Croatia loses in court due to prison conditions and long court proceedings

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded compensation of 12,200 euros to a Croatian prisoner who claimed that his rights were violated by inadequate prison conditions and the excessive duration of proceedings, which is why he requested compensation for damages.

Considering the facts of that case, the ECtHR applied earlier practice and reiterated that the lack of space in a prison cell is a particularly important condition when determining whether the conditions were humiliating from the point of view of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The court found that the applicant's right was violated according to the article of the Convention in the part that refers to humiliating treatment due to a five-month stay in inadequate conditions in prisons in Zagreb and Varaždin.

The court also found that the applicant's right to a trial within a reasonable time was violated due to the excessive duration of the civil proceedings for the purpose of compensation for damages due to the inappropriate conditions in which he was imprisoned for more than ten years.

It also established a violation of the right to an effective legal remedy due to the fact that an otherwise effective legal remedy (suit for damages) was an ineffective remedy in the specific circumstances of the applicant's case precisely because of the excessive duration of the procedure, reported the office of the Croatian representative before the ECtHR.

In addition to 12,200 euros in compensation for non-material damage, the applicant was also awarded 250 euros in compensation for expenses and costs of the procedure.

Source: HRT