Grigore and Others v. Romania

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 41170/16 Florian-Valentin GRIGORE against Romania and 22 other applications

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 21 May 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.

Having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the present complaints raised under Article 3 of the Convention about the applicants’ detention in allegedly inadequate conditions during the periods indicated in the appended table 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 complaints in that regard must be dismissed for failure to exhaust domestic remedies.

The Government also invoked other grounds of inadmissibility to argue that the present complaints 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 any other 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.

The applicant in application no. 47626/16 also raised other complaints under Article 3 of the Convention, in relation to previous periods of detention.

The Court has examined the application 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 either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of the application 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 11 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

Representative’s name and location

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

41170/16

12/08/2016

Florian-Valentin GRIGORE

1985

Mărgineni and Rahova Prisons

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 20 day(s)

47626/16

19/09/2016

Nicușor-Gabriel CODREANU

1988

Codreanu Gheorghina

Braila

Focșani, Galați, Brăila, and Tulcea Prisons

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 20 day(s)

67391/16

28/12/2016

Danilă AKNAI

1963

Cluj-Napoca County Police Station; Jilava Prison Hospital; Gherla, Rahova and Aiud Prisons

27/06/2011 to

23/07/2012

1 year(s) and 27 day(s)

Aiud Prison

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 20 day(s)

9822/20

11/03/2020

Sali APTULA

1961

Poarta Albă, Tulcea, Slobozia and Mioveni (Colibași) Prisons

08/07/2008

pending

More than 17 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 4 day(s)

10783/20

07/04/2020

Ion-Valentin COMĂNESCU

1980

Dolj County Police Station; Craiova, Gherla, Mărgineni and Giurgiu Prisons

01/09/2017

pending

More than 8 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 11 day(s)

15724/20

04/05/2020

Emil COŞTEAN

1990

Arad Prison

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 20 day(s)

50938/20

15/03/2021

Cristian PAUL

1981

Bacău, Rahova, Giurgiu, Iaşi, Poarta Albă, Arad and Vaslui Prisons; Jilava Prison Hospital

16/03/2010

pending

More than 15 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 27 day(s)

52977/20

11/01/2021

Cristian-Florentin HENDRE

1976

Gherla and Oradea Prisons

12/06/2020

pending

More than 5 year(s) and 8 month(s)

13130/21

31/05/2021

Vasile PARASCHIV

1980

Focşani, Poarta Albă and Slobozia Prisons

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 20 day(s)

13167/21

30/03/2021

Gheorghe-Roman COPIL

1970

Timișoara, Arad and Deva Prisons

28/10/2018

pending

More than 7 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 15 day(s)

13789/21

20/04/2021

Cristian-Mihai CARDOŞ

1998

Baia Mare County Police Station; Gherla and Oradea Prisons

08/03/2020

pending

More than 5 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 4 day(s)

41368/21

24/09/2021

Florin-Marcel CSIKI

1991

Arad County Police Station and Arad Prison

17/07/2015

pending

More than 10 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 27 day(s)

44930/21

25/09/2021

Cornel GROŞANU

1960

Bucharest - Rahova, Ploiești, Giurgiu and Bucharest - Jilava Prisons; Bucharest - Jilava Prison Hospital

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 21 day(s)

45603/21

08/10/2021

Valentin-Claudiu COAJE

1992

Bucharest - Jilava, Găești and Giurgiu Prisons

23/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 21 day(s)

45830/21

02/09/2021

Ştefan ROMAN

1979

Oradea Prison

05/03/2018

pending

More than 7 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 8 day(s)

46895/21

07/10/2021

Flaviu-Mihai CONTRAŞ

1990

Oradea Prison

07/01/2020

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 6 day(s)

50740/21

15/11/2021

Marian BOTEZATU

1982

Gherla and Galați Prisons

24/12/2019

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 20 day(s)

51314/21

09/11/2021

Cătălin-Eugen MICU

1973

Giurgiu and Gherla Prisons

29/07/2017

pending

More than 8 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 15 day(s)

57371/21

21/12/2021

Florin-Adrian STOICA

1994

Codlea, Miercurea Ciuc and Aiud Prisons

21/01/2018

pending

More than 8 year(s) and 23 day(s)

57990/21

05/04/2022

Gerard-Alexandru AVRAMESCU

1968

Focșani, Drobeta-Turnu-Severin, Târgu-Jiu Prisons

01/01/2020

pending

More than 6 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 12 day(s)

7107/22

21/02/2022

Viorel PAHONIE

1975

Drobeta Turnu Severin and Craiova Prisons

19/12/2019

pending

More than 4 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 25 day(s)

39428/22

05/08/2022

Florin BOCA

1987

Craiova, Arad, Giurgiu and Colibași Prisons

10/12/2008

pending

More than 17 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 10 day(s)

39446/22

21/09/2022

Traian PUŞCAŞ

1985

Gherla Prison

08/10/2018

pending

More than 7 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 12 day(s)