Merianos and Others v. Greece

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 21947/22 Konstantinos MERIANOS against Greece and 10 other applications (see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 18 December 2025 as a Committee composed of:

Diana Kovatcheva , President , Canòlic Mingorance Cairat, Vasilka Sancin , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,

Having regard to the declarations submitted by the respondent Government requesting the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases, and the applicants’ replies to these declarations,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of applicants and their representatives is set out in the appended table.

The applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Greek Government (“the Government”). In all the applications, complaints based on the same facts were also communicated under Article 13 of the Convention.

The Government submitted declarations with a view to resolving the issues raised by these complaints. They further requested the Court to strike out the applications.

The Government acknowledged the inadequate conditions of detention at the Korydallos Prison. They offered to pay the applicants the amounts detailed in the appended table, provided that the applicants “have not been awarded any compensation for the same reason under Article 6A of the [Greek] Penitentiary Code, taking into consideration the duration of their detention in Korydallos I Detention Facility in such conditions”.

They invited the Court to strike the applications out of the list of cases in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. The amounts would be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above ‑ mentioned three-month period, the Government undertook to pay simple interest on them, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

The payment will constitute the final resolution of the cases.

The applicants informed the Court that they agreed to the terms of the declarations.

THE LAW

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

The Court finds that, following the applicants’ express agreement to the terms of the declarations made by the Government, the cases should be treated as a friendly settlement between the parties.

It therefore takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify the continued examination of the applications in the part covered by

the Government’s declarations as accepted by the applicants.

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the applications in that part

out of the Court’s list of cases.

As regards application no. 22110/22, the Government’s declaration, which has been accepted by the applicant, concerns the period of his detention in Korydallos Prison from 8 September 2020 until 22 November 2021. As for his detention in Korydallos I Detention Facility from 10 February 2022 until 14 May 2024, having regard to the amount already awarded to the applicant by the domestic courts, the Court considers that this part of the application is inadmissible since the applicant can no longer claim to be victim of the violations complained of within the meaning of Article 34 of the Convention (see Scordino v. Italy (no. 1) (dec.) [GC], no. 36813/97, §§ 202-207, ECHR 2006-V). Accordingly, this part of the application is incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4.

As regards the remaining complaints raised by the applicants under Article 13, taking into account the facts of the case, the Government’s declarations and the Court’s decision to strike out the part of the applications relating to the complaints under Article 3 of the Convention, the Court considers that the main legal question raised in the present applications has been resolved. It concludes, therefore, that there is no need to examine this part of the applications.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Decides to strike the part of the applications as covered by the Government’s declarations and accepted by the applicants, out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention;

Decides that there is no need to examine separately the remaining part of the applications concerning Article 13 of the Convention;

Declares the remainder of application no. 22110/22 inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 22 January 2026.

Viktoriya Maradudina Diana Kovatcheva 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

Year of birth

Representative’s name and location

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Date of receipt of Government’s declaration

Date of receipt of applicant’s acceptance

Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros) [1]

21947/22

11/05/2021

Konstantinos MERIANOS

1985

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

3,700

22020/22

11/05/2021

Georgios NIKITAS

1977

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

3,500

22025/22

11/05/2021

Michail Evangelos KARAGKOUNIS

1992

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

10,200

22110/22

11/05/2021

Ioannis SOUTAS

1998

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

4,400

22112/22

11/05/2021

Dimitrios CHARITOS

1974

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

3,900

22114/22

11/05/2021

Stamatios SKOURLIS

1965

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

4,700

22115/22

11/05/2021

Nikolaos MATHIOS

1979

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

3,100

22116/22

11/05/2021

Xhuljan KISHTA

1992

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

3,400

22173/22

11/05/2021

Ermal LIKO

1984

Ladis Charilaos

Athens

Daliani Marina

Athens

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

12/11/2025

14/11/2025

2,900

22941/22

13/04/2022

Spyros ROUMBOULAS

1973

Tsitselikis Konstantinos

Thessaloniki

Spathis Antonios

Thessaloniki

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

10/11/2025

14/11/2025

2,700

41867/22

22/02/2021

Michalis DAMIGOS

1985

Tsitselikis Konstantinos

Thessaloniki

Spathis Antonios

Thessaloniki

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -

10/11/2025

14/11/2025

4,200

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