FIFTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 7404/13 Roman HUDOROVAC against Slovenia and 5 other applications (see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights ( Fifth Section ), sitting on 13 November 2014 as a Committee composed of:

Angelika Nußberger , President ,

Boštjan M. Zupančič ,

Vincent A. De Gaetano, judges

and Stephen Phillips , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the dates indicated in the attached 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:

THE FACTS

The applicants Mr Roman Hudorovac , Mr Simon Tkal č ec , Mr Nermin Č ati ć , Mr Luka Gregorič , Mr Dušan Vulić and Mr Senad Begić are Slovenian nationals. Their birthdates are indicated in the attached table. The applicant Mr Tkal č ec was represented before the Court by Mr s Darja Roblek , a lawyer practising in Kranj . The applicant Mr Begi ć was represented before the Court by Mr s Maja Ram š ak , a lawyer practising in Ljubljana.

The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs Nata š a Pintar Gosenca , State Attorney.

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

The applicant s were detained in the remand section of Ljubljana prison . At the time of lodging their applications to the Court they had not been in Ljubljana prison any longer as they were later at liberty, or they had been transferred to Dob prison. They complained solely about the conditions of detention in Ljubljana prison.

The individual circumstances are indicated in the attached table.

B. Relevant domestic law and practice

For the relevant domestic law and practice see Bizjak v. Slovenia ( dec. ), no. 25516/12 , 8 July 2014, §§ 6-11.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant s complained that the conditions of their detention in Ljubljana prison amounted to a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.

Under Article 13 of the Convention the applicants complained that t he y had not had at their disposal any effective domestic remedy for their complaints under Article 3 .

THE LAW

As the applications are similar in terms of both fact and law, the Court decides to join them.

A. Complaint under Article 3 of the Convention

The applicants complained that the conditions of their detention had been inhuman and degrading. They invoked Article 3 of the Conv ention, which reads as follows:

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

The applicants alleged, in particular, that they had suffered from severe overcrowding, inadequate ventilation during the summer and excessive restrictions on out-of-cell time.

The Government, relying on the same arguments as in the case of Bizjak (cited above, §§ 17-22), pleaded non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They argued that the applicants had an effective remedy at their disposal, a claim for compensation under Article 179 of the Civil Code, which they had failed to use.

The applicant s maintained that a claim for compensation could not be considered effective . The y alleged that the domestic proceedings had been lengthy, that the amount of compensation awarded by domestic courts is low (with the judgment of 9 May 2011 domestic courts awarded only EUR 2,290) and that there is only one domestic judgment awarding compensation for inadequate conditions of detention.

As regards the relevant principles on the rule on exhaustion of domestic remedies, the Court refers to paragraphs 24 ‑ 26 of its decision in the case of Bizjak , where it has already assessed the effectiveness of a claim for compensation in respect of allegedly ina dequate conditions of detention . In Bizjak , the applicant had already been released from Ljubljana prison at the time of lodging his application to the Court.

The Court concludes that the remedy at issue should in principle be used by a person in the applicant ’ s situation who intends to claim that his or her prison conditions were incompatible with Article 3 of the Convention (see Bizjak , cited above, § 34).

The factual background in the present case is similar to the one in the case of Bizjak . At the time of lodging of their applications to the Court the applicants in the present case were no longer detained in Ljubljana prison.

Furthermore , the applicants ’ objections as to the ineffectiveness of the remedy, namely the length of domestic compensation proceedings, the amount of compensation awarded at domestic level and the existence of only one judgment awarding compensation, are based on the same arguments as those adduced by the applicant in Bizjak (cited above, § 23). Those allegations were not accepted in Bizjak ( cited above, §§ 35-44) and the Court sees no reasons that would lead it to reach a different conclusion in the present case.

As t he situation of the applicants in the present case is similar to the one of the applicant in the case of Bizjak and as the Court sees no reason to depart from the findings in that case , it concludes , as in Bizjak , that the applicants were obliged, under Article 35 of the Convention, to pursue the remedy under Article 179 of the Civil Code, which they have not done.

Therefore, this complaint must be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.

B. Complaint under Article 13 of the Convention

The applicants complained that t he y did not have any effective remedy at their disposal as regards the conditions of their detention . T he y relied on Article 13 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”

As in Bizjak (cited above, § 48), the Court concludes that, even assuming that Article 13 is applicable, it has already found that a claim for compensation under Article 179 of the Civil Code would have provided the applicants with a potentially effective remedy for their complaints under Article 3 of the Convention and that that finding is valid also in the context of the complaint under Article 13 of the Convention.

It follows that this complaint is manifestly ill-founded 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.

             Stephen Phillips Angelika Nußberger Registrar President

Appe ndix

No

Application No

Lodged on

Applicant

Date of birth

Place of residence

Period of detention

7404/13

23/01/2013

Roman HUDOROVAC

29/11/1986

Dob

From 15/07/2011 to 09/10/2012

18461/13

08/03/2013

Simon TKALÄŒEC

01/02/1988

Mirna

From 02/12/2011 to 01/10/2012

41587/13

22/06/2013

Nermin ČATIĆ

16/07/1985

Dob

From 14/05/2012 to 08/05/2013

41591/13

22/06/2013

Luka GREGORIČ

12/04/1989

Dob

From 22/12/2011 to 22/12/2012

From 02/01/2013 to 09/01/2013

44506/13

27/06/2013

Dušan VULIĆ

01/10/1974

Ljubljana

From 30/10/2011 to 28/12/2012

61563/13

23/09/2013

Senad BEGIĆ

14/11/1964

From 21/08/2012 to 27/03/2013