CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 8 juillet 2014

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BULGARIA   (Applications nos. 15018/11 and 61199/12)           JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   8 July 2014         FINAL   08/10/2014   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention.   In the case of Harakchiev and Tolumov v. Bulgaria, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Ineta Ziemele, President ,   Päivi Hirvelä,   George Nicolaou,   Ledi Bianku,   Zdravka Kalaydjieva,   Paul Mahoney,   Krzysztof Wojtyczek, judges , and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 24 June 2014, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1 .     The case originated in two applications (nos. 15018/11 and 61199/12) against the Republic of Bulgaria lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two Bulgarian nationals, Mr Mitko Georgiev Harakchiev and Mr Lyudvik Slavov Tolumov (“the applicants”), on 22 February 2011 and 11 September 2012 respectively. 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr M. Ekimdzhiev and Ms   S.   Stefanova, lawyers practising in Plovdiv. The Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agents, Ms I. Stancheva-Chinova and Ms K. Radkova, of the Ministry of Justice. 3.     The applicants alleged, in particular, that Mr Harakchiev’s whole life sentence ( доживотен затвор без замяна ) amounted to inhuman and degrading punishment, that the regime and material conditions of their detention amounted to torture or inhuman and degrading treatment, and that they did not have an effective domestic remedy in respect of the material conditions of their detention. 4.     On 19 February 2013 the Court decided to join the applications, declare them partly inadmissible and give the Government notice of the complaints concerning (a) Mr Harakchiev’s sentence to whole life imprisonment; (b) the regime and conditions of the applicants’ detention; (c) the alleged monitoring of Mr Tolumov’s correspondence in prison; and (d) the alleged lack of an effective domestic remedy in respect of the material conditions of the applicants’ detention. 5 .     On 17 July 2013 the Court invited the parties to deal with an additional point in their respective observations. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 6.     The applicant in the first application (no. 15018/11), Mr Harakchiev, was born in 1968. He is currently serving a whole life sentence (see paragraphs 58-60 and 65 below) in Stara Zagora Prison. 7.     The applicant in the second application (no. 61199/12), Mr Tolumov, was born in 1954. He is currently serving a life sentence (see paragraphs 56 and 65 below) in Plovdiv Prison. A.     Mr Harakchiev 1.     Mr Harakchiev’s criminal background and his whole life sentence 8 .     Between 1992 and 2005 Mr Harakchiev, a driver and car mechanic, was convicted eight times of non-violent offences: theft and aggravated theft (four convictions), and fraud and aggravated fraud (three convictions). He was given sentences ranging from two to five years’ imprisonment. 9 .     On 21 January 2003 the Haskovo Regional Court convicted Mr   Harakchiev of illegal possession of a firearm and four armed robberies of motor vehicles carried out between 14 October and 6 November 2001, two of which had been accompanied by attempted murder and two by murder. It sentenced him to whole life imprisonment. 10 .     On 26 June 2003 the Plovdiv Court of Appeal upheld Mr   Harakchiev’s conviction and sentence. 11 .     In a final judgment of 23 November 2004 (реш. № 476 от   23   ноември 2004 г. по н. д. № 901/2003 г., ВКС, ІІІ н. о.) the Supreme Court of Cassation likewise upheld Mr Harakchiev’s conviction and sentence. It held, inter alia , that in view of the gravity of his offences – in particular, the determination and cruelty with which they had been carried out – a more lenient sentence, such as life imprisonment ( доживотен затвор със замяна ), would not be adequate. That conclusion could not be altered by the fact that Mr Harakchiev had confessed and had helped the investigating authorities to uncover his criminal activities. 2.     Conditions of detention in Stara Zagora Prison and prison regimes applied to Mr Harakchiev 12 .     Mr Harakchiev has been detained in Stara Zagora Prison since 18   January 2002. He was initially placed under the “enhanced regime” (see paragraph 115 below). With the entry into force of the Execution of Punishments and Pre-Trial Detention Act on 1 June 2009, that regime was replaced by the “severe regime” (see paragraph 118 below) by operation of law. On 17 June 2009 the Execution of Punishments Commission (see paragraph 121 below) proposed that the Stara Zagora Regional Court place Mr Harakchiev under the “special regime” normally applicable to life prisoners, citing his “negative attitude” and lack of respect for internal order, as well as the fact that he should in any case have been placed under that regime from the outset. On 21 July 2009 the Stara Zagora Regional Court accepted the proposal. Mr Harakchiev’s legal challenge against that decision, filed on 12 July 2010, was rejected by the Stara Zagora Regional Court and the Plovdiv Court of Appeal as being out of time. The Government submitted that there was at present no intention on the part of the prison authorities to make further changes to Mr   Harakchiev’s prison regime. 13 .     