/03/2020), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to potable water
|
216 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 07/08/2015 to 15/11/2017 and from 09/01/2019 to 23/12/2019 | 3,000 |
| 2. | 27802/16
07/06/2016 |
Ion POPESCU
1982 |
|
Bucharest Police no. 5, Rahova Prison and Jilava Prison Hospital
04/02/2012 to 24/07/2012 5 months and 21 days
Mioveni Prison Hospital 29/08/2014 to 08/09/2014 11 days |
1.5-2.18 m² | overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of furniture, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
|
522 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 23/12/2019, with the exception of the periods referred to in Column no. 5. | 1,000 |
| 3. | 27891/16
24/08/2016 |
Nicolae-Valentin DRAGOLEA
1968 |
|
Bucharest Police no. 22, Rahova, Giurgiu, Craiova and Arad Prisons
08/11/2009 to 23/07/2012 2 years and 8 months and 16 days
Arad Prison 01/01/2013 pending More than 8 years and 5 months and 9 days |
2.33-2.81 m²
|
overcrowding (only for 08/11/2009-29/07/2010, 28/02/2011-03/08/2011 and 05/01/2012-10/05/2012), lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, mouldy or dirty cell, bunk beds | 30 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 31/12/2012 | 5,000 |
| 4. | 31934/16
18/11/2016 |
Gheorghiţă-Liviu MATEI
1980 |
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest |
Bucharest Police no. 6, Rahova and Mioveni Prisons and Jilava Prison Hospital
17/08/2010 to 23/07/2012 1 year and 11 months and 7 days
Mioveni Prison Hospital 05/02/2015 to 23/02/2015 19 days
Mioveni Prison Hospital 13/07/2015 to 27/07/2015 15 days
Rahova Prison Hospital 08/03/2016 to 25/03/2016 18 days |
1.36-2.95 m | overcrowding (save for 18/01-07/02/2011; 15/03-24/03/2011 and 08/03-25/03/2016), mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air | 504 days in compensation
for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 29/10/2019, with the exception of the periods referred to in Column no. 5. |
3,000 |
| 5. | 36658/16
15/11/2016 |
Vasile RĂDUCAN
1974 |
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest |
Urziceni Police, Jilava, Rahova and Poarta Albă Prison Hospitals and Slobozia, Jilava, Craiova, Rahova, Aiud, Giurgiu and Poarta Albă Prisons
19/06/1997 to 23/07/2012 15 years and 1 month and 5 days
Giurgiu Prison 24/12/2019 pending More than 1 year and 5 months and 17 days |
1.05-2.89 m² | overcrowding (save for 14/11/2011-08/12/2011), bunk beds, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
|
504 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 23/12/2019 | 5,000 |
| 6. | 38082/16
14/11/2016 |
Iosif MITITIUC
1989 |
|
Timiș County Police, Timișoara Prison and Dej Prison Hospital
06/08/2011 to 19/08/2012 1 year and 14 days
Arad Prison and Dej Prison Hospital 08/02/2013 to 16/05/2016 3 years and 3 months and 9 days
Arad and Aiud Prisons and Dej Prison Hospital 01/06/2016 to 17/07/2019 3 years and 1 month and 17 days
Timișoara Prison 02/12/2019 pending More than 1 year and 6 months and 9 days |
1,2-2,25 m² | overcrowding while in Timiș County Police and Timișoara and Aiud Prisons, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to potable water, lack or insufficient quantity of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of toiletries | 72 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 20/08/2012 to 02/12/2019, with the exception of the periods referred to in Column no. 5. | 5,000 |
| 7. | 38592/16
21/07/2016 |
Mihail VLAD
1979 |
Irina Maria Peter
Bucharest |
Bucharest Central Arrest and Rahova, Giurgiu and Mioveni Prison
28/06/2009 to 23/07/2012 3 years and 26 days |
1,36-2,87 m² | overcrowding (save for 20/10/2009-10/11/2009), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to potable water, bunk beds, mouldy or dirty cell | 426 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 26/05/2018 | 3,000 |
| 8. | 42367/16
08/11/2016 |
Gheorghe SAMU
1989 |
Claudia Nadina Daciana Cândea
Timișoara |
Arad Prison
25/01/2017 to 16/02/2017 23 days
Arad and Timișoara Prisons 22/05/2019 pending More than 2 years and 20 days |
2 m² | overcrowding for Timișoara Prison, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, lack of toiletries, lack or inadequate furniture | 210 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 13/04/2016 to 22/05/2019, with the exception of the periods referred to in Column no. 5. | 3,000 |
| 9. | 43430/16
25/08/2016 |
Dumitru MUNGA
1971 |
|
Aiud, Arad, Botoșani, Giurgiu and Iași Prisons
02/07/2003 to 27/08/2012 9 years and 1 months and 26 days
Arad, Botoșani and Iași Prisons 24/01/2018 pending More than 3 years and 4 months and 18 days |
1,9-2,6 m² | overcrowding, bunk beds, poor quality of food, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to warm water, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of fresh air, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities | 390 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 28/08/2012 to 23/01/2018 | 5,000 |
| 10. | 48548/16
03/10/2016 |
Gheorghe GRECEA
1980 |
|
Tulcea Prison
14/12/2019 to 02/08/2020 7 months and 20 days |
3,47 m² | infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature, lack or insufficient quantity of food | 474 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 13/12/2019 | 1,000 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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