FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 41688/16 Emil Marius CILIBEANU against Romania and 6 other applications

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 10 March 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 benefited 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 been insufficient.

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 (nos. 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). 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 these 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 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 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.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Declares the applications inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 31 March 2022.

{signature_p_2}

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

41688/16

05/09/2016

Emil Marius CILIBEANU

1975Slobozia, Poarta Albă and Jilava Prisons

15/09/2015 to 29/08/2017

1 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 15 day(s)

138 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 15/09/2015 to 29/08/2017

72425/16

17/01/2017

Lucian-Valer MAN

1975Vasile RareÅŸ Biro

Satu Mare

Cluj County Police, Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons

05/05/2016 to 01/11/2017

1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 28 day(s)

102 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 05/05/2016 to 01/11/2017

7088/17

16/01/2017

Dumitru-Andrei GASPAR

1991Vasile RareÅŸ Biro

Satu Mare

MaramureÅŸ County Police, Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons

04/07/2014 to 01/07/2017

2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 28 day(s)

282 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 04/07/2014 to 25/06/2018

8515/17

17/01/2017

Iosif LAKATOÅž

1987Vasile RareÅŸ Biro

Satu Mare

Cluj County Police, Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons

24/11/2015 to 11/05/2017

1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 18 day(s)

216 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/11/2015 to 05/02/2019

12202/17

06/02/2017

Alexandru GÁSPÁR

1983Vasile RareÅŸ Biro

Satu Mare

Sălaj County Police, Oradea and Satu Mare Prisons

05/08/2014 to 14/11/2017

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

234 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 05/08/2014 to 14/11/2017

19540/17

02/03/2017

Stelian TAFI

1982Ionela Mărgărit

Bucharest

Arad, Timişoara and Brăila Prisons

03/04/2016 to 16/10/2017

1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 14 day(s)

108 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 03/04/2016 to 16/10/2017

39772/17

23/05/2017

Tamer OSMAN

1987Andreea-Gabriela Cadar

Galați

Constanţa County Police, Slobozia and Poarta Albă Prisons

01/05/2014 to30/03/2017

2 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 30 day(s)

246 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 01/05/2014 to 30/03/2017