Between December 2005 and March 2013 Mr Harakchiev was given nine disciplinary punishments. The latest such punishments, in August 2012 and March 2013, were imposed in relation to (a) a scuffle between himself and another inmate during the daily walk on the morning of 4 August 2012, and   (b) the theft on 18 February 2013 of food that another inmate had left in the communal toilet. In relation to the former, Mr Harakchiev was given a reprimand, and in relation to the latter isolation in a disciplinary cell for three days. 14 .     Mr Harakchiev’s cell – in which he is currently alone but which he apparently shared with another inmate between 2002 and 2007 – is in the prison’s high-security wing, reserved for life prisoners. According to Mr   Harakchiev, the cell was quite small, especially bearing in mind that the furniture alone occupied 4.50 square metres, and was lit at night by a 60 ‑ watt incandescent light bulb that was constantly on. According to the Government, the cell was not undersized. It measured   4.30 by 1.81 metres and was 3.95 metres high, with a total floor space of 7.78 square metres. It was furnished with a metal locker, a double metal bunk bed, two stools and a small table, all of which were attached to the floor for security reasons. It had a window, facing south, that measured   1.76 by 1.25 metres. Artificial lighting in the cell consisted of two 36-watt luminescent light bulbs. According to Mr   Harakchiev, the incandescent bulbs had only been replaced with luminescent bulbs in 2012. He also pointed out that the cell did not have any low-intensity night lighting. 15 .     Stara Zagora Prison does not have a ventilation or air ‑ conditioning system. Mr Harakchiev claimed that as a result temperatures in his cell were very high in summer and there was no fresh air. In winter, heating was only turned on for periods of one hour in the morning, at noon and in the evening. According to the Government, the cell window could be opened, which allowed the cell to be aired at any time. The prison had its own heating installation with two boilers and a heat exchanger. The boilers were fired for nine hours a day, but the water that they heated circulated in the heating installation permanently. According to Mr Harakchiev, the radiator in his cell was hot for only thirty minutes each day and the poor state of repair of the cell window and the metal door were factors contributing to the low temperature in the cell in winter. Mr Harakchiev also submitted that as he had to dry his clothes in the cell, it was very damp. As a result, the paint and rendering were peeling off the walls. 16 .     According to Mr Harakchiev, the common areas of the prison could only be kept clean by bleaching with calcium hypochlorite, and the cells were only cleaned with water. In support of that assertion, Mr   Harakchiev relied on the witness statement of one of his co-inmates made in the course of proceedings brought by him. According to the Government, the common areas of the prison were not merely cleaned with bleach. They were cleaned daily with detergents, and at least twice a year subjected to pest and rat control, as evident from fourteen invoices for such services carried out during the last four years. Mr Harakchiev replied that those invoices did not prove that the detergents had indeed been used as alleged by the Government. He also submitted that his cell was constantly infested with cockroaches and mice, and that all his complaints to the prison administration in that respect had gone unheeded. He submitted further that, since the window of his cell was not covered with a net, insects came into the cell all the time, drawn by the smell of excrement and the constant lighting at night, and bit him. 17 .     There is no toilet or running water in the cell. Mr Harakchiev submitted that as a result, apart from the three daily visits to the communal toilets, he had to use a plastic bucket to relieve himself. During the period he had had to share his cell with another inmate, he had had to do so in his presence. The lack of running water prevented him from washing his hands or the bucket after relieving himself. The Government pointed out that the toilet and bathroom in the high-security unit were accessible to inmates three times a day, and also whenever they asked the guards. It could not therefore be said that Mr Harakchiev was forced to use the bucket to relieve himself; that was his own choice. In fact he had more than ten buckets in his cell, in which he stored clothes, laundry and other items. Mr   Harakchiev replied that, apart from the three daily visits to the toilet, between 5.30 a.m. and 8 p.m. the guards never opened his cell to let him visit the toilet. It was therefore not his choice to resort to the bucket for his sanitary needs. 18 .     Apart from his one-hour daily walk, Mr Harakchiev can leave his cell to visit the toilet three times a day. During each of those visits, he can also empty the bucket, wash his hands, and fill plastic bottles with water for drinking and sanitary needs. According to him, the visits to the toilet lasted no more than three minutes in the morning and no more than ten minutes at lunch and in the evening, and did not coincide with the visits of the other inmates in the unit. 19 .     According to Mr Harakchiev, inmates in Stara Zagora Prison could only take a shower once every fourteen or fifteen days. According to the Government, all inmates in the prison’s high-security unit could take a shower twice a week. 20 .     