FOURTH SECTION

CASE OF ILIE AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

(Application no. 23993/16 and 13 others – see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

9 February 2023

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Ilie and Others v. Romania,

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

Armen Harutyunyan , President , Anja Seibert-Fohr, Ana Maria Guerra Martins , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 19 January 2023,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1. The case originated in applications against Romania lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2. The Romanian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS

3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

4. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention.

THE LAW

5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

6. 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.”

7. In applications nos. 40089/16, 63049/16 and 72968/17, the Government raised a preliminary objection concerning loss of victim status by the applicants for the periods of detention specified in the appended table because they were afforded adequate redress based on Law no. 169/2017 amending and completing Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of sentences for those specific periods of detention.

8. The Court notes that the domestic remedy introduced in respect of inadequate conditions of detention in Romania and applicable until December 2019 was held to be an effective one in the case of Dîrjan and Ştefan v. Romania ((dec.), nos. 14224/15 and 50977/15, §§ 23-33, 15 April 2020). This remedy was available to the applicants in applications nos. 40089/16, 63049/16 and 72968/17, and they were, indeed, afforded adequate redress for certain periods of detention (for details see the appended table).

9. Therefore, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of applications nos. 40089/16, 63049/16 and 72968/17 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.

10. Turning to the remaining periods of the applicants’ detention in applications nos. 40089/16, 63049/16 and 72968/17, and to the periods of the applicants’ detention in the remaining of the applications, as specified in the appended table, the Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case ‑ law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, MurÅ¡ić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96 ‑ 101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see MurÅ¡ić , cited above, §§ 122-41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149 ‑ 59, 10 January 2012).

11. In the leading case of RezmiveÈ™ and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

12. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case ‑ law on the subject (including its findings in the case of Polgar v. Romania , no. 39412/19, §§ 94-97, 20 July 2021), the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention, as described in the appended table, were inadequate.

13. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.

14. In applications nos. 29513/16, 43527/16, 58057/16, 65050/16 and 74866/16, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.

15. The Court has examined these complaints 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.

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

17. Article 41 of the Convention provides:

“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”

18. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, RezmiveÈ™ and Others , cited above), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 9 February 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

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

Sq. m per inmate

Specific grievances

Domestic compensation awarded (in days)

based on total period calculated by national authorities

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non ‑ pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros) [1]

23993/16

05/07/2016

Gigi-Cătălin ILIE

1984Nicoleta Vranciu

Bucharest

Bucharest Police detention facility no. 19; Rahova and Jilava Prisons; Dej Prison Hospital

05/05/2015 to

04/07/2016

1 year(s) and 2 month(s)

2.04 -2.79 m²

overcrowding (save for 05/05/2015 - 07/07/2015; 01/03/2016 - 07/03/2016), bunk beds, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food

3,000

29513/16

27/06/2016

Sotir-Dumitru MIÅ¢A

1980Iancu BuÅŸuricu

Constanța

Poarta Albă Prison

9 periods during

11/11/2015-20/06/2017

11 month(s) and 22 day(s)

1.63 -2.67 m²

overcrowding (save for certain scattered periods), lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, inadequate temperature

1,000

30023/16

23/05/2016

Gheorghe TIMIÅž

1970Arad Prison

17/11/2015 to

26/08/2016

9 month(s) and 10 day(s)

-

lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities

1,000

30055/16

09/12/2016

Angela IGNAT

1967Arad Prison; Rahova Prison Hospital

19/09/2014 to

19/09/2017

3 year(s) and 1 day(s)

2.50 -2.85 m²

overcrowding (save for 19/09/2014 - 13/10/2014; 17/10/2014 - 28/10/2014; 04/02/2016 - 19/07/2016; 27/12/2016 - 19/09/2017), lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food

3,000

40089/16

01/07/2016

Cristinel USCATU

1964TimiÈ™ County Police Station

08/12/2014

1 day(s)

Arad Prison

31/12/2014 to

30/03/2015

3 month(s)

Arad Prison

15/05/2015 to

25/02/2016

9 month(s) and 11 day(s)

Arad Prison

01/03/2016 to

08/08/2017

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

1.50 - 2.40 m²

overcrowding (save for 06/01/2015 - 29/03/2015), infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of toiletries

96 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions, including the period from 08/12/2014 to 16/10/2018

