SPOIALA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 10549/16 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2019] ECHR 500 (27 June 2019)

In the case of Spoială and Others v. Romania ,

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

Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström , President,
Georges Ravarani ,
Jolien Schukking , judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt , Acting Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having deliberated in private on 6 June 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 application s 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 6 0800/08, §§ 149 - 159, 10 January 2012).

8. 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.

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.

III. 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 27 June 2019 , pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Liv Tigerstedt Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström

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 Date of birth	Representative ' s name and location	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]
	10549/16 20/05/2016	Nicolae -Dan Spoială 29/09/1975		Ia ş i Prison 12/05/2015 to 31/05/2016 1 year and 20 days	2.18 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate furniture	3,000
	15803/16 29/04/2016	Răzvan -Cristian Mureşan 25/06/1981		Cluj Police and Gherla Prison 09/12/2013 pending More than 5 years , 4 months and 4 days	2.4-2.96 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food	5,000
	20685/16 03/05/2016	Vasile Tomoiaga 16/12/1977		Rahova and Gherla Prisons 18/07/2014 pending More than 4 years , 8 months and 24 days	2.21-2.74 m²	overcrowding, lack of or inadequate furniture, insufficient number of sleeping places, mouldy or dirty cell	3,000
	26091/16 07/06/2016	Gheorghe Topuzu 30/01/1957		Craiova Prison 19/11/2014 pending More than 4 years , 4 months and 23 days	1.26-1.88 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents	3,000
	27437/16 06/06/2016	Mircea Ionașcu 19/08/1972		Dolj Police, Craiova and Jilava Prisons 17/11/2004 pending More than 14 years , 4 months and 26 days	1.25-2.6 m²	overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of food, bunk beds, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, no or restricted access to running water, mouldy or dirty cell	5,000
	28484/16 11/07/2016	Gheorghe Constantin 24/07/1980		Codlea and Miercurea Ciuc Prisons 24/06/2014 pending More than 4 years , 9 months and 18 days	1.37-1.93 m²	overcrowding, bunk beds, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	3,000
	33177/16 31/05/2016	Ioan-Iosif Medve 13/10/1983	Rareș Vasile Biro Satu Mare	Arad Police and Arad Prison 19/06/2013 to 26/08/2016 3 years , 2 months and 8 days	4.35-5.8 m 2	no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to running water	3,000
	37648/16 02/08/2016	Gheorghe Gheorghe 30/03/1952	Irina Maria Peter Bucharest	Bucharest Central Arrest, Rahova and Giurgiu Prisons 20/02/2005 to 21/07/2016 11 years , 5 months and 2 days	1.6-2.5 m²	overcrowding, insufficient sanitary facilities, lack of privacy for toilet (in Bucharest Central Arrest), lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water	5,000
	37810/16 13/07/2016	Marian- Ionuț Crăciun 09/02/1989		Craiova Prison 28/09/2015 pending More than 3 years , 6 months and 15 days	1-1.6 m²	overcrowding, bunk beds, inadequate sanitary facilities, lack of or inadequate furniture, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food	3,000
	43696/16 21/07/2016	Petrişor Covrig 03/10/1980	Ionela Mărgărit Bucharest	Gala ţ i and Br ă ila Prisons 08/01/2015 pending More than 4 years , 3 months and 4 days	1.6 - 2.4 m²	overcrowding, bunk beds, dirty and mouldy cell, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air	3,000
	44431/16 26/07/2016	Alexandru Miron 26/05/1949	Ionela Mărgărit Bucharest	Br ă ila Prison 10/11/2015 pending More than 3 years , 5 months and 2 days	1.66 -2.05 m²	overcrowding, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or inadequate furniture	3,000

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

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> SPOIALA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 10549/16 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2019] ECHR 500 (27 June 2019) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2019/500.html Cite as: ECLI:CE:ECHR:2019:0627JUD001054916, [2019] ECHR 500, CE:ECHR:2019:0627JUD001054916