According to Mr Harakchiev, visits by relatives or lawyers took place in a special room. Prisoners and visitors were separated by a wire net, and prisoners had to remain seated. A prison officer was always present. According to the Government, the prison officer present during visits was only there to ensure good order and could not overhear conversations. Visits by lawyers took place in a separate room, in which no other person was present. The only form of control there was visual monitoring. In that context, the Government drew attention to the fact that as a result of the many claims that he had brought against the prison authorities, until mid ‑ 2009 Mr Harakchiev had spent 97 days outside Stara Zagora Prison, and between 1 January 2010 and 18 May 2012 had spent 255 days, or 54% of the time, outside the prison. 21 .     According to Mr Harakchiev, food in the prison was poorly prepared, of low quality, tasteless, served cold and in unhygienic conditions, and insufficient in quantity. Meat was served once a week. The rest of the time food consisted of beans, lentils, cabbage and potatoes, served as soups or stews. According to the Government, the quantity and the chemical and calorie content of the food were fully adequate. The daily portions comprised 2,662 calories, and there was meat in the meals at least once a day. Mr   Harakchiev replied that “meat” in effect meant boiled bones or canned meat. Both parties submitted menus and tables in support of their respective assertions. 22 .     According to Mr Harakchiev, medical care in Stara Zagora Prison consisted of routinely giving all inmates aspirin or Analgin, and inmates had to purchase all other medicines themselves. According to the Government, the prison’s medical centre was staffed by a general practitioner, three feldshers (paramedics – one for the main prison building and one for each of the two separate prison hostels), a nurse, a psychiatrist and a dentist. Medical examinations were carried out daily, and in cases of emergency inmates could be taken to the emergency ward of Stara Zagora Hospital. Medical examinations in the high-security unit were normally carried out on Fridays. Inmates could also consult outside specialists, or be treated in the prison hospitals in Sofia and Lovech. Medicines were normally provided by the prison medical centre, or could be obtained from outside the prison. The only medicine that Mr Harakchiev had had to obtain himself, because the centre had not had any in stock, had been Rivotril (clonazepam), at a unit cost of 7.31 Bulgarian levs (BGN). Mr Harakchiev replied, without giving further details, that he routinely had to purchase medicines himself. He also submitted that his dental care had consisted merely in extracting teeth; in spite of the obvious need to provide him with dental prostheses, the prison authorities had failed to take any action in that respect. The Government replied that dental prostheses did not form part of the standard medical cover for any health-insured person in Bulgaria, and could not be obtained free of charge. 23 .     The Government also asserted that Mr Harakchiev could see the social inspector in charge of his unit daily; he could ask to see a psychologist, the prison governor or deputy governor, the prison legal officer, or another member of the prison staff; he could socialise with other inmates of the same category during his daily walk and during meal times; and he had access to cable television, with fifty channels, to the prison library, and to religious services. For his part, Mr Harakchiev submitted that, in spite of having expressed his desire to do so, he had not been given any opportunity to work or take part in sport, cultural or educational activities. In reply, the Government stated that in November 2006 Mr Harakchiev had been allowed to take part in a yoga course in order to reduce his stress levels. 24 .     The annual psychological assessments of Mr Harakchiev for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013, submitted by the Government, are very similar. All of them say, often using the same language, that his conduct was characterised by the “campaign that he ha[d] mounted” against the institutions and prison officials with whom he had had contact, which chiefly consisted in his bringing various legal challenges and in inciting other prisoners to give “false evidence” in his favour. Dialogue with him was very difficult, chiefly because of his lack of respect for authority, acute awareness of his own rights, stubbornness, and tendency to call the officials concerned to give evidence in the cases that he was bringing against the prison authorities. The risk of serious harm was high in view of his personality, the nature of his offences and the rigidity of his conduct. He had been verbally aggressive to prison staff. 3.     Claims for damages brought by Mr Harakchiev in relation to various aspects of the conditions of his detention in Stara Zagora Prison 25.     Since his incarceration in 2002 Mr Harakchiev has brought a number of claims for damages against the authorities under section 1 of the State and Municipalities Liability for Damage Act 1988 (see paragraph 136 below). 26 .     In a final judgment of 12 February 2009 (реш. № 1993 от   12   февруари 2009 г. по адм. д. № 9586/2008 г., ВАС, III о.) the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed a claim for damages brought by Mr   Harakchiev under that provision in relation to the failure of the prison administration to provide him with newspapers. The court held that Mr   Harakchiev had not proved that he had suffered any non-pecuniary damage as a result of that failure. 