Background
Ten applicants complained about conditions at Avlona Juvenile Prison in Greece. They alleged severe overcrowding, including confinement in cells measuring less than 10 square metres with at least three other detainees, leaving each person less than three square metres of personal space. They also raised complaints concerning dormitory accommodation, detention of remand prisoners with convicted prisoners, and the need to pay for personal necessities.
After the applicants’ representative failed to provide updated information or proof of continuing contact with Marios Dragatogiannis, Christos Kamperis, Dionysios Kamperis, and Marios Liakopoulos, the Court struck out their part of the application under Article 37 § 1 (a). It proceeded to examine the Article 3 complaints of Panagiotis Antonopoulos, Vasilios-Antonios Chalilopoulos, Gerasimos Dionysopoulos, Panagiotis Kamperis, Vasilios Karas, and Spyridon Soulimanis.
The Court’s Holding
The Court unanimously held that the six remaining applicants’ detention in overcrowded cells violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Greece argued that cells measured between 10 and 11.65 square metres and that the prison exceeded its official capacity only occasionally and by a negligible amount. In this case, however, the Government did not provide evidence showing how many detainees occupied each cell and therefore failed to substantiate its contention that there had been no overcrowding.
The Court accepted the applicants’ account that they had less than three square metres of personal space. It also relied on the Government’s nine twice-monthly headcount tables, four of which showed a prison population above official capacity, and concluded that the resulting shortage of space was not short, occasional, or minor. That finding made it unnecessary to examine separately the other Article 3 allegations or the Article 13 effective-remedy complaint. The Court rejected the remaining complaints and awarded the six successful applicants between EUR 3,600 and EUR 8,600 each for non-pecuniary damage, plus EUR 1,000 jointly for costs and expenses.
Key Takeaways
- A sustained allocation of less than three square metres of personal space in overcrowded prison cells supported a finding of degrading treatment under Article 3.
- On the evidence in this case, Greece failed to rebut the applicants’ overcrowding allegations because it supplied no records showing the number of detainees housed in each cell, while its own headcounts showed that the prison exceeded capacity in four of nine recorded counts.
- The Court struck out the claims of four applicants whose representative supplied neither updated information nor proof of continuing contact after being asked to do so.
Why It Matters
The judgment applies the Court’s established prison-overcrowding principles to Avlona Juvenile Prison and illustrates how official capacity data and the absence of contrary occupancy evidence can support detainees’ factual account in a particular case. The decision rests on the prolonged and manifest shortage of personal space, rather than announcing a categorical rule about the records authorities must produce in every detention case.