(except for the periods mentioned in column no. 5)

3,000

40269/16

08/07/2016

Paul-Marian MIÅžCOIU

1987Arad and Timișoara Prisons

10/02/2015 to

24/04/2017

2 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 15 day(s)

2.25 m²

overcrowding (save for 16/02/2015 - 29/08/2016), no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, bunk beds, poor quality of food, poor quality of potable water, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools, lack of toiletries

3,000

43527/16

02/09/2016

Nelu GOLACHE

1967Iași and Vaslui Prisons

22/01/2013 to

21/07/2016

3 year(s) and 6 month(s)

1.18 -2.86 m²

overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack or inadequate furniture, bunk beds, lack of privacy for toilet, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools

5,000

44945/16

21/08/2016

Marian-Victor PILOÅž

1954Bucharest Police detention facility no. 22; Jilava Prison Hospital

27/05/2010 to

23/07/2012

2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 27 day(s)

-

bunk beds, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air

3,000

55387/16

03/11/2016

Gelu-Gheorghe ZERCEA

1988Bucharest Police detention facility no. 22; Rahova Prison

23/03/2016 to

21/06/2017

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

1.95 -2.79 m²

overcrowding (save for 08/08/2016 - 21/10/2016; 28/11/2016 - 27/02/2017), lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds

3,000

58057/16

26/09/2016

Călin-Mihai IGNAT

1984Arad, Timișoara and Târgu Jiu Prisons

31/12/2005 to

26/04/2016

10 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 27 day(s)

1.60 -2.90 m²

overcrowding (save for 09/01/2006 - 01/04/2007; 02/05/2007 - 22/10/2007; 14/03/2008 - 04/05/2015), insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, constant electric light, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of toiletries, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature

5,000

63049/16

29/11/2016

Gheorghe LINGURAR

1974Arad, Timișoara, Jilava and Aiud Prisons

24/11/1999 to

25/02/2015

15 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 2 day(s)

0.88 -1.66 m²

overcrowding (save for 31/05/2004 - 25/02/2015), bunk beds, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient natural light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of toiletries, no or insufficient disinfection of barbering and haircutting tools, insufficient number of sleeping places, poor quality of potable water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient quantity of food

210 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 26/02/2015 to 17/01/2018

5,000

65050/16

02/11/2016

Nicolae-Marian VASILE

1979Mariana Vasile

Bucharest

Rahova Prison

26/08/2011 to

14/11/2011

2 month(s) and 20 day(s)

Rahova Prison

18/11/2011 to 22/12/2011

1 month(s) and 5 day(s)

Rahova Prison

29/12/2011 to 02/05/2012

4 month(s) and 4 day(s)

Rahova Prison

04/05/2012 to

23/07/2012

2 month(s) and 20 day(s)

2.41 -2.45 m²

overcrowding (save for 26/08/2011 - 05/09/2011; 20/03/2012 - 02/05/2012; 04/05/2012 - 23/07/2012), no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air

1,000

74866/16

28/12/2016

Ilie PÃŽRLEA

1976Giurgiu Prison

12/03/2012 to

23/07/2012

4 month(s) and 12 day(s)

Botoșani and Găești Prisons

24/12/2019 to

20/10/2020

9 month(s) and 27 day(s)

1.22 -2.90 m²

overcrowding (save for 12/03/2012 - 23/07/2012; 12/06/2020 - 12/08/2020), lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to running water

3,000

72968/17

02/10/2017

Gabi-Iulian OLTEANU

1976Buzău County Police Station; Focșani, Mărgineni, Ploiești and Jilava Prisons

01/04/2009 to

23/07/2012

3 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 23 day(s)

Mioveni (Colibași) Prison Hospital

21/06/2013 to 04/07/2013

14 day(s)

Târgu Ocna Prison Hospital

16/05/2014 to 27/05/2014

12 day(s)

1.16 – 2 m²

overcrowding (save for 01/04/2009 - 28/05/2009; 21/06/2013 - 04/07/2013; 16/05/2014 - 27/05/2014), mouldy or dirty cell, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient natural light, bunk beds, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food

384 days in compensation for a total period of detention spent in inadequate conditions from 24/07/2012 to 12/12/2017 (except for the periods shown in column no. 5)

3,000

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.