27 .     In a final judgment of 26 May 2009 (реш. № 6892 от 26 май 2009   г. по адм. д. № 14849/2008 г., ВАС, III о.) the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed a claim for damages brought by Mr   Harakchiev under the above-mentioned provision in relation to a failure by the prison administration to organise his daily walk in such a way as to compensate him for one he had previously missed on account of bad weather. The court – overturning the lower court’s ruling on that point – held that Mr Harakchiev had failed to establish that he had suffered any non-pecuniary damage; he could not simply be assumed to have sustained damage on the basis of the prison administration’s failure to organise a daily walk. 28 .     In a final judgment of 18 January 2010 (реш. № 695 от 18 януари 2010   г. по адм. д. № 8404/2009 г., ВАС, ІІІ о.) the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed a claim for damages brought by Mr   Harakchiev under the above-mentioned provision in relation to the refusal of the prison administration to allow him to watch films in the prison’s video-projection room. The court held that that would have been incompatible with the requirement, imposed by the “special regime” under which Mr Harakchiev was serving his sentence (see paragraphs 115 and 118 below), that he remain isolated in a locked cell at all times. The prison administration’s refusal had therefore not been unlawful. 29 .     In a final judgment of 9 November 2010 (реш. № 13333 от 9   ноември 2010 г. по адм. д. № 6668/2009 г., ВАС, III о.) the Supreme Administrative Court allowed a claim for damages brought by Mr   Harakchiev under the above-mentioned provision in relation to the failure of the prison administration, for about five years, to provide him with shoes free of charge, as required by statute. Relying on Article 3 of the Convention, the court held that that failure had humiliated Mr Harakchiev and had diminished his human dignity. The court went on to say that Mr Harakchiev’s feelings of humiliation had been exacerbated as a result of his solitary confinement, and awarded him BGN 3,000 (the equivalent of   1,533.88 euros (EUR)), plus interest. 4.     The 2009-14 proceedings in relation to the claims for damages by Mr   Harakchiev against the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences 30 .     On 27 October 2009 Mr Harakchiev brought nine claims for damages against the Ministry of Justice and nine identical claims for damages against the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences, which is a unit within that Ministry. He considered that the Ministry bore responsibility for all acts and omissions relating to his imprisonment before 1 June 2009, the date of entry into force of the Execution of Punishments and Pre-Trial Detention Act of 2009 (see paragraph 117 below), and that the Chief Directorate bore responsibility for all acts and omissions relating to his imprisonment after that date. 31 .     In a judgment of 21 December 2010 (реш. № 370 от 21 декември 2010 г. по адм. д. № 564/2010 г., АС-Стара Загора) the Stara Zagora Administrative Court, having carried out an inspection on the spot, allowed Mr Harakchiev’s claims against the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences in relation to (a) the material conditions of his detention; (b) the failure of the prison administration to provide him with clothing, shoes and bed linen; (c) the failure of the prison administration to put in place conditions in which he could keep in good physical shape; and (d) the failure of the prison administration to enable him to take his outdoor exercise. The court dismissed the remaining claims, which concerned (a) the failure of the prison administration to provide Mr   Harakchiev with toiletries; (b) the quality and quantity of the food that had been provided to him; (c) the failure of the prison administration to provide him with dental prostheses; (d) the failure of the prison administration to provide him with conditions allowing him to keep his mental health intact; and (e) the failure of the prison administration to provide him with work. The court awarded Mr Harakchiev a total of BGN   8,200 (the equivalent of EUR 4,192.59). It held, in particular, that the conditions of his detention had been in breach of Article 3 of the Convention and that he had accordingly suffered non-pecuniary damage. However, the court also held that the claim relating to the material conditions of detention was time-barred on the ground that it related to a period of time that predated the claim by five years. 32 .     