Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: European Court of human rights

Date: 01/17/2008

Subject: The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the failure to provide the applicant with adequate medical treatment in prison. The Court noted that it was undisputed that the applicant had been suffering from various ailments, including kidney stones, ever since January 2002. Concerning the adequacy of the medical care provided to the applicant, the Court stressed that it was not in a position to make an independent assessment as to the necessity of surgery in connection with the applicant’s kidney ailment. However, the medical documentation submitted by the parties showed that doctors in Zagreb Prison Hospital had established that even if an operation was not urgent, the applicant’s kidney condition could only be cured through surgery. The Court noted that the Croatian Government failed to submit any indication that Lepoglava Prison or any other authority undertook any relevant steps to ensure that the surgery recommended would actually be carried out. The Court accepted that having surgery carried out in an ordinary hospital on a person serving a prison sentence after having being convicted of serious crimes presented a security risk and might therefore involve a certain degree of associated operational problems, which might have caused some delay. However, the medical documentation showed that the relevant authorities had been aware since July 2003 that the surgery in question was recommended. During a period of more than four years, no steps had been taken to have it carried out. The Court considered that, by leaving the applicant to suffer considerable occasional pain for a prolonged period of time without a foreseeable prospect of being permanently relieved of his kidney ailment, the prison authorities had failed to provide him with adequate medical treatment, which constituted inhuman and degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3.

Parties: Pilčić c/ Croazia

Classification: Dignity - Art. 4 Inhuman punishments - Degrading punishments - Inhuman treatments - Degrading treatments