Petrea and Others v. Romania

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 8530/20 Costel PETREA against Romania and 19 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.

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 the complaints about the inadequate conditions of their detention, as the action in tort had become an effective remedy for grievances similar to those of the applicants, allowing them to have the violation of the Convention acknowledged, either explicitly or in substance, and to receive adequate and sufficient compensation at domestic level. The Government expressly referred to Vlad v. Romania (dec.), no. 122/17, 15 November 2022, either directly in their observations or by a subsequent letter and invited the Court to declare the cases inadmissible.

The Court recalls that in Polgar v. Romania , no. 39412/19, §§ 94-96, 20 July 2021, it held that an action in tort, based on Articles 1349 and 1357 of the Romanian Civil Code, as interpreted consistently by the national courts, had represented since 13 January 2021 an effective remedy for individuals who considered that they had been subjected to inadequate conditions of detention, and who were no longer being held in conditions that were allegedly contrary to the Convention. Subsequently, in Vlad , cited above, §§ 24-32, the Court considered it appropriate to apply an exception to the general principle that the effectiveness of a given remedy was to be assessed with reference to the date on which the application was lodged.

For all the above reasons and in the light of all the material in its possession, since the applicants ceased to be held in conditions of detention that were allegedly contrary to the Convention after the moment when the tort action had been considered as representing an effective remedy (see, mutatis mutandis , Polgar , § 96 and Vlad , § 23, both cited above; see the appended table for further details), but did not inform the Court of having brought such an action before the domestic courts, 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 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.

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

8530/20

14/05/2020

Costel PETREA

1967

Constanța - Poarta Albă and Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prisons

15/08/2019 to

25/11/2021

2 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 11 day(s)

10468/20

02/09/2020

Gheorghe-Sorin PÎNTEA

1974

Giurgiu Prison

06/06/2019 to

28/12/2023

4 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 23 day(s)

19236/20

19/06/2020

Simion TRIFAN

1949

Vaslui, Bacău and Găești Prisons

14/02/2017 to

15/03/2022

5 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 2 day(s)

30080/20

29/09/2020

Mădălin IONEL

1982

Mioveni, Găești and Târgu Jiu Prisons

23/12/2019 to

20/05/2025

5 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 28 day(s)

843/21

23/07/2021

Marian NEACŞU

1976

Arad and Craiova-Pelendava Prisons

08/03/2016 to

27/06/2025

9 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 20 day(s)

4414/21

22/03/2021

Florică CREŢOIU

1967

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Prison

19/12/2019 to

29/10/2025

5 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 11 day(s)

4803/21

12/02/2021

Florin-Alin-Ionuţ STOICA

1992

Craiova-Pelendava, Arad and Iași Prisons

19/12/2019 to

12/10/2021

1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 24 day(s)

21637/21

26/05/2021

Alexandru-Ştefan ZANFIR

1997

Bucharest-Rahova and Bucharest-Jilava Prisons

25/07/2019 to

03/04/2020

8 month(s) and 10 day(s)

Bucharest-Rahova and Bucharest-Jilava Prisons

18/09/2020 to

20/09/2022

2 year(s) and 3 day(s)

53661/21

08/10/2021

Dragoș-Marian MUNTEANU

1985

Craiova (including Pelendava) and Drobeta-Turnu Severin (including Vînjuleț) Prisons

15/12/2019 to

02/03/2023

3 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 16 day(s)

55621/21

24/03/2022

Daniel LAZĂR

1971

Mioveni and Găești Prisons

26/11/2020 to

24/08/2022

1 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 30 day(s)

61797/21

28/01/2022

Cosmin PANCU

1979

Satu Mare Prison

22/10/2021 to

11/07/2024

2 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 20 day(s)

9242/22

07/02/2022

Eufimie STANCU

1976

Olt County Police Station; Bucharest-Jilava Prison Hospital; Craiova Prison

14/07/2019 to

26/06/2025

5 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 13 day(s)

14844/22

19/04/2022

Eugen MIHAI

1984

Mihai Lucreția

Mogosani

Mărgineni, Mioveni and Găești Prisons

06/05/2021 to

28/12/2022

1 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 23 day(s)

26379/22

22/06/2022

Ioan VINCZE

1974

Drobeta-Turnu Severin (including Vânjuleț), Aiud, Arad, Ploiești and Timișoara Prisons

27/09/2020 to

25/02/2026

5 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 30 day(s)

26401/22

05/07/2022

Daniel-Florin DUCU

1997

Mihuta Laura

Arad

Craiova Detention Center (Barieră); Arad Prison

22/06/2015 to

03/02/2025

9 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 13 day(s)

44984/22

12/09/2022

Árpád KOVÁCS

1995

Aiud Prison

25/02/2021 to

01/01/2023

1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 8 day(s)

45137/22

21/11/2022

Florin PUŞCAŞU

1981

Vaslui County Police Station; Vaslui and Focșani Prisons; Bucharest-Jilava Prison Hospital

06/11/2021 to

03/12/2025

4 year(s) and 28 day(s)

48791/22

15/11/2022

Ioan VANA

1970

Cluj County Police Station; Gherla and Baia Mare Prisons

12/08/2018 to

17/12/2025

7 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 6 day(s)

55683/22

25/11/2022

Marian-Ionuţ BĂLAN

1993

Vrancea County Police Station; Focșani and Ploiești Prisons

16/04/2015 to

07/02/2023

7 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 23 day(s)

57751/22

13/03/2023

Constantin ANGHEL

1992

Galați and Brăila Prisons

29/03/2022 to

23/05/2025

3 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 25 day(s)