In its findings of fact the court noted, inter alia , that under the regime in the ward where Mr Harakchiev was being detained, he had to spend about twenty-three hours in his cell and could only leave it during his daily walk and three visits to the toilet. He was not allowed to go to the prison canteen or library. His cell was adequate in size for one prisoner, but too small for two, and did not have a toilet or running water. As result, outside toilet times, Mr Harakchiev had to use a bucket. In winter the cell was too cold owing to inadequate heating, and in summer full of insects as a result of the lack of a window net. The cell was infested with cockroaches, moles and even rats, and there was no indication that the prison administration had disinfested it regularly. When the cell was locked, the only way to call the guards was to bang continuously on the metal door; the guards did not always respond, especially at night. Mr Harakchiev did not have adequate materials with which to clean his cell, and evidence of the provision of cleaning products was inconclusive. It was undisputed that the prison administration had not provided him with work; that had indeed been very difficult in view of the limitations imposed by his prison regime. Social work with all life prisoners had been very restricted, consisting essentially of meetings whenever a problem occurred. Relations between Mr   Harakchiev and the prison social worker assigned to deal with him were difficult, and their meetings rare. The prison psychologist had met with Mr Harakchiev several times, but had stopped the meetings because he was displeased that they were taking place in the presence of a guard. 33 .     Mr Harakchiev, the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences all appealed. However, as Mr Harakchiev had failed to pay the requisite court fee, the Supreme Administrative Court refused to examine his appeal (see опр. № 8931 от 21 юни 2011 г. по адм. д. № 5865/2011 г. ВАС, ІІІ о., upheld by опр. № 14723 от 14   ноември 2011 г. по адм. д. № 10633/2011 г., ВАС, петчл. с-в). As a result, the only part of the case that remained pending were the claims concerning the material conditions of Mr Harakchiev’s detention and the failure of the prison administration to provide him with clothing, shoes and bed linen. 34 .     In a judgment of 8 January 2013 (реш. № 179 от 8 януари 2013 г. по адм. д. № 5865/2011 г., ВАС, ІІІ о.) the Supreme Administrative Court quashed the lower court’s judgment in the part still under appeal and remitted the case to the lower court. It held that the lower court had failed to address in sufficient depth the conflicting witness statements of inmates on the one hand, and prison staff on the other hand, and analyse them in the light of the voluminous written evidence in the case. It had also failed to subject the expert report that it had obtained in the course of the proceedings to proper scrutiny, and had uncritically accepted it as correct. 35 .     In a judgment of 5 April 2013 (реш. № 38 от 5 април 2013 г. по адм. д. № 17/2013 г., АС-Стара Загора) the Stara Zagora Administrative Court found that the claims against the Ministry, which concerned the period before 1 June 2009, following which the 2009 Act had come into force, were inadmissible, but that the claims against the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences, which concerned the period after that date, were admissible and, when analysed by reference to, inter alia , Article 3 of the Convention and this Court’s case-law under that provision, well-founded. It awarded Mr Harakchiev BGN 400 (EUR   204.52). The court found that Mr Harakchiev’s cell did not have ventilation and was damp, and that the cell window was not equipped with an insectproof net. In winter the cell was cold owing to the lack of adequate heating, and in summer too hot. The court went on to note that the cell did not have a toilet or running water, and that access to the communal toilets was very restrictive, with no real possibility to use them outside the three brief daily visits. It also observed that, in spite of the efforts of the prison authorities, the prison was infested with cockroaches and rats; that the authorities were not providing Mr Harakchiev with adequate cleaning products; and that the furniture in the cell was old and worn. It was true that work had been carried out in the cell in 2001 and then in 2005-06, but that had only consisted in repainting it. 36 .     Mr Harakchiev and the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences appealed. The proceedings on appeal (адм. д. № 9946/2013 г.) are still pending before the Supreme Administrative Court. A hearing was due to be held on 24 February 2014, but the case was adjourned sine die on account of the failure of Mr Harakchiev’s court-appointed counsel to appear. B.     Mr Tolumov 1.     Mr Tolumov’s criminal background and his life sentence 37.     As can be seen from the documents in the case file, Mr Tolumov, a driver by profession, had four previous convictions and had spent a year and a half in prison in 1988. In 2000 he was convicted on a charge of armed robbery accompanied by murder and a further charge of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. 2.     Conditions of detention in Plovdiv Prison and prison regimes applied to Mr Tolumov 38 .     Mr Tolumov was placed in Plovdiv Prison on 29 December 2000. In September 2005, when his life sentence imprisonment apparently became final, he was placed under the “enhanced regime” (see paragraph 115 below). With the entry into force of the Execution of Punishments and Pre ‑ Trial Detention Act of 2009 on 1 June 2009, that regime was replaced with the “special regime” (see paragraph 118 below) by operation of law. On   11   February 2013 the competent Execution of Punishments Commission decided to change Mr Tolumov’s regime from “special” to “severe”. However, according to Mr Tolumov and an affidavit of another life prisoner detained in the same unit, he continues to be kept locked in his cell and is handcuffed whenever he is taken out of the high ‑ security unit. 39 .     