Published on 5 June 2023

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 56545/21 Martin RIBÁR against Slovakia lodged on 12 November 2021 communicated on 15 May 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns conditions of detention in the Banská Bystrica Penitentiary Institution (Ústav na výkon väzby) including the possibility to have contact with family members.

The applicant complains that between 30 October 2019 and 14 May 2021 he was held in detention pending trial in inadequate conditions in terms of size, light, fresh air, sleep deprivation, out-of-cell activities (being kept in his cell for up to 23 hours a day) and personal hygiene. Moreover, the applicant’s contacts with members of his family in form of visits and telephone calls were restricted and even not allowed during eleven and fifteen months, respectively, following his arrest. The applicant further complains that persons held in pre-trial detention are subjected to worse conditions than those who are serving prison sentence.

The applicant invokes Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention, alone and in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Did the material conditions of the applicant’s detention, in particular the sanitary conditions and the lack of possibility to spend time in fresh air, amount to inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149-59, 10 January 2012, and cases cited therein)?

2. Has there been a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for his private and/or family life, contrary to Article 8 of the Convention, owing to the restrictions that applied in respect of the applicant’s telephone calls to his family members and meetings with them? In particular, were the restrictions imposed in accordance with the law, did they pursue a legitimate aim and were they justified as being necessary in a democratic society (compare Chaldayev v. Russia , no. 33172/16, §§ 59-65, 28 May 2019; Andrey Smirnov v. Russia , no. 43149/10, §§ 35-38 and 51-56, 13 February 2018; and Bogusław Krawczak v. Poland , no. 24205/06, §§ 107-21, 31 May 2011)?

3. Has the applicant suffered discrimination in the enjoyment of his Convention rights on the grounds of his status as a remand prisoner contrary to Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention (see Costel Gaciu v. Romania , no. 39633/10, 23 June 2015; Varnas v. Lithuania , no. 42615/06, 9 July 2013; and Laduna v. Slovakia , no. 31827/02, 13 December 2011)?

4. Has the applicant exhausted the domestic remedies, within the meaning of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention, in respect of his complaints under Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention, having regard to the applicable legislation and practice (including, but not limited to section 59 of the Execution of Detention on Remand Act (Law no. 221/2006 Coll., as amended); section 38(1) of the Execution of Detention on Remand Order (Decree of the Minister of Justice no. 437/2006 Coll., as amended); section 18 of the Public Prosecution Service Act (Law no. 153/2001 Coll., as amended); sections 65da et seq. of Prison and Court Guard Corps Act (Law no. 4/2001 Coll., as amended); decision of the Constitutional Court of 30 September 2021 in case no. II. ÚS 425/2021 and judgment of the Constitutional Court of 10 February 2022 in case no. III. ÚS 456/2021)? With regard to the criterion of effectiveness of any such remedies, what are the parameters and limitations of their functioning (see, mutatis mutandis , Maslák v. Slovakia (no. 2) , no. 38321/17, §§ 161-69 and 175, 31 March 2022)?

The Government are requested to submit copies of all the relevant documents which are presently not in the case file before the Court, in particular documents describing the conditions of detention at the Remand prison in the Banská Bystrica Penitentiary Institution where the applicant was being held. This information should demonstrate in particular the size and capacity of the units and the number of occupants held in them since the beginning of the applicant’s detention, as well as information on the hygiene conditions therein.