PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 18390/02) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Polish national, Mr Dariusz Nowak (“the applicant”), on 11 April 2002.

The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 29 January 2006 the President of the Fourth Section of the Court decided to communicate the application to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it was decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility. The President of the Chamber also decided that in the interests of the proper administration of justice, the proceedings in the present case should be conducted simultaneously with those in the cases of Michalak v. Poland and Owczar v. Poland (applications nos. 16864/02 and 34117/02) (Rule 42 § 2 of the Rules of Court).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Brzeg.

On 21 May 1999 the Brzeg District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) issued a “wanted” notice in respect of the applicant and several other men in connection with an investigation into allegations made by six women, some of whom were minors, that a group of several men had raped them, threatened them, beaten them and forced them to take drugs. The warrant for arrest was issued after the prosecution service had established that the applicant had gone into hiding and the police had unsuccessfully attempted to arrest him.

On 21 July 1999 the police attempted to arrest the applicant. However he managed to escape trying in the process to run over police officers while driving away. Two other men sought under the arrest warrant issued in connection with the same investigation were apprehended and arrested.

On 9 August 1999 the applicant was arrested by the police. At the time of arrest he was in possession of a firearm and a forged identification document. On 13 August 1999 the Opole District Court ordered that the applicant be remanded in custody in view of the reasonable suspicion that he had committed the following offences: repeated group rape with aggravated cruelty while acting in an organised criminal gang; leading an organised gang; supplying minor victims with drugs; forging an identification document; and destroying a police car. The court also found that, given that he had absconded in the past, there was a risk that the applicant might go into hiding again and try to influence the victims.

The applicant appealed against the decision ordering his detention on remand but his appeal was dismissed on 3 September 1999 by the Opole Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy).

On 18 October 1999 the Opole Regional Court prolonged the applicant's detention relying on the reasonable suspicion of his having committed the offences and on the complexity of the investigation which had not yet been terminated by the prosecutor.

On 13 December 1999 the court decided that the applicant's detention should be prolonged. It considered that, in addition to the strong suspicion against the applicant, the severity of the sentence that might be imposed and the risk of his tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses justified holding him in custody. In addition, the court relied on the risk that, given that he had absconded in the past, he might go into hiding again. The court also observed that only detention on remand would secure the applicant's appearance at the trial.

On 16 December 1999 the applicant was indicted before the Opole Regional Court. It appears that the first hearing was held on 26 April 2000. In 2000 the trial court held in total 13 hearings.

Subsequently, the applicant's detention was prolonged by decisions of 12 June and 13 November 2000 and 15 May 2001. The decisions were based on the reasons given for his detention on previous occasions.

Afterwards, as the length of the applicant's detention had reached the statutory time‑limit of 2 years laid down in Article 263 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Kodeks postępowania karnego), the Regional Court applied to the Wrocław Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) asking for the applicant's detention to be prolonged beyond that term. On 28 June 2001 the Wrocław Court of Appeal allowed the application and prolonged his pre‑trial detention. The Court of Appeal based its decision on the reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed serious offences and on the risk that he might interfere with the course of justice. The court further considered that the complexity of the case constituted a special circumstance justifying his remaining in custody.

On 7 November 2001 the Wrocław Court of Appeal again decided to prolong the pre-trial detention of the applicant, finding that the initial reasons for the detention were still valid. Furthermore, the court examined the course of the proceedings before the Opole Regional Court and agreed that the case was particularly complex and time-consuming, given the number of accused and the considerable amount of evidence which had to be examined. It considered that the trial court had acted diligently as it had taken evidence from nineteen witnesses during the last seven hearings.

On 13 February 2002 the Court of Appeal prolonged the applicant's detention until 15 May 2002. The court noted that the applicant had been detained on remand for a long time. However, it considered that the particular circumstances of the case justified keeping him in custody until 15 May 2002 by which time the trial should have been completed.

Nevertheless, the trial court again applied to prolong the applicant's detention. On 8 May 2002 the Court of Appeal granted the application. However, it criticised the Regional Court for the delay in the case and requested the trial court “to take adequate and more intensive action to finish the trial”. The court further took into account that the accused were partly responsible for the length of the proceedings because they had lodged vexatious applications for new evidence to be heard and had not complied with time-limits for filing new submissions.

The applicant's numerous applications for release and appeals against decisions prolonging his detention were to no avail.

The Opole Regional Court held 23 hearings in 2001 and 21 hearings in 2002. On 31 July 2002 the Opole Regional Court gave a judgment in which it found the applicant guilty of several counts of repeated group rape with aggravated cruelty and false imprisonment committed while acting in an organised criminal gang. The applicant was also convicted of administering an unknown psychotropic substance to some of the victims and use of a forged identity document. The court acquitted the applicant of being the leader of the organised criminal gang. The applicant was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment. The applicant and other co‑accused appealed.