During his stay in prison, Mr Tolumov has been given four disciplinary punishments, the latest of which was in 2009. One of those punishments, imposed in in 2000 or 2001, was isolation in a disciplinary cell for seven days for his involvement in a scuffle with another prisoner. He was, on the other hand, given rewards for good conduct on a number of occasions. 40 .     In Plovdiv Prison Mr Tolumov has spent time in cells nos. 4, 9 and 7 in the prison’s high-security unit, situated on the first floor. He submitted that during unspecified periods of time he had had to share those cells with other inmates. The Government submitted that cell no. 7, in which Mr   Tolumov was now being detained, was 7.5 square metres in size, and that Mr Tolumov was alone in it. According to the Government, the cell had a window measuring 1.15 x 0.97 metres. Artificial lighting was provided by a 100-watt incandescent light bulb, which was not on during the day and was turned off at 10 p.m. According to Mr Tolumov, the light bulb was very dim, installed behind a grille, and on all the time. 41 .     Mr Tolumov’s cell is furnished with a plank bed, two small cabinets, a table, which is fixed to the floor, and a stool, also fixed to the floor. Mr   Tolumov submitted that humidity from the communal bathroom, which was adjacent to the cell, penetrated the walls and the floor and produced mould on one of the walls. An additional factor that increased dampness in the cell was the need to dry clothes in it. The Government submitted that the cell adjoined the part of the bathroom which contained the sinks and did not generate humidity; it was therefore impossible for mould to appear on the cell walls. According to an affidavit drawn up by one of Mr   Tolumov’s fellow inmates in August 2013, humidity was indeed permeating the walls of the bathroom, and for that reason in June 2013 the prison authorities had had the gaps between the bathroom tiles filled in, unfortunately to little effect. 42 .     Plovdiv Prison does not have a ventilation or air-conditioning system. Mr Tolumov claimed that as a result temperatures in his cell were very high in summer and there was no fresh air. In winter, heating was inadequate. The Government pointed out the cell window could be opened, and that Mr Tolumov had a ventilator. As for heating, the prison had its own heating installation, which was normally turned on between 6   a.m. and 9 p.m., and permanently on colder days. 43 .     None of the cells in which Mr Tolumov was detained had a toilet or running water. Mr Tolumov submitted that as a result, apart from the daily visits to the communal toilets, he had to use a plastic bucket to relieve himself. During the period he had had to share his cell with another inmate, he had had to relieve himself in his presence. The lack of running water prevented him from washing his hands or the bucket after relieving himself. The Government submitted that the communal toilet and bathroom in the high-security unit were accessible to Mr Tolumov four times a day, and also whenever he asked the guards. 44 .     Mr Tolumov submitted that on any given day he could leave his cell once for his one-hour daily walk and three more times, for thirty minutes, to visit the toilet. Mr Tolumov also submitted that he took his meals in his cell. The Government submitted that all prisoners in the high-security unit could leave their cells once for their daily walk, and in addition four times a day, for forty-five minutes each time, for meals and visits to the toilet. According to an affidavit drawn up by one of Mr   Tolumov’s fellow inmates in August 2013, the practice of allowing inmates in the high-security unit to visit the toilet four times a day instead of three had been introduced very recently. According to a document produced by the Government, since the end of January 2013 Mr Tolumov could also visit the prison gymnasium three times a week: between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Mr Tolumov submitted that each time he was taken out of the prison’s high-security unit he was handcuffed. The Government submitted that he was only handcuffed when taken out of the prison for transfers. 45 .     According to Mr Tolumov, the food in prison was poorly prepared, of low quality, tasteless to the point of being inedible, and insufficient in quantity. According to the Government, the quantity and the calorie content of the food were fully adequate. Mr Tolumov was being provided with vegetarian meals on account of an illness, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. In support of their assertion, the Government provided three randomly chosen daily menus. Mr Tolumov disputed the accuracy of those menus and submitted that he had never been given the meals stated in them. According to him, the “fresh fruit and vegetables” consisted of a daily portion of one onion and three carrots. 46 .     According to Mr Tolumov, medical care in Plovdiv Prison consisted of routinely giving all inmates aspirin or analgin, and inmates had to purchase all other medicines themselves. According to the Government, the prison’s medical centre was staffed by a general practitioner, a feldsher, a psychiatrist and a dentist. Medical and dental examinations were carried out weekly. Mr Tolumov could also consult outside specialists, and since the end of 2010 he had been examined nine times, by a cardiologist, a surgeon, an ophthalmologist, an endocrinologist and a dermatologist. All medicines required for Mr Tolumov’s treatment had been covered either by the national health insurance fund or the prison’s budget. 