Lexploria

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 7331/16 Laurențiu-Daniel TUDOREANU against Romania and 14 other applications

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 19 May 2022 as a Committee composed of:

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

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

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

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicants 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 principally 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 argued mainly that the applicants had lost their victim status because 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 was insufficient.

The Court notes that in the 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 because 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 (nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017) and in force between October 2017 and December 2019, was an effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romanian prisons. More specifically, the above law 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). That benefit had an impact on the term of the prison sentences, giving detainees an 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 the admissibility of those complaints. 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 laid down in the abovementioned decision Dîrjan and Åžtefan , 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 were released from prison or were transferred to detention facilities they are not complaining about.

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, insofar as the conditions of their detention, described in the appended table, are concerned. It follows that the applications in this part 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.

Some applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.

The Court has examined these applications and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Declares the applications inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 9 June 2022.

Viktoriya Maradudina 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

Representative’s name and location

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

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

7331/16

27/07/2016

Laurențiu-Daniel TUDOREANU

1973Iași, Giurgiu and Vaslui Prisons

29/05/2015 to

02/02/2018

2 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 5 day(s)

Vaslui Prison

16/02/2018 to

05/04/2018

1 month(s) and 21 day(s)

516 days in compensation for a total period of 2,607 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Iași, Giurgiu and Vaslui Prisons lodged within the six-month time-limit

15489/16

09/09/2016

Petronel BUDEANU

1975Iași Prison

17/04/2015 to

24/04/2015

8 day(s)

Iași Prison

30/04/2015 to

12/12/2017

2 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 13 day(s)

Iași Prison

22/12/2017 to

11/01/2019

1 year(s) and 21 day(s)

Iași Prison

16/10/2019 to

30/10/2019

15 day(s)

360 days in compensation for a total period of 1,803 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 10/07/2014 to 22/12/2019, including all the periods spent in Iași Prison lodged within the six-month time-limit

17861/16

05/09/2016

Otto-Andrei BOROS

1988Vasile RareÅŸ Biro

Satu Mare

Satu Mare County Police Station; Satu Mare, Oradea and Baia Mare Prisons

11/02/2015 to

31/10/2016

1 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 21 day(s)

Baia Mare, Satu Mare and Oradea Prisons

11/11/2016 to

12/07/2017

8 month(s) and 2 day(s)

Satu Mare Prison

17/04/2018 to

23/08/2018

4 month(s) and 7 day(s)

Satu Mare Prison

11/09/2018 to

15/01/2019

4 month(s) and 5 day(s)

384 days in compensation for a total period of 1,661 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 11/02/2015 to 12/07/2017 and from 17/04/2018 to 15/01/2019, including all the periods spent in the detention facilities he complains of

19343/16

20/09/2016

Ștefan-Gheorghe MARIN

1987Bucharest - Rahova Prison

21/05/2013 to

07/01/2014

7 month(s) and 18 day(s)

Bucharest - Rahova and Mioveni (Colibași) Prisons

10/01/2014 to

11/05/2015

1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 2 day(s)

Bucharest - Rahova and Mioveni (Colibași) Prisons

03/06/2015 to

09/10/2015

4 month(s) and 7 day(s)

Mioveni (Colibași) and Bucharest - Rahova Prisons

15/10/2015 to

09/11/2015

26 day(s)

Bucharest - Rahova and Bucharest - Jilava Prisons

12/11/2015 to

23/06/2018

2 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 12 day(s)

336 days in compensation for a total period of 1,686 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 20/04/2013 to 23/06/2018, except for periods spent in infirmary or prison hospitals

27804/16

03/11/2016

Lucian BOZÃŽNTAN

1992Vasile RareÅŸ Biro

Satu Mare

Satu Mare Prison

08/04/2016 to

31/10/2017

1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 24 day(s)

216 days in compensation for a total period of 1,088 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 03/10/2014 to 31/10/2017, including all the period spent in Satu Mare Prison lodged within the six-month time-limit

32012/16

08/08/2016

Gavriel GALIU

1976Satu Mare County Police Station; Satu Mare, Oradea, Miercurea Ciuc and Gherla Prisons

20/12/2014 to

04/11/2015

10 month(s) and 16 day(s)

Gherla, Miercurea Ciuc, Codlea and Satu Mare Prisons

02/12/2015 to

03/05/2018

2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 2 day(s)

234 days in compensation for a total period of 1,194 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 20/12/2014 to 04/11/2015 and from 02/12/2015 to 03/05/2018

35988/16

07/11/2016

Marius PANFILE

1986Galați and Brăila Prisons

03/02/2015 to

26/10/2015

8 month(s) and 24 day(s)

