TURLEA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 25480/15 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2019] ECHR 349 (16 May 2019)

In the case of Ţurlea and Others v. Romania ,

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

Georges Ravarani , President,
Marko Bošnjak ,
Péter Paczolay , judges ,
and Liv Tigerstedt Acting Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having deliberated in private on 25 April 2019 ,

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. Notice of the applications was given to the Romanian Government ("the Government").

THE FACTS

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

4. The applicant s 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 applicant s 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. The Court notes that the applicant s were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicant s ' 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. 42525/07and 60800/08, §§ 149 - 159, 10 January 2012).

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

9. 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 applications. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicant s ' conditions of detention were inadequate.

10. These applications are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.

IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

11. 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."

12. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case - law (see, in particular, Rezmiveș and Others v. Romania, nos. 61467/12and 3 others, 25 April 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sum s indicated in the appended table.

13. 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 applications admissible;

3. Holds that these applications 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 applicant s , 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 16 May 2019 , pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Liv Tigerstedt Georges Ravarani

Acting D eputy 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 Date of birth	Facility Start and end date Duration	Sq. m. per inmate	Specific grievances	Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros) [1]
	25480/15 16/06/2015	Ștefan Ţurlea 01/01/1963	Ia ş i Prison 28/05/2009 to 01/06/2014 5 years and 5 days Tulcea Prison 01/06/2014 to 30/11/2014 6 months Rahova Prison 01/12/2014 to 01/03/2015 3 months and 1 day Vaslui Prison 01/03/2015 pending More than 4 years and 20 days	1.26 -1.98 m² 1.81-1.95 m² 1.95-2.79 m² 1.95 m²	Overcrowding, lack or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate furniture Overcrowding, lack of or inadequate furniture Overcrowding, lack of or inadequate furniture Overcrowding, lack of or inadequate furniture	5,000
	49413/15 26/10/2015	Ion Mitu 12/04/1981	Oradea, Poarta Alb ă , Tulcea , Slobozia and Rahova Prisons 28/08/2008 pending More than 10 years , 6 months and 21 days	1,76-2.09 m²	O vercrowding, bunk beds, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack or insufficient quantity of food, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water	5,000
	51261/15 05/11/2015	Joszef Hendre 08/03/1970 Represented by Augustin- Viorel Ţigan , Ceica	Oradea Prison 22/06/2012 to 16/10/2013 1 year , 3 months and 25 days Satu Mare Prison 16/10/2013 pending More than 5 years , 5 months and 5 days	1.9-2.88 m² 0.7-1.1 m²	O vercrowding, lack or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, lack or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air O vercrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	5,000
	53704/15 08/12/2015	Dan Perju 02/12/1961 Represented by Mirela-Olimpia Pușcă , Bârlad	B â rlad Police, Vaslui Police, Vaslui, Jilava and Ia ş i Prisons 22/08/2000 pending More than 18 years , 6 months and 27 days	1.28-1.89 m²	B â rlad Police and Vaslui Police: overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food Vaslui Prison: overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, heavy smells from the chicken factory nearby, poor quality of food Jilava and Ia ş i Prisons: overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food	5,000
	57106/15 11/12/2015	Florian Ovidiu Gergely 19/08/1980	Miercurea Ciuc Prison 14/08/2014 pending More than 4 years , 7 months and 7 days	2.05-2.54 m²	O vercrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, mouldy or dirty cells, lack of or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, bunk beds, lack or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	3,000
	60729/15 02/02/2016	Florinel-Mircea Partin 14/06/1986	Miercurea Ciuc Prison 31/05/2012 pending More than 6 years , 9 months and 21 days	1.52-2.08 m²	O vercrowding, bunk beds, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient furniture, lack or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	5,000
	5693/16 09/05/2016	Mădălin Vasile 02/02/1983	Poarta Alb ă Prison 09/02/2015 pending More than 4 years , 1 month and 12 days	1.51-2.72 m²	O vercrowding, bunk beds, insufficient number of sleeping places, l ack of or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient hygienic facilities	3,000
	11446/16 31/03/2016	Costel Crețu 02/04/1957	Jilava Prison 11/12/2014 pending More than 4 years , 3 months and 10 days	1.52-2.34 m²	O vercrowding, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of potable water, poor quality of food	3,000
	12102/16 13/06/2016	Gyula Kaszoni 13/05/1962 Represented by Dan Alberto Pop, Cluj-Napoca	Gherla Prison 21/01/2016 pending More than 3 years and 2 months	1.98-2.94 m²	O vercrowding, bunk beds, lack of or insufficient hygienic facilities, poor quality of food	3,000
	59888/16 07/10/2016	Titel Antohe 09/07/1980 Represented by Ionela Mărgărit , Bucharest	Br ă ila Prison 18/12/2015 pending More than 3 years , 3 months and 3 days	1.59-2.29 m²	O vercrowding, lack of or insufficient hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	3,000

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

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