47 .     The Government asserted, further, that Mr Tolumov could see the social inspector in charge of his unit daily. He could also ask to see a psychologist, the prison governor or deputy governor, the prison legal officer, or another member of the prison staff. He could also socialise with other inmates of the same category during his daily walk and during meal times. He had access to cable television, with fifty channels, to the prison library, and to religious services. For his part, Mr Tolumov submitted that he could not attend religious services, and that, in spite of having expressed his desire to do so, he had not been given any opportunity to work or take part in other meaningful activities. The Government went on to say that at present Mr Tolumov was enrolled in a basic computer literacy class that he attended each Thursday between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. 48 .     The annual psychological assessments of Mr Tolumov for 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013, submitted by the Government, are quite similar. All of them say, often using the same language, that he has not changed his thinking and attitudes (though the 2013 report says that it was possible to detect a positive trend in that respect), but that he was not making any unjustified claims. He was able to defend his position, but usually avoided getting drawn into conflicts, and treated prison staff with respect. The risk of his hurting himself or others was average. He had expressed the wish to work, but it had not been possible to find work for him. He had willingly taken part in activities. 3.     Mr Tolumov’s correspondence in prison 49 .     Mr Tolumov submitted that all letters from his legal representative before the Court were being opened and read by the prison administration. He also submitted that he had to hand over all letters to his legal representative to the prison administration without sealing the envelopes. The monitoring of his correspondence was proved by the letter “P” stamped on the back of each envelope. 50 .     In support of his allegations, Mr Tolumov submitted photocopies of the envelopes of three letters that he had sent to his legal representative in January, February and March 2012. They bear illegible postmarks and the word “checked” is stamped on the back of each one. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A.     Life imprisonment 1.     Historical note 51.     The Penal Act of 1896, which was the first comprehensive criminal-law enactment after Bulgaria was recreated as an autonomous State in 1878, made provision for life imprisonment as a form of custodial sentence (section 15(1)). Persons sentenced to life imprisonment could be released, for “good conduct”, if they had served at least fifteen years of their sentence (section   20(1) and (3)). 52 .     The Penal Act of 1951, which superseded the 1896 Act and in 1956 was renamed the Criminal Code, did not make provision for life imprisonment as a form of punishment. 2.     The sentencing system under the 1968 Criminal Code 53 .     Article 36 of the 1968 Criminal Code, which superseded the 1956 Criminal Code, defines the aims of criminal punishment. Paragraph 1 provides that punishment is imposed with a view to (a) reforming the convicted offender and rehabilitating him or her to comply with the law and good morals; (b) deterring the convict and preventing him or her from committing further offences; and (c) cautioning and deterring other members of society. Paragraph 2 states that punishment cannot be intended to cause physical suffering or humiliation of human dignity. 54 .     The various criminal penalties are listed in Article 37 of the Code, and Articles 38-52 specify the characteristics of those penalties. Until 1986 the longest possible custodial penalty was twenty years’ imprisonment (Article 39 §§ 2 and 3 of the Code, as worded between 1968 and 1986). In 1986 the maximum was increased to thirty years’ imprisonment. 55 .     Under Articles 37 § 2 and 38 of the Code, as worded before the abolition of capital punishment in December 1998, the courts could impose the death penalty only for particularly serious intentional offences and only if they were of the view that the punitive and deterrent purposes of criminal punishment could not be achieved by a lesser sentence. Under Article 38 § 4 of the Code, the death penalty could not be carried out until the President of the Republic had considered commuting it. 56 .     Until 1995 the harshest sentence after the death penalty was imprisonment for up to thirty years in exceptional cases (Article 39 § 2 of the Code, as worded after 1986). In 1995 a new penalty was introduced: life imprisonment ( доживотен затвор ), defined by the newly added Article   38a § 1 of the Code as “confinement of the convicted person in an incarceration facility until the end of his or her life”. That sentence may be commuted by a court to thirty years’ imprisonment after the convicted offender has served at least twenty years (Article 38a § 3 of the Code). 57 .     The last executions of persons sentenced to death were carried out in November 1989. Following a period of de facto moratorium on executions, Parliament imposed a formal moratorium on 20 July 1990. For more details on that point, and the ensuing debates concerning the abolition of the death penalty, see Iorgov v. Bulgaria (no. 40653/98, §§ 12-28, 11   March 2004). 