{"id":18242,"date":"2022-03-17T11:03:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T11:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=18242"},"modified":"2022-03-17T11:03:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T11:03:39","slug":"case-of-mocanu-v-romania-european-court-of-human-rights-76888-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=18242","title":{"rendered":"CASE OF MOCANU v. ROMANIA (European Court of Human Rights) 76888\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The case originated in an application 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 21 November 2013.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">FOURTH SECTION<br \/>\n<strong>CASE OF MOCANU v. ROMANIA<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>(Application no. 76888\/13)<\/em><br \/>\nJUDGMENT<br \/>\nSTRASBOURG<br \/>\n17 March 2022<\/p>\n<p>This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In the case of Mocanu v. Romania,<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:<\/p>\n<p>Armen Harutyunyan, President,<br \/>\nJolien Schukking,<br \/>\nAna Maria Guerra Martins, judges,<br \/>\nand Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,<\/p>\n<p>Having deliberated in private on 24 February 2022,<\/p>\n<p>Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:<\/p>\n<p><strong>PROCEDURE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. The case originated in an application 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 21 November 2013.<\/p>\n<p>2. The Romanian Government (\u201cthe\u00a0Government\u201d) were given notice of the application on 13 October 2015.<\/p>\n<p>3. The Government were informed that the case had been assigned to a Committee on 5 February 2019.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE FACTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>4. The applicant was born in 1986 and lives in Foc\u0219ani.<\/p>\n<p>5. On 16 March 2012 the applicant was placed in detention to serve a sentence of imprisonment of seven and a half years. He was repeatedly transferred between several prison facilities (further details in the appended table).<\/p>\n<p>6. According to the available medical reports, the applicant was \u201cclinically healthy\u201d when admitted to prison. He was later diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B, tuberculous pleurisy, skin rash, chronic hives, insect bites, oral thrush, obesity, and antisocial personality disorder. He received medical assistance according to treatment plans developed by doctors. Specific diet was prescribed to him as part of his treatment for hepatitis and tuberculosis and for preventing and limiting his allergic reactions.<\/p>\n<p>7. On 14 February 2017 he was released on probation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE LAW<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE\u00a03 OF THE CONVENTION<\/p>\n<p>8. The applicant complained principally of the inadequate conditions of his detention. He relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Article 3<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>9. The Court notes that the applicant was kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicant\u2019s detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case\u2011law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Mur\u0161i\u0107 v.\u00a0Croatia [GC], no.\u00a07334\/13, \u00a7\u00a7\u00a096\u2011101, 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\u00a03 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Mur\u0161i\u0107, cited above, \u00a7\u00a7\u00a0122\u201141, and Ananyev and Others v.\u00a0Russia, nos.\u00a042525\/07 and 60800\/08, \u00a7\u00a7\u00a0149\u201159, 10\u00a0January 2012).<\/p>\n<p>10. In the leading case of Rezmive\u0219 and Others v.\u00a0Romania, (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<p>11. 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 applicant\u2019s conditions of detention were inadequate.<\/p>\n<p>12. The complaint is therefore admissible and discloses a breach of Article\u00a03 of the Convention in view of poor conditions of the applicant\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n<p>II. REMAINING COMPLAINT<\/p>\n<p>13. With reference to Article 3 of the Convention the applicant also argued that he had developed several illnesses in prison due to poor conditions of his detention.<\/p>\n<p>14. The Government contested these allegations.<\/p>\n<p>15. The Court considers that the applicant\u2019s allegations that he contracted several diseases in prison are not substantiated by sufficient evidence. Moreover, the chronic nature of some of his illnesses also raises doubt as to whether he had developed them in prison and as a result of his detention conditions. In these circumstances, the Court is not convinced that the applicant\u2019s medical condition was caused exclusively by his detention, or that the authorities can be held responsible for it (see Bahn\u0103 v.\u00a0Romania, no.\u00a075985\/12, \u00a7\u00a7 66-69, 13\u00a0November 2014; C\u0103t\u0103lin Eugen Micu v.\u00a0Romania, no. 55104\/13, \u00a7 56, 5\u00a0January 2016; and Minculescu v. Romania (dec.), no. 7993\/05, \u00a7\u00a7 56-61, 13 November 2012). In any event, according to the medical records available, the applicant\u2019s health had been regularly and thoroughly monitored and he had been provided with the appropriate treatment for his conditions. He has not argued that his health deteriorated over the period in question because of the absence of medical treatment.<\/p>\n<p>16. Accordingly, this complaint is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 \u00a7\u00a7 3 and 4 of the Convention.<\/p>\n<p>III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE\u00a041 OF THE CONVENTION<\/p>\n<p>17. Article\u00a041 of the Convention provides:<\/p>\n<p>\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<p>18. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case\u2011law (see, in particular, Rezmive\u0219 and Others, cited above), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sum indicated in the appended table.<\/p>\n<p>19. The Court further 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<p><strong>FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Declares the complaint concerning the inadequate conditions of detention admissible\u00a0and the remainder of the application inadmissible;<\/p>\n<p>2. Holds that this complaint discloses a breach of Article\u00a03 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;<\/p>\n<p>3. Holds<\/p>\n<p>(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the amount 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<p>(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.<\/p>\n<p>Done in English, and notified in writing on 17 March 2022, pursuant to Rule\u00a077\u00a0\u00a7\u00a7\u00a02 and\u00a03 of the Rules of Court.<\/p>\n<p>Viktoriya Maradudina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Armen Harutyunyan<br \/>\nActing Deputy Registrar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 President<\/p>\n<p>___________<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>APPENDIX<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Application raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(inadequate conditions of detention)<\/p>\n<table width=\"841\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"93\"><strong>Application no.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Date of introduction<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"104\"><strong>Applicant\u2019s name<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Year of birth<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"189\"><strong>Facility<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Start and end date<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Duration<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"87\"><strong>Sq. m per inmate<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"225\"><strong>Specific grievances<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"143\"><strong>Amount awarded for pecuniary and non\u2011pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>(in euro<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a>)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"93\">76888\/13<br \/>\n21\/11\/2013<\/td>\n<td width=\"104\"><strong>C\u0103t\u0103lin MOCANU<\/strong><br \/>\n1986<\/td>\n<td width=\"189\">Vrancea County Police Station; Foc\u0219ani, Gala\u021bi, Bucharest &#8211; Rahova, Slobozia, Vaslui and Bac\u0103u Prisons; Constan\u021ba &#8211; Poarta Alb\u0103, T\u00e2rgu Ocna, Bucharest &#8211; Jilava and Bucharest &#8211; Rahova Prison Hospitals<br \/>\n16\/03\/2012 to<br \/>\n14\/02\/2017<br \/>\n4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 30 day(s)<\/td>\n<td width=\"87\">1.23 &#8211; 2.52 m\u00b2<\/td>\n<td width=\"225\">overcrowding (save for the periods<br \/>\n12 &#8211; 27\/06\/2013, 04 &#8211; 14\/11\/2013,<br \/>\n21\/03 &#8211; 30\/09\/2014, 03 &#8211; 04\/03\/2015,<br \/>\n13 &#8211; 17\/03\/2015, 19 &#8211; 26\/06\/2015,<br \/>\n14 &#8211; 21\/08\/2015 and 11 &#8211; 18\/09\/2015), bunk beds, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects\/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of food<\/td>\n<td width=\"143\">3,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The case originated in an application 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 21 November 2013. FOURTH SECTION CASE OF MOCANU v. ROMANIA (Application&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=18242\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-available-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18243,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18242\/revisions\/18243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}