FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application s no s . 13700/16 and 15707/16 Gheorghe TOFAN against Romania and Toma ÅžTEFÄ‚NESCU against Romania

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 19 November 2020 as a Committee composed of:

Armen Harutyunyan, President, Jolien Schukking, Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,

and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application s lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.

The applicants ’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”) , who submitted observations on the admissibility and merits.

By letters sent by registered post on the dates indicated in the appended table, the applicants were invited to inform the Court about any developments or changes in their situation at the domestic level. The applicants ’ attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike an application out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application.

No reply to these letters has been received by the Court (see details in the appended table) and there are no previous letters from the applicants informing the Court about a change of address.

THE LAW

Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.

In the light of the foregoing, the Court concludes that the applicants may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue the applications (Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention). Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine , the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto which require the continued examination of the applications.

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the cases out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.

Done in English and notified in writing on 10 December 2020 .

Liv Tigerstedt 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

Date of the applicant ’ s last letter

Date of the Court ’ s registered letter

Date of receipt of the registered letter

Time-limit for submission by the applicant of the information requested

Date of the applicant ’ s release from prison

13700/16

03/05/2016

Gheorghe TOFAN

1966

28/11/2018

25/06/2020

Handed over to the recipient on 27/02/2020

23/07/2020

In detention at Vaslui Prison

15707/16

12/04/2016

Toma ÅžTEFÄ‚NESCU

1979

06/11/2019

25/06/2020

16/07/2020

Signed by the Prison ’ s representative

23/07/2020

In detention at Târgu -Jiu

Prison