58 .     The death penalty was abolished with effect from 27 December 1998. At the same time, a new penalty was introduced: whole life imprisonment ( доживотен затвор без замяна ). That penalty replaced capital punishment in the provisions of the 1968 Criminal Code dealing with specific offences. 59 .     Article 37 § 2 of the Code, as worded after the amendment, reads as follows: “The most serious offences, which threaten the foundations of the Republic, and other particularly serious intentional offences, shall, provisionally and exceptionally, be punishable by whole life imprisonment.” 60 .     Article 38 of the Code, as worded after the amendment, reads as follows: “1.     A whole life sentence ... shall be imposed only if the specific offence is particularly serious and the aims [of the punishment] laid down in Article 36 cannot be attained by means of a lesser penalty. 2.     A whole life sentence cannot be imposed on a person who at the time of the commission of the offence has not attained the age of 20 or, as regards persons serving in the armed forces or during a time of war, the age of 18. A whole life sentence cannot be imposed on a woman who was pregnant at the time of the commission of the offence or is pregnant at the time when the sentence is imposed.” 61 .     The relevant part of the explanatory note that accompanied the bill amending the Code reads as follows: “The bill proposes to replace the death penalty with a new penalty: whole life imprisonment, which differs from life imprisonment. This penalty will remove the prisoner from society, depriving him of the possibility of committing new offences, and the penalty will have a deterrent effect on other would-be offenders.” 62 .     The parliamentary debates on the bill took place on 27 November 1998 (first reading) and 10 December 1998 (second reading). 63 .     In the course of the first of those debates, a number of members of parliament spoke in favour of the abolition of the death penalty. At the same time, one member of parliament said that he would only support that proposal if it were accompanied by the introduction of whole life imprisonment. Misgivings were also expressed about the possibility that such a sentence could be overturned through the exercise of the presidential power of clemency. Another member of parliament pointed out that the public could hardly be regarded as being in favour of abolition and that society had to be assured that those who would be spared the death penalty would remain fully isolated from it. For his part, the Minister of Justice undertook to amend substantially the legislation relating to the execution of criminal punishments with a view to isolating those sentenced to whole life imprisonment and thus preventing them from committing offences in prison or enjoying comfortable conditions. He went on to say that the level of that isolation would have to be gauged carefully, so as not to infringe the human rights of those concerned. 64 .     In the course of the second of those debates, a member of parliament observed that it would be paradoxical to have two types of life sentence, but that he could accept it as a provisional state of affairs. He went on to say that in his view the presidential power of clemency could not be circumscribed by statute. However, another member of parliament said that arrangements had to be made, if need be by limiting the scope of the presidential power of clemency, to prevent those who, but for the amendment, would be sentenced to death from one day walking free. Another member of parliament expressed the view that the very wording of the new provisions of the Code would prevent the exercise of the presidential power of clemency with respect to persons serving a whole life sentence. 65 .     Accordingly, since the abolition of the death penalty the Code has provided for three types of custodial penalty: imprisonment for a fixed period of up to thirty years, life imprisonment with the possibility of commutation, and (whole) life imprisonment without the possibility of commutation. There is no offence which is punishable only by whole life imprisonment. 66 .     By two decrees of 25 January and 6 March 1999, the Vice-President of the Republic commuted all death sentences which had become final but had not been executed to either life imprisonment (in one case) or whole life imprisonment (in twenty-one cases). 3.     The sentencing system in the new draft of the Criminal Code 67 .     On 31 January 2014 the Government laid before Parliament a draft Criminal Code intended to supersede the 1968 Criminal Code. That draft Code does not envisage the penalty of whole life imprisonment; it only makes provision for life imprisonment. The relevant part of the draft reads as follows: Article 47 – Types of Penalties “... 2.     Particularly serious intentional offences are punishable by life imprisonment.” Article 48 – Life imprisonment “1.     Life imprisonment consists in the isolation of the convict until the end of his life in an incarceration facility. 2.     Life imprisonment shall be imposed where the offence is particularly serious compared with offences of the same kind and the aims of the punishment cannot be attained by means of a lesser penalty. 3.     Life imprisonment is not to be imposed on (a)     A person who has not reached 20 years of age at the time of the offence; (b)     A woman who was pregnant at the time o