Baicea and Others v. Romania

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 42636/21 Bebe-Dănuţ BAICEA against Romania and 18 other applications

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 4 June 2026 as a Committee composed of:

Anne Louise Bormann , President , András Jakab, Corinna Wissels , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above 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,

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

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

The list of applicants 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 Romanian Government (“the Government”).

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

The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention.

Having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the present applications are inadmissible.

The Government argued that the applicants had failed to exhaust the available effective remedies for their complaints about the inadequate conditions of their detention, as the complaint with the judge responsible for supervising the deprivation of liberty ( plângerea în fața judecătorului de supraveghere a privării de libertate ), provided for by Article 56 of Law no. 254/2013, had become an effective remedy for grievances similar to those of the applicants.

The Court recalls that in Văscăuțanu v. Romania (dec.), no. 10120/23, §§ 47–59, 18 November 2025, it held that the remedy, which consists of lodging a complaint with the judge responsible for supervising the deprivation of liberty ( plângerea în fața judecătorului de supraveghere a privării de libertate ), provided for by Article 56 of Law no. 254/2013, constituted, as of 6 April 2023, an effective remedy enabling individuals who allege that they are being held in inadequate conditions of detention to put an end to their situation that they denounced as being contrary to Article 3 of the Convention.

In light of all the material in its possession, the Court observes that the applicants, who allege that they are being held in inadequate conditions of detention, did not indicate that they pursued the available remedy before the domestic courts (see Văscăuțanu , cited above, § 65). Therefore, their applications must be dismissed for failure to exhaust domestic remedies.

The Government also invoked other grounds of inadmissibility to argue that the present applications must be rejected.

Since it has already upheld the Government’s objection on the non ‑ exhaustion of domestic remedies, the Court does not consider it necessary to examine further the remaining arguments raised by the Government.

In view of the above, the Court finds that the applicants’ complaints concerning the periods set out in the appended table must be rejected for failure to exhaust the domestic remedy laid down in Article 56 of Law no. 254/2013, in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

In applications nos. 49615/22 and 54188/22, the applicants also raised other complaints under various articles of the Convention, in relation to the same periods of detention.

The Court has examined the applications and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention.

It follows that these parts of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Declares the applications inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 25 June 2026.

Viktoriya Maradudina Anne Louise Bormann 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

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

42636/21

20/09/2021

Bebe-Dănuț BAICEA

1972

Mioveni and Craiova Prisons

19/12/2019

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 4 day(s)

49341/22

10/11/2022

Gabriel PETROVICI

1969

Gherla Prison and Dej Prison Hospital

27/07/2018

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 14 day(s)

49351/22

05/12/2022

Ovidiu-Traian VIDREAN

1992

Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons

11/06/2019

pending

More than 5 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 30 day(s)

49615/22

12/10/2022

Vasile COZMA

1960

Iași, Arad, Botoșani and Vaslui Prisons, Iași County Police Station

10/07/2016

pending

More than 8 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 16 day(s)

50474/22

25/01/2023

Ioan REZMIVEŞ

1976

Gherla, Bistrița and Baia Mare Prisons and Dej Prison Hospital

06/09/2021

pending

More than 2 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 1 day(s)

51444/22

17/01/2023

Ioan SIPOS

1990

Târgu Mureș, Aiud and Gherla Prisons

18/07/2020

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 21 day(s)

51640/22

22/05/2023

Nicu PÎRLEŢEANU

1973

Craiova, Galați, Giurgiu and Tulcea Prisons

18/09/2019

pending

More than 4 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 13 day(s)

51737/22

02/12/2022

Ghiorghe DINU

1958

Mărgineni and Mioveni Prisons

25/08/2019

pending

More than 4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 15 day(s)

52163/22

20/12/2022

Adrian-Mihai DRAGOMIR

1983

Focșani, Galați, Mărgineni, Giurgiu, Aiud, Ploiești and Brăila Prisons

28/12/2018

pending

More than 5 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 18 day(s)

52764/22

06/12/2022

Gheorghe STRAT

1973

Vaslui County Police Station; Margineni, Vaslui, Buzau, Tulcea and Arad Prisons

10/11/2021

pending

More than 2 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 19 day(s)

53218/22

23/02/2023

Ciprian SAVIN

1999

Iași County Police Station, Iași, Aiud, Focșani and Giurgiu Prisons

23/10/2018

pending

More than 5 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 16 day(s)

53397/22

30/01/2023

Valentin LINGURAR

1994

Oradea, Timișoara and Baia Mare Prisons

18/07/2022

pending

More than 1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 21 day(s)

53667/22

18/01/2023

Carol GÁL

1964

Miercurea Ciuc, Aiud, Craiova, Arad and Dej Prisons

29/05/2021

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 5 month(s)

53700/22

24/04/2023

Gabriel PĂDURARU

1975

Arad, Miercurea Ciuc, Târgu Mureș, Botoșani and Găești Prisons

10/01/2018

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 30 day(s)

53702/22

21/12/2022

Vasile MIRON

1985

Iași Prison

02/03/2022

pending

More than 2 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 6 day(s)

54188/22

13/02/2023

Balazs GABOR

1985

Aiud, Târgu Mureș, Deva, Giurgiu, Miercurea Ciuc, Gherla and Bucharest - Rahova Prisons; Dej and Bucharest - Jilava Prison Hospitals

21/05/2021

pending

More than 3 year(s) and 21 day(s)

54195/22

25/01/2023

Ionuţ ROMANESCU

1986

Gherla, Miercurea Ciuc, Margineni and Giurgiu Prisons

18/11/2019

pending

More than 4 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 25 day(s)

54651/22

28/12/2022

George-Alexandru VÎRLAN

1995

Bacău, Focșani, Iași, Mărgineni, Giurgiu, Brăila, Vaslui and Arad Prisons

12/06/2015

pending

More than 9 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 17 day(s)

54790/22

22/12/2022

Toader-Ioan TIMIŞ

1982

Gherla and Bistrița Prisons

28/11/2019

pending

More than 4 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 20 day(s)