The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had a total of 56,350 pending cases at the end of 2018, of which 8,503 (15.1% of the total) were complaints against the Romanian state. Romania thus ranked second for the total number of ongoing cases at ECHR after Russia, which had a share of 20.9% of the total pending cases, according to the ECHR annual report.

However, the number of applications against Romania the ECHR received in 2018 almost halved compared to 2017, from 6,509 to 3,369. The drop was even bigger compared to 2016, when almost 8,200 cases were filed against Romania.

Most of the complaints for human rights breaches in Romania are about improper conditions of detention as local prisons have been overcrowded for many years. In past years, Romania was forced to pay compensations to dozens of detainees held in improper conditions after ECHR rulings.

The Romanian authorities have tackled this issue in the last two years in ways that raised controversies.

For example, a law granting shorter sentences to convicts held in improper conditions led to the early release of many dangerous detainees, some of whom were then involved in new violent crimes. Two recent cases in particular caused a wave of outrage and prompted the Government to promise that it would review the rules on early release.

A 25-year old man was killed in Medias, central Romania, by a group of three men, two of whom had benefited from the law granting them early release for improper detention conditions. Another case is that of an old man in Galati who was savagely beaten by a man who had also been granted early release.

Over 14,400 inmates benefit from Romania’s law on early release

Romanian president urges Govt. to correct law on early release

editor@romania-insider.com