A person was arbitrarily and illegally detained for 17 days in prison. The government is obliged to pay the amount of 38000 MDL

On 14 April  2021, the Supreme Court of Justice issued a Judgment on the case of a man illegally and arbitrarily detained in the penitentiary institution, the appeal of the Ministry of Justice being rejected. In this case, the Government is obliged to pay the applicant the amount of 38000 MDL as non-pecuniary damage.

The Promo-LEX Association represented in the national courts a plaintiff who requested through his action to have found the violation of the provisions of art. 5 of the ECHR (Right to liberty and security of person). He complained that he had been deprived of his liberty illegally and arbitrarily for 17 days in the penitentiary institution. The penitentiary refused to release the applicant from the execution of the prison sentence immediately from the date of the ruling on the conditional remission of sentence.

For the illegal and arbitrary detention, the applicant brought a civil action before the court. In his application, the applicant sought compensation for non-material and material damage caused, at the expense of the state. The applicant rewuested to the court for the direct application of the Convention in his case, due to the lack of special rules in national law that would be applicable in similar situations.

The Centru District Court of Chisinau, on 20 February 2020, upheld this claim and found a violation of the applicant’s right to liberty for a period of 17 days. In order to compensate the damage, the amount of 3952.50 MDL, material damage, and the amount of 34000 MDL moral damage were granted, which is the equivalent of 2000 MDL for each day of illegal detention. The court correctly determined when the applicant was to be released from prison. According to the court decision, “the court finds that, contrary to the provisions mentioned above, in the operative part of the conclusion of the Chisinau Court (Ciocana headquarters) of 28 June 2019, the order of immediate release of the plaintiff Obneavco Vladimir is not indicated, reason for which the administration of the Penitentiary no. 9 – Pruncul did not release the applicant from detention on the day of the decision, he was released on 15 July 2019, ie over 17 days from the decision of 28 June 2019, which is inadmissible and seriously infringes the applicant’s rights and interests.”. The decision can be accessed here.

The judgment was challenged by the defendant, but was upheld by the Chisinau Court of Appeal. In the motivation of the Decision of 6 October 2020, the Chisinau Court of Appeal found: “it was established with certainty that the plaintiff / respondent was illegally deprived of liberty for a period of 17 days, which in turn constitutes a violation of the right to liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova at art. 25, as well as art. 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which states that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person”. The decision can be accessed here.

On 14 April 2021 the Supreme Court of Justice declared inadmissible the appeal lodged by the Ministry of Justice in the applicant’s action, represented by the lawyer of the Promo-LEX Association, against the Minister of Justice, concerning the finding of violation of the right to liberty, reparation of material and moral damage. The conclusion can be accessed here.

According to Promo-LEX lawyer, Victoria Gamurari: The decision of the national courts is important from the perspective of the direct application of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the correct interpretation of the moment when the conclusions of the investigative judges on the application of parole are to be implemented. These Judicial Conclusions are enforceable immediately from the moment of delivery. It is gratifying that the non-pecuniary compensation awarded to national courts corresponds to the amounts decided by the ECHR in similar cases.

In cases of violation of the provisions of art. 5 of the Convention and the award of compensation for violation of this right, the Republic of Moldova tends to award small amounts that do not correspond to the suffering caused to the applicants. A broader picture of this phenomenon is developed in the Study on the observance of Article 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by the Republic of Moldova (2018). This can be fully accessed here.

Examples of Court Judgments in case of compensation for the term of illegal detention.