PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 34611/97) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Polish national, Zbigniew Dacewicz (“the applicant”), on 25 March 1996.

The applicant, who had been granted legal aid, was represented by Mr Hermeliński, a lawyer practising in Warsaw. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr K. Drzewicki, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The applicant alleged, in particular, that after having been arrested he had not been brought before a “judge” or “officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power”, as required under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.

The application was transmitted to the Court on 1 November 1998, when Protocol No. 11 to the Convention came into force (Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11).

The application was allocated to the Fourth Section of the Court (Rule 52 § 1 of the Rules of Court). Within that Section, the Chamber that would consider the case (Article 27 § 1 of the Convention) was constituted as provided in Rule 26 § 1 of the Rules of Court.

By a decision of 21 June 2001 the Court declared the application admissible.

On 1 November 2001 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1). This case was assigned to the newly composed Fourth Section.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1955 and lives in Biała Podlaska, Poland.

On 2 January 1996 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of having committed burglary. On 4 January 1996 he was brought before U. Ś.-O., a district prosecutor from the Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor's Office (Prokuratura Rejonowa), charged with two counts of burglary and detained on remand in view of the reasonable risk that he might obstruct the proper conduct of the proceedings.

On 5 January 1996 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Biała Podlaska District Court (Sąd Rejonowy), maintaining that his detention was unlawful because the detention order had been made by the prosecutor, who did not have the attributes of a “judge” required under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention. The court deemed the complaint to be an appeal against the detention order of 4 January 1996. It examined it as such and dismissed it on 18 January 1996. The court considered that the applicant should be detained because there was a reasonable risk that he might obstruct the proper conduct of the proceedings.

Subsequently, in January and February 1996, the applicant complained to the Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor and the Ombudsman (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) that, after having been arrested, he had not been brought before a judge but before the prosecutor, who had not been authorised by law to exercise judicial power.

On 21 February 1996 the Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor replied to that complaint, stating that, under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as they stood at the material time, the prosecutor had a power to detain him on remand; however, under the amendments to Polish criminal legislation, which were to enter into force on 4 August 1996, only the courts of law could impose detention on remand.

On 27 March 1996 the Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor lodged a bill of indictment with the Biała Podlaska District Court.

On 23 June 1996 the court gave judgment and convicted the applicant of dealing with stolen goods.

On 17 July 1996 the applicant complained to the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) that, after having been arrested, he had not been brought before a judge but before the Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor.

On 30 July 1996 the Case-law Department of the Supreme Court replied to the applicant's complaint in the following way: “ ... Under Article 210 § 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a court imposes preventive measures after a bill of indictment has been lodged with that court; beforehand - a prosecutor [imposes such measures]. It thus follows that your doubts as to the imposition of detention [in your case] are unreasonable. Article 5 § 5 of the Convention clearly states that everyone detained shall be brought promptly before a judge – or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power. Under [the relevant] legislation, a prosecutor is such an officer. ...”
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e1
001-60559_a6_em1
CODE
DIRECT
34611/97
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-60559_a6_e2
001-60559_a6_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e2
001-60559_a6_em3
DEM
QUASI
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e3
001-60559_a6_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Zbigniew Dacewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e4
001-60559_a6_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
25 March 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e5
001-60559_a6_em6
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Hermeliński
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e6
001-60559_a6_em7
LOC
QUASI
Warsaw
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-60559_a6_e2
001-60559_a6_em8
ORG
NO_MASK
001-60559_a6_em2
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e7
001-60559_a6_em9
PERSON
QUASI
Mr K. Drzewicki
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e8
001-60559_a6_em10
DATETIME
QUASI
21 June 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e9
001-60559_a6_em11
DATETIME
QUASI
1955
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e10
001-60559_a6_em12
LOC
QUASI
Biała Podlaska, Poland
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e11
001-60559_a6_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
2 January 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e12
001-60559_a6_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
4 January 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-60559_a6_e13
001-60559_a6_em15
ORG
QUASI
U. Ś.-O.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-60559_a6_e14
001-60559_a6_em16
ORG
QUASI
Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor's
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e15
001-60559_a6_em17
DATETIME
QUASI
5 January 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e16
001-60559_a6_em18
ORG
QUASI
Biała Podlaska District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e12
001-60559_a6_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
4 January 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e17
001-60559_a6_em20
DATETIME
QUASI
18 January 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-60559_a6_e18
001-60559_a6_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
January and February 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-60559_a6_e14
001-60559_a6_em22
ORG
QUASI
001-60559_a6_em16
Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e19
001-60559_a6_em23
ORG
NO_MASK
Ombudsman
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-60559_a6_e19
001-60559_a6_em24
ORG
NO_MASK
001-60559_a6_em23
Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e20
001-60559_a6_em25
DATETIME
QUASI
21 February 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-60559_a6_e14
001-60559_a6_em26
ORG
QUASI
Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e2
001-60559_a6_em27
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e21
001-60559_a6_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
4 August 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e22
001-60559_a6_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
27 March 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e14
001-60559_a6_em30
ORG
NO_MASK
001-60559_a6_em26
District Prosecutor
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e16
001-60559_a6_em31
ORG
QUASI
Biała Podlaska District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e23
001-60559_a6_em32
DATETIME
QUASI
23 June 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e24
001-60559_a6_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
17 July 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e25
001-60559_a6_em34
ORG
NO_MASK
Supreme Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e14
001-60559_a6_em35
ORG
QUASI
Biała Podlaska District Prosecutor
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e26
001-60559_a6_em36
DATETIME
QUASI
30 July 1996
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-60559_a6_e27
001-60559_a6_em37
ORG
NO_MASK
Case-law Department of the Supreme Court
Zbigniew Dacewicz
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Zbigniew Dacewicz