Bistriceanu v. Portugal

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 38211/21 Ionuț BISTRICEANU against Portugal

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 14 December 2023 as a Committee composed of:

Faris Vehabović, President , Anja Seibert-Fohr, Anne Louise Bormann, judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 July 2021,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.

The applicant’s complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Portuguese Government (“the Government”).

THE LAW

In the present application, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the complaints about the conditions of detention are inadmissible.

The applicant was detained in different prison facilities. On 28 December 2017 he was transferred to Izeda Prison.

Having regard to all the available material and the parties arguments, the Court finds that it cannot establish that the applicant suffered in that prison facility from severe overcrowding of the kind that could entail, in its own, a violation of Article 3 (see Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, 20 October 2016) nor can it be found that the cumulative effect of the other aspects of the detention which the applicant complained about reached the threshold of severity required to characterise the treatment as inhumane or degrading within the meaning of Article 3 (see Bokor v. Portugal , (dec.) no. 5227/18, § 34, 10 December 2020).

It follows that the complaints concerning this period of detention in Izeda Prison (for further details see the appended table) are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 a) and 4 of the Convention.

In light of the conclusion above, the Court finds that the applicant’s transfer to Izeda Prison on 28 December 2017 interrupted the “continuous situation” of his conditions of detention. Therefore, the applicant’s complaints concerning his conditions of detention prior to that prison transfer are belated (see Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 75-78, 10 January 2012). Accordingly, these complaints must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Declares the application inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 18 January 2024.

Viktoriya Maradudina Faris Vehabović Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

Application raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention)

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

Sq. m per inmate

Specific grievances

38211/21

16/07/2021

Ionuț BISTRICEANU

1983

Lisbon Prison

10/07/2015 to

28/12/2017

2 years and 5 months and 19 days

Izeda Prison

28/12/2017 to

30/04/2021

3 years and 4 months and 3 days

2 inmates

3.72 m²

1 toilet

6 inmates

3.23 m²

1 toilet

inadequate temperature, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient electric light, overcrowding, lack or inadequate furniture, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, lack of contact with the family

inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food