FOURTH SECTION

CASE OF ȘERBAN AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA

(Application no. 1570/15 and 11 others -

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

26 July 2018

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

In the case of Șerban and Others v. Romania,

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

 Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
 Georges Ravarani,
 Marko Bošnjak, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 5 July 2018,

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 applications were communicated to the Romanian Government (“the Government”).

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

I.  JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

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

II.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

6.  The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 3

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

7.  In applications nos. 1570/15 and 14619/15, the Government raised a preliminary objection of failure to comply with the six-month time‑limit claiming that the parts of the applicants’ complaints concerning the initial period of their detention had been lodged out of time.

8.  The Court observes that the applicant’s complaint in application no. 1570/15, concerning the initial period of his detention which was terminated by his transfer on 31 March 2011 to penitentiary facilities in respect of which he did not raise any complaint, was submitted to the Court more than two years later, on 17 March 2015.

9.  The Court further notes that the applicant’s complaint in application no. 14619/15 concerning the initial period of his detention which was terminated by his transfer on 29 May 2012 to penitentiary facilities in respect of which he did not raise any complaint, was submitted to the Court more than three years later, on 23 June 2015.

10.  In both instances these parts of the applicants’ complaints were thus raised more than six months after the respective detention period had ended. Accordingly, the Court accepts the Government’s objection and finds that these parts of the applications nos. 1570/15 and 14619/15 have been introduced out of time and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

11.  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, Muršić 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 Muršić, cited above, §§ 122 ‑141, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑159, 10 January 2012).

12.  In the leading case of Rezmiveș 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.

13.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, as well as the Government’s objection concerning the continuous situations of the applicants’ conditions of detention in some of the cases, 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, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention were inadequate.

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

III.  REMAINING COMPLAINTS

15.  In applications nos. 13231/15 and 13821/15, the applicants also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention relating to the conditions of their detention.

16.  Having examined the applications, the Court 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.

III.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 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, Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12 and 3 others, 25 April 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

19.  The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1.  Decides to join the applications;

2.  Declares the complaints concerning the periods of inadequate conditions of detention as set out in the appended table admissible, and the remainder of the applications nos. 1570/15, 13231/15, 13821/15 and 14619/15 inadmissible;

3.  Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;

4.  Holds

(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 26 July 2018, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

 Liv Tigerstedt Vincent A. De Gaetano
Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention)

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