FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 20106/15 Harry ŐTVÖS against Romania and 8 other applications

( s ee appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 9 July 2020 as a Committee composed of:

Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström , President , Georges Ravarani, Jolien Schukking, 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 regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicant s 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 Romanian Government (“the Government”) .

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.

The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

The Government pleaded that the applicants had lost their victim status due to the fact that they had benefitted from the remedy offered by Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences. They asked the Court to reject the present applications for being incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention.

The applicants disagreed claiming that the compensation awarded to them had not been sufficient.

The Court notes that, in its recent decision Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania (( dec. ), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, 15 April 2020) it has examined similar applications as the ones in the present case and declared them inadmissible considering that the applicants had lost their victim status. The Court noted that Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences, adopted following the pilot judgment in the case of Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania (no. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017) and in force between October 2017 and December 2019, had been an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law had set forth a compensatory remedy, available for periods of detention ranging from 2012 to 2019 and allowing the deduction of six days for 30 days spent in conditions of detention that fell short of standards compatible with Article 3 of the Convention ( see Dîrjan and Ştefan , cited above, § 28). This benefit had impacted on the term of the prison sentences giving the detainees the opportunity of earlier release on parole.

Turning to the circumstances of the present cases, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on their admissibility. The above-mentioned remedy was available to the applicants in the present applications and, indeed, they benefitted from it. Thus, on different dates, the domestic authorities, applying the provisions described in the abovementioned decision Dîrjan and Ştefan , awarded compensation, through the reduction of days, to the applicants for the entire period of detention spent in inadequate conditions of which they complained (for further details see the appended table).

The Court is therefore satisfied that the applicants have been afforded adequate redress and can no longer claim to be victims of a violation of their rights under Article 3 of the Convention. It follows that 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.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Declares the applications inadmissible.

Liv Tigerstedt Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström 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

Date of birth

Representative ’ s name and location

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

Domestic compensation awarded (in days) based on total period calculated domestically

20106/15

25/08/2015

Harry ŐTVÖS

21/06/1978

Miercurea Ciuc Prison

01/01/2013 to 10/03/2017

4 years, 2 months, 8 days

426 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 – 29/01/2019

61202/15

17/03/2016

Adrian ARDELEANU

28/04/1987

Covasna Country Police and Codlea Prison

19/06/2015 to 18/04/2016

9 months, 30 days

84 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 19/06/2015 – 18/04/2016 and 25/10/2017 – 12/04/2018

904/16

15/12/2015

Dumitru-Essan ISTRATIE

03/03/1990

Carmen Codoban

Targu -Jiu

Craiova Prison

28/09/2014 to 18/04/2017

2 years and 5 months and 13 days

276 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 28/09/2014 - 16/10/2018

4906/16

13/01/2016

Sorin GHEORGHE

11/05/1982

Codlea Prison

02/09/2014 to 03/01/2017

2 years and 4 months and 2 days

396 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 – 20/03/2018

7158/16

09/03/2016

Paul- Sorin MIHALACHE

18/02/1988

Rahova and Colibași Prisons

31/03/2015 to 21/08/2018

3 years, 5 months, 1 day

264 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 31/03/2015 - 21/12/2018

8468/16

04/03/2016

Costin Alexandru MINCU

20/05/1992

Irina Maria Peter

Bucharest

Bucarest Police detention facilities nos. 1 and 3, Rahova and Jilava Prisons

14/01/2015 to 19/10/2017

2 years, 9 months, 5 days

192 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 14/01/2015 -19/10/2017

9613/16

19/04/2016

Mugurel CHITIC

11/07/1962

Iași , Tulcea , Vaslui Prisons

20/02/2015 to 15/11/2017

2 years and 8 months and 27 days

198 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 21/01/2015 – 15/11/2017

15670/16

18/04/2016

Janos VARGA

30/03/1993

Codlea and Miercurea Ciuc Prisons

06/03/2015 to 24/05/2018

3 years and 2 months and 19 days

264 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 10/03/2014 – 04/08/2014 and 06/03/2015 – 24/05/2018

18010/16

18/04/2016

Liviu PREDA

23/08/1956

Baia Mare Country Police and Gherla Prison

10/03/2015 to 05/01/2017

1 year and 9 months and 27 days

210 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 10/03/2015 – 14/02/2018