FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 1907/15 Daniel MUNTEANU against Romania and 9 other applications (see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 25 June 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 Government also raised a preliminary objection in application no. 1907/15; however, the Court finds that it does not need to rule on it because the application is inadmissible in any event, for the reasons presented below.

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

The Court notes that, in its recent decision in the case of Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania (( dec. ), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, 15 April 2020) the Court 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 Rezmive ș and Others v. Romania ( no. 61467/12 and three 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 and had given 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). Furthermore, the applicants have been released from prison.

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,

Dec ide s to join the applications;

Declares the applications inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 16 July 2020 .

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

1907/15

01/02/2015

Daniel MUNTEANU

16/08/1980

Ia ÅŸ i Prison

26/07/2013 to14/01/2016

2 years, 5 months, 20 days

402 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 – 04/07/2018

19665/15

22/04/2015

Ovidiu Gabriel STOICA

14/04/1986

Diana-Elena Dragomir

Bucharest

Rahova , Colibași and Jilava Prisons

23/10/2014 to 13/04/2018

3 years, 5 months , 22 days

246 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 23/10/2014 - 13/04/2018

48518/15

03/11/2015

Alexandru DRÄ‚GULIN

06/11/1987

Ia ş i and M ă rgineni Prisons

25/07/2014 to 12/05/2016

1 year, 9 months, 18 days

222 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 25/07/2014 – 25/10/2017

52448/15

18/04/2016

Nicolae -Cristian MOISE

04/06/1981

Irina Maria Peter

Bucharest

Rahova and Coliba ÅŸ i Prisons

23/10/2014 to 04/04/2016

1 year, 5 months, 12 days

240 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 23/10/2014 – 28/03/2018

52449/15

23/03/2016

Valentin-Robert MOISE

29/08/1985

Irina Maria Peter

Bucharest

Rahova , Colibași and Jilava Prisons

23/10/2014 to 22/12/2017

3 years and 2 months

222 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 23/10/2014 – 22/12/2017

54391/15

14/12/2015

Constantin STROIA

18/01/1975

Bacău Police, Bacău and Iaşi Prisons

18/12/2014 to 21/10/2015

10 months, 3 days

228 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 18/12/2014 – 21/03/2018

55908/15

21/03/2016

Karoly SZÁSZ

08/11/1989

Irina Maria Peter

Bucharest

T â rgu Mure ş , Bistri ţ ia , Jilava , Deva and Aiud Prisons

25/02/2013 to 29/11/2017

4 years, 9 months, 4 days

330 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 25/02/2013 – 29/11/2017

56890/15

24/03/2016

Daniel ROȘU

15/09/1970

Poarta Albă Prison

15/03/2015 to 18/05/2017

2 years and 2 months et 4 days

396 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 24/07/2012 – 16/01/2018

60149/15

12/01/2016

Sebastian CRÄ‚C

07/09/1988

Miercurea Ciuc Prison

20/03/2014 to 08/07/2016

2 year and 3 months and 19 days

270 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 04/02/2014 – 08/11/2017

61761/15

31/03/2016

Marius-Gabriel TEBEICÄ‚

15/07/1987

Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons

10/02/2015 to 20/03/2017

2 years and 1 month and 11 days

156 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions between 10/02/2015 – 27/10/2017