FOURTH SECTION
\nCASE OF VASILE AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA
\n(Application no. 33213\/15 and 7 others \u2013 see appended list)
\nJUDGMENT
\nSTRASBOURG
\n20 May 2021<\/p>\n
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.<\/p>\n
In the case of Vasile and Others v. Romania,<\/strong><\/p>\n The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:<\/p>\n Armen Harutyunyan, President, Having deliberated in private on 22 April 2021,<\/p>\n Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:<\/p>\n PROCEDURE<\/p>\n 1. The case originated in applications against Romania lodged with the Court under Article\u00a034 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (\u201cthe Convention\u201d) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.<\/p>\n 2. The Romanian Government (\u201cthe\u00a0Government\u201d) were given notice of the applications.<\/p>\n THE FACTS<\/p>\n 3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.<\/p>\n 4. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention.<\/p>\n THE LAW<\/p>\n I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS<\/p>\n 5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.<\/p>\n II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE\u00a03 OF THE CONVENTION<\/p>\n 6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:<\/p>\n Article 3<\/p>\n \u201cNo one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. In all applications, excluding application no. 47300\/16, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning the applicants\u2019 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.<\/p>\n 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 D\u00eerjan and\u00a0\u015etefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224\/15 and 50977\/15, \u00a7\u00a7 23-33, 15 April 2020). This remedy was available to some of the applicants in the present applications and they were, indeed, afforded adequate redress for certain periods of detention (for details see the appended table).<\/p>\n 9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government\u2019s objection in respect of all those applications, except for application no. 16903\/16, and finds that these parts of the applications in respect of which the objection was raised are incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 \u00a7\u00a7 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.<\/p>\n 10. With regard to application no. 16903\/16, the Government raised the preliminary objection concerning the applicant\u2019s loss of victim status for his detention in Miercurea Ciuc prison from 2 September 2013 to 24 October 2017 underlining that he had been afforded adequate redress (312 days in compensation for his detention from 13 June 2013 to 19 October 2017, the date Law no.\u00a0169\/2017 entered into force).<\/p>\n 11. In this respect, it is to be noted that the applicant\u2019s release on parole had already been ordered by the domestic courts on 18 October 2017, before the entry into force of the Law no. 169\/2017. Even if the applicant\u2019s release from prison became effective a few days after the entering into force of this Law, the Government failed to show that he was afforded a redress in concreto. Thus, the Court rejects the Government\u2019s objection in respect of application no. 16903\/16.<\/p>\n 12. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants\u2019 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\u2019 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, Mur\u0161i\u0107 v.\u00a0Croatia [GC], no. 7334\/13, \u00a7\u00a7 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 \u201cdegrading\u201d from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Mur\u0161i\u0107, cited above, \u00a7\u00a7 122 -141, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525\/07 and 60800\/08, \u00a7\u00a7 149-159, 10\u00a0January 2012).<\/p>\n 13. In the leading case of Rezmive\u0219 and Others v. Romania, nos.\u00a061467\/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.<\/p>\n 14. 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\u2019 conditions of detention were inadequate.<\/p>\n 15. These complaints, as specified in the appended table below, are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.<\/p>\n III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS<\/p>\n 16. In applications nos.\u00a011421\/16, 42306\/16 and 47300\/16, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.<\/p>\n 17. The Court has examined the 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.<\/p>\n It follows that these parts of applications nos.\u00a011421\/16, 42306\/16 and\u00a047300\/16 must be rejected in accordance with Article\u00a035\u00a0\u00a7\u00a04 of the Convention.<\/p>\n IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE\u00a041 OF THE CONVENTION<\/p>\n 18. Article\u00a041 of the Convention provides:<\/p>\n \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 19. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case\u2011law (see, in particular, Rezmive\u0219 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.<\/p>\n 20. 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.<\/p>\n FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,<\/p>\n 1. Decides to join the applications;<\/p>\n 2. Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, as specified in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the applications inadmissible;<\/p>\n 3. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article\u00a03 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;<\/p>\n 4. Holds<\/p>\n (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;<\/p>\n (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.<\/p>\n Done in English, and notified in writing on 20 May 2021, pursuant to Rule\u00a077\u00a0\u00a7\u00a7\u00a02 and\u00a03 of the Rules of Court.<\/p>\n Viktoriya Maradudina \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Armen Harutyunyan __________<\/p>\n APPENDIX<\/strong><\/p>\n List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
\nJolien Schukking,
\nAna Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
\nand Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,<\/p>\n
\nActing Deputy Registrar \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0President<\/p>\n
\n(inadequate conditions of detention)<\/p>\n