On 2 June 2003 the Wrocław Court of Appeal gave a judgment. It amended the first-instance judgment with respect to the applicant reducing his prison sentence to 10 years and 8 months. The applicant lodged a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy).

On 11 March 2005 the Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeal as manifestly ill-founded.
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001-82290_a2_e1
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CODE
DIRECT
18390/02
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correct
001-82290_a2_e2
001-82290_a2_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
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DEM
QUASI
Polish
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001-82290_a2_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Dariusz Nowak
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001-82290_a2_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
11 April 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
001-82290_a2_em2
Polish Government
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001-82290_a2_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
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001-82290_a2_em8
DATETIME
QUASI
29 January 2006
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001-82290_a2_e8
001-82290_a2_em9
MISC
QUASI
Michalak v. Poland and Owczar v. Poland
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insert
001-82290_a2_e9
001-82290_a2_em10
CODE
QUASI
16864/02
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001-82290_a2_e10
001-82290_a2_em11
CODE
QUASI
34117/02
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001-82290_a2_e11
001-82290_a2_em12
DATETIME
QUASI
1971
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001-82290_a2_em13
LOC
QUASI
Brzeg
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001-82290_a2_e13
001-82290_a2_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
21 May 1999
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001-82290_a2_e14
001-82290_a2_em15
ORG
QUASI
Brzeg District Court
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001-82290_a2_e14
001-82290_a2_em16
ORG
QUASI
001-82290_a2_em15
Sąd Rejonowy
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001-82290_a2_e15
001-82290_a2_em17
QUANTITY
QUASI
six women
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001-82290_a2_e16
001-82290_a2_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
21 July 1999
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001-82290_a2_e17
001-82290_a2_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
9 August 1999
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001-82290_a2_e18
001-82290_a2_em20
DATETIME
QUASI
13 August 1999
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001-82290_a2_e19
001-82290_a2_em21
ORG
QUASI
Opole District Court
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001-82290_a2_em22
DATETIME
QUASI
3 September 1999
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ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
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ORG
QUASI
001-82290_a2_em23
Sąd Okręgowy
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001-82290_a2_em25
DATETIME
QUASI
18 October 1999
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001-82290_a2_em26
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
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001-82290_a2_em27
DATETIME
QUASI
13 December 1999
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001-82290_a2_e24
001-82290_a2_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
16 December 1999
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001-82290_a2_em29
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
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001-82290_a2_e25
001-82290_a2_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
26 April 2000
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001-82290_a2_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
2000
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001-82290_a2_e27
001-82290_a2_em32
QUANTITY
QUASI
13 hearings
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001-82290_a2_e28
001-82290_a2_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
12 June
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001-82290_a2_e29
001-82290_a2_em34
DATETIME
QUASI
13 November 2000
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001-82290_a2_e30
001-82290_a2_em35
DATETIME
QUASI
15 May 2001
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001-82290_a2_e31
001-82290_a2_em36
DATETIME
QUASI
2 years
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001-82290_a2_e32
001-82290_a2_em37
ORG
NO_MASK
Regional Court
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ORG
QUASI
Wrocław Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em39
ORG
QUASI
001-82290_a2_em38
Sąd Apelacyjny
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001-82290_a2_e34
001-82290_a2_em40
DATETIME
QUASI
28 June 2001
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001-82290_a2_em41
ORG
QUASI
Wrocław Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em42
ORG
NO_MASK
001-82290_a2_em38
Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em43
DATETIME
QUASI
7 November 2001
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001-82290_a2_em44
ORG
QUASI
Wrocław Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em45
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
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DATETIME
QUASI
13 February 2002
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001-82290_a2_em47
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em48
DATETIME
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15 May 2002
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001-82290_a2_em49
DATETIME
QUASI
15 May 2002
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001-82290_a2_em50
DATETIME
QUASI
8 May 2002
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001-82290_a2_em51
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em52
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
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001-82290_a2_em53
QUANTITY
QUASI
23 hearings
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001-82290_a2_em54
DATETIME
QUASI
2001
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QUANTITY
QUASI
21 hearings
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001-82290_a2_e42
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DATETIME
QUASI
2002
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DATETIME
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31 July 2002
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001-82290_a2_em58
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
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001-82290_a2_em59
DATETIME
QUASI
11 years
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001-82290_a2_em60
DATETIME
QUASI
2 June 2003
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001-82290_a2_em61
ORG
QUASI
Wrocław Court of Appeal
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001-82290_a2_em62
DATETIME
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10 years
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001-82290_a2_em63
DATETIME
QUASI
8 months
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001-82290_a2_em64
ORG
QUASI
Supreme Court
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001-82290_a2_e48
001-82290_a2_em65
ORG
NO_MASK
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Sąd Najwyższy
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001-82290_a2_e49
001-82290_a2_em66
DATETIME
QUASI
11 March 2005
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001-82290_a2_e48
001-82290_a2_em67
ORG
QUASI
Supreme Court
Dariusz Nowak
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Dariusz Nowak