MAZGA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 5489/16 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2019] ECHR 339 (09 May 2019)

In the case of Mâzgă 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 4 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 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 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.

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 9 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]
	5489/16 01/04/2016	Ioan Mâzgă 23/06/1981	Colibași and Miercurea Ciuc Prisons 06/09/2015 to 04/01/2018 2 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 30 day(s)	1.49-2.92 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air	3,000
	9209/16 28/03/2016	Ioan Tofan 30/08/1980	Iași Prison 24/04/2015 to 18/05/2016 1 year(s) and 25 day(s)	1.28 m²	overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water	3,000
	9338/16 08/02/2016	Constantin Ninel Potîrcă 20/11/1967	Craiova Prison 22/09/2014 to 11/09/2018 3 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 21 day(s)	1.19-1.95 m²	overcrowding, bunk beds, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food	3,000
	9896/16 11/03/2016	Cornel Ioan- Vereș 12/10/1942	Maramureș C ounty Police Inspectorate, Baia Mare Prison, Aiud Prison, Gherla Prison, and Rahova Prison 14/01/2013 pending More than 6 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 6 day(s)	1.96-2.92 m²	overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to shower, bunk beds, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature	5,000
	11994/16 25/03/2016	Nicolae Aenculese 06/12/1983	Iași Prison 26/06/2013 to 24/05/2016 2 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 29 day(s)	1.28-1.99 m²	overcrowding, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate furniture	3,000
	14116/16 29/03/2016	Bogdan-Florin Lăzărescu 12/10/1989	Constanța County Police Inspectorate, Poarta Albă Prison, Rahova Prison, and Gherla Prison 22/11/2010 to 11/04/2016 5 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 21 day(s)	1.84-2.82 m²	overcrowding, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food, infestation of cell with insects/rodents	5,000
	16863/16 18/04/2016	Toma-Teodor Neacşu 26/08/1992 Represented by Irina Maria Peter, Bucharest	Bucharest Central Arrest Centre (10 th facility) 05/05/2015 to 04/08/2015 3 month(s) Rahova Prison 04/08/2015 pending More than 3 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 6 day(s)	2.44-2.45 m²	poor quality of food, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, constant electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate furniture, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities	3,000
	18963/16 10/05/2016	Alexandru Mădălin Miroiu 05/09/1993	Dolj County Police Inspectorate and Craiova Prison 24/08/2014 to 01/08/2017 2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 9 day(s)	1.19-2.08 m²	overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or inadequate furniture	3,000
	19177/16 03/05/2016	Cosmin Lăzăroiu 11/05/1979	Craiova Prison 16/06/2014 to 14/07/2016 2 year(s) and 29 day(s)	1.12-2.92 m²	overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or inadequate furniture	3,000
	19782/16 04/05/2016	Dorel Lingurar 24/05/1973	Aiud Prison 25/07/2013 to 25/01/2018 4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 1 day(s)	1.6 m²	overcrowding, lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food	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 >> MAZGA AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA - 5489/16 (Judgment : Article 3 - Prohibition of torture : Fourth Section Committee) [2019] ECHR 339 (09 May 2019) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2019/339.html Cite as: [2019] ECHR 339, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2019:0509JUD000548916, CE:ECHR:2019:0509JUD000548916