PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 14450/02) 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 Maciej Maksym (“the applicant”), on 25 April 2000.

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

On 9 May 2006 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate ex officio the issue of the possible monitoring of the applicant's correspondence to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Gliwice, Poland.

A. The criminal proceedings against the applicant

The applicant was the owner of a company in Gdańsk (Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości i Inwestycji w Gdańsku). On 8 April 1999 he was arrested on suspicion of fraud. On 10 April 1999 the Gdańsk District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered his detention on remand.

On 21 May 1999 the applicant began serving a 3 years and 10 months' prison sentence, which resulted from another conviction.

On 9 January 2000 the Gdańsk District Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months' imprisonment.

On 18 October 2001 the Gdańsk Regional Court upheld the applicant's conviction.

On 9 May 2002 the applicant was again arrested on suspicion of fraud. On 10 May 2002 the Olsztyn District Court ordered his detention on remand. On 16 September 2002 the Olsztyn District Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to 3 years' imprisonment.

Upon the applicant's appeal, the Olsztyn Regional Court amended the first‑instance judgment on 30 January 2003. The applicant filed a cassation appeal. On 1 March 2004 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant's cassation appeal as manifestly ill‑founded.

B. The monitoring of the applicant's correspondence

At the time of lodging his application with the Court the applicant had been detained on remand in the course of criminal proceedings against him. At the same time, as of 21 May 1999 he was serving a prison sentence imposed in the course of another set of criminal proceedings against him.

On 6 June 2000, the Registry of the Court received the applicant's letter dated 12 April 2000. Both the letter and the envelope bear a stamp “Censored on... judge” and no signature (Cenzurowano dn... sędzia.). The envelope had been opened and then sealed with adhesive tape.

On 13 February 2001, the Registry of the Court received another letter from the applicant (dated 29 December 2000). It was delivered in an envelope bearing a stamp “Censored on ... judge” and no signature (Cenzurowano dn... sędzia.). It also bears a red stamp “Remand Centre in Gdańsk” (Areszt Śledczy w Gdańsku).

On 25 June 2001, the Registry of the Court received another letter from the applicant, dated 24 July 2000 (sent on 13 June 2001). It was delivered in an envelope bearing a stamp “Censored on... judge” and no signature (Cenzurowano dn... sędzia.). The envelope had been sealed with adhesive tape. It also bears a handwritten note: “letter admitted to transport sealed with adhesive tape” (list przyjęty do przewozu oklejony taśmą).
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-78580_a1_e1
001-78580_a1_em1
CODE
DIRECT
14450/02
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-78580_a1_e2
001-78580_a1_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
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insert
001-78580_a1_e3
001-78580_a1_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish
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001-78580_a1_e4
001-78580_a1_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Maciej Maksym
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001-78580_a1_e5
001-78580_a1_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
25 April 2000
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-78580_a1_e6
001-78580_a1_em6
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
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001-78580_a1_e7
001-78580_a1_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
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001-78580_a1_e8
001-78580_a1_em8
DATETIME
QUASI
9 May 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-78580_a1_e9
001-78580_a1_em9
DATETIME
QUASI
1971
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001-78580_a1_e10
001-78580_a1_em10
LOC
QUASI
Gliwice, Poland
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correct
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001-78580_a1_em11
LOC
NO_MASK
Gdańsk
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001-78580_a1_e12
001-78580_a1_em12
ORG
QUASI
Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości i Inwestycji w Gdańsku
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001-78580_a1_e13
001-78580_a1_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
8 April 1999
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001-78580_a1_e14
001-78580_a1_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
10 April 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-78580_a1_e15
001-78580_a1_em15
ORG
NO_MASK
Gdańsk District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
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001-78580_a1_e16
001-78580_a1_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
21 May 1999
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001-78580_a1_em17
DATETIME
QUASI
3 years and 10 months
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001-78580_a1_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
9 January 2000
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001-78580_a1_e19
001-78580_a1_em19
ORG
NO_MASK
Gdańsk District Court
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001-78580_a1_e20
001-78580_a1_em20
DATETIME
QUASI
3 years and 6 months
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001-78580_a1_e21
001-78580_a1_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
18 October 2001
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001-78580_a1_e22
001-78580_a1_em22
ORG
NO_MASK
Gdańsk Regional Court
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001-78580_a1_e23
001-78580_a1_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
9 May 2002
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001-78580_a1_e24
001-78580_a1_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
10 May 2002
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001-78580_a1_e25
001-78580_a1_em25
ORG
QUASI
Olsztyn District Court
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001-78580_a1_e26
001-78580_a1_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
16 September 2002
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001-78580_a1_em27
ORG
QUASI
Olsztyn District Court
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001-78580_a1_e27
001-78580_a1_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
3 years
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001-78580_a1_e28
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ORG
QUASI
Olsztyn Regional Court
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001-78580_a1_e29
001-78580_a1_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
30 January 2003
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001-78580_a1_e30
001-78580_a1_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
1 March 2004
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001-78580_a1_e31
001-78580_a1_em32
ORG
NO_MASK
Supreme Court
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001-78580_a1_e16
001-78580_a1_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
21 May 1999
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001-78580_a1_e32
001-78580_a1_em34
DATETIME
QUASI
6 June 2000
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001-78580_a1_e33
001-78580_a1_em35
ORG
NO_MASK
Registry of the Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-78580_a1_e34
001-78580_a1_em36
DATETIME
QUASI
12 April 2000
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DATETIME
QUASI
13 February 2001
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001-78580_a1_e36
001-78580_a1_em38
DATETIME
QUASI
29 December 2000
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001-78580_a1_e11
001-78580_a1_em39
LOC
NO_MASK
Gdańsk
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001-78580_a1_em40
LOC
NO_MASK
Gdańsku
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001-78580_a1_e38
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DATETIME
QUASI
25 June 2001
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001-78580_a1_em42
ORG
NO_MASK
Registry of the Court
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001-78580_a1_e39
001-78580_a1_em43
DATETIME
QUASI
24 July 2000
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DATETIME
QUASI
13 June 2001
Maciej Maksym
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Maciej Maksym