Brăila and Constanța - Poarta Albă Prisons

30/10/2015 to

17/09/2019

3 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 19 day(s)

510 days in compensation for a total period of 2,552 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 17/09/2019, including all the periods spent in Galați, Brăila and Constanța - Poarta Albă Prisons between 03/02/2015 and 17/09/2019

36465/16

16/06/2016

Vasile PRICOB

1962Bucharest - Rahova Prison

28/10/2015 to

12/11/2015

16 day(s)

Bucharest - Rahova, Giurgiu and Bucharest - Jilava Prisons

19/11/2015 to

26/07/2018

2 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 8 day(s)

Bucharest - Jilava Prison

28/08/2018 to

03/10/2018

1 month(s) and 6 day(s)

Bucharest - Jilava Prison

09/11/2018 to

03/12/2018

25 day(s)

Bucharest - Jilava Prison

21/12/2018 to

22/07/2019

7 month(s) and 2 day(s)

Bucharest - Jilava Prison

29/07/2019 to

13/12/2019

4 month(s) and 15 day(s)

276 days in compensation for a total period of 1,388 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 28/10/2015 to 13/12/2019, including the periods spent in Bucharest - Rahova, Giurgiu and Bucharest - Jilava Prisons, except for the period 12/11/2015 - 19/11/2015 spent in Bucharest - Jilava Prison Hospital

41176/16

12/08/2016

Gheorghe MARINESCU

1962Andreea-Gabriela Cadar

Galați

Bucharest - Jilava and Bucharest - Rahova Prisons

27/11/2015 to

05/12/2016

1 year(s) and 9 day(s)

Bucharest - Jilava Prison

12/12/2016 to

01/11/2017

10 month(s) and 21 day(s)

138 days in compensation for a total period of 699 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 27/11/2015 to 01/11/2017, except for the period 05/12/2016 - 12/12/2016 spent in Mioveni Prison Hospital, of which he did not complain

46474/16

26/08/2016

George-Alin CONSTANTIN

1973Mărgineni, Bucharest - Rahova, Oradea, Bucharest - Jilava, Ploiești and Găești Prisons

24/09/2012 to

20/12/2017

5 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 27 day(s)

378 days in compensation for a total period of 1,902 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 24/09/2012 to 20/12/2017, except for short periods spent in transit rooms

48172/16

13/12/2016

Octavian POPA

1990Bucharest - Rahova Prison

02/02/2016 to

01/09/2017

1 year(s) and 7 month(s)

Bucharest - Rahova Prison

15/06/2018 to

26/07/2018

1 month(s) and 12 day(s)

Bucharest - Rahova Prison

13/08/2018 to

27/08/2018

15 day(s)

Bucharest - Rahova Prison

30/08/2018 to

19/09/2018

21 day(s)

186 days in compensation for a total period of 957 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 02/02/2016 to 19/09/2018, except for the period 10/10/2017 - 12/10/2017 spent in

Bucharest - Jilava Prison Hospital, of which he did not complain

49447/16

11/08/2016

Zoro TAGARICIU

1991Ionela Mărgărit

Bucharest

Galați and Brăila Prisons

11/08/2015 to

10/01/2018

2 year(s) and 5 month(s)

216 days in compensation for the total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 20/05/2014 to 20/11/2014 and from 30/06/2015 to 10/01/2018, including all the periods spent in Galați and Brăila Prisons during this time

54365/16

11/10/2016

Petre BARBU

1991Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Timișoara Prisons

03/04/2015 to

19/10/2017

2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 17 day(s)

180 days in compensation for a total period of 928 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 03/04/2015 to 19/10/2017

2522/17

29/12/2016

Marian BÄ‚LÄ‚UCÄ‚

1986George Bogdan Pocovnicu

Bacău

Bucharest - Rahova and Iași Prisons

05/11/2014 to

30/12/2016

2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 26 day(s)

Iași Prison

09/01/2019 to

12/04/2019

3 month(s) and 4 day(s)

360 days in compensation for a total period of 1,823 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 05/11/2014 to 10/12/2019, including the periods spent in Bucharest - Rahova and Iași Prisons indicated in column no. 5, except for the periods

21/09/2018 - 26/09/2018 and 12/04/2019 - 15/04/2019 spent in transit rooms of Iași Prison

15385/19

06/03/2019

Vasile CORNEA

1982Târgu Jiu Prison

20/09/2018 to

16/05/2019

7 month(s) and 27 day(s)

90 days in compensation for a total period of 457 days spent in detention in inadequate conditions from 20/09/2018 to 22/12/2019, including all the period spent in Târgu Jiu Prison

Menu

TUDOREANU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

TUDOREANU AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

LEXI