PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 49913/99) 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, Mr Sławomir Zielonka (“the applicant”), on 2 March 1998.

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

The applicant alleged, under Article 5 § 1 that his detention from 21 to 24 February 1998 had been unlawful.

The application was allocated to the Second 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.

By a decision of 26 April 2005 the Court declared the application admissible.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1954 and lives in Łódź.

On 21 November 1997 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of receiving and selling stolen goods.

On 22 November 1997 the Łódź District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered that the applicant be detained on remand until 21 February 1998. The court referred to the strong probability of the applicant’s guilt and to the high risk of his hindering the proper conduct of the proceedings. The court also emphasised that it was likely that the applicant, if released, would go into hiding.

By a decision of 24 February 1998, the Łódź District Court prolonged the applicant’s detention on remand until 21 September 1998. The court considered that the reasons for which the detention had been ordered continued to exist. The decision was served on the applicant on 25 February 1998.

The applicant appealed, claiming that keeping him in custody between 21 February 1998 and 24 February 1998 had been unlawful since there had been no valid judicial decision authorising his detention.

On 25 March 1998 the Łódź Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) dismissed the applicant’s appeal as unsubstantiated. However, the court altered the decision of 24 February 1998 and prolonged the applicant’s detention on remand until 30 June 1998, finding that the case had not been complex and that the evidence against the applicant pointed to his guilt.

In a letter of 28 April 1998, the Łódź District Court admitted its mistake and confirmed that there had been no valid judicial decision authorising the applicant’s detention on remand between 21 February 1998 and 24 February 1998. It added that this period would be deducted from any sentence of imprisonment eventually imposed on the applicant.

On 5 June 1998 the Łódź District Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to 3 years’ imprisonment.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e1
001-70889_a4_em1
CODE
DIRECT
49913/99
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e2
001-70889_a4_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
ETHNIC
insert
001-70889_a4_e3
001-70889_a4_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish national
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e4
001-70889_a4_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Sławomir Zielonka
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e5
001-70889_a4_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
2 March 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-70889_a4_e6
001-70889_a4_em6
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e7
001-70889_a4_em7
PERSON
NO_MASK
Mr K. Drzewicki
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e8
001-70889_a4_em8
PERSON
NO_MASK
Mr. J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-70889_a4_e9
001-70889_a4_em9
ORG
NO_MASK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e10
001-70889_a4_em10
DATETIME
QUASI
24 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e11
001-70889_a4_em11
DATETIME
QUASI
26 April 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e12
001-70889_a4_em12
DATETIME
QUASI
1954
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-70889_a4_e13
001-70889_a4_em13
LOC
QUASI
Łódź
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e14
001-70889_a4_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
21 November 1997
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e15
001-70889_a4_em15
DATETIME
QUASI
22 November 1997
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-70889_a4_e16
001-70889_a4_em16
ORG
QUASI
Łódź District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e17
001-70889_a4_em17
DATETIME
QUASI
21 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e10
001-70889_a4_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
24 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-70889_a4_e16
001-70889_a4_em19
ORG
QUASI
001-70889_a4_em16
Łódź District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e18
001-70889_a4_em20
DATETIME
QUASI
21 September 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e19
001-70889_a4_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
25 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-70889_a4_e17
001-70889_a4_em22
DATETIME
QUASI
21 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e10
001-70889_a4_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
24 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e20
001-70889_a4_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
25 March 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-70889_a4_e21
001-70889_a4_em25
ORG
QUASI
Łódź Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e10
001-70889_a4_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
24 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e22
001-70889_a4_em27
DATETIME
QUASI
30 June 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e23
001-70889_a4_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
28 April 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e16
001-70889_a4_em29
ORG
QUASI
Łódź District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e17
001-70889_a4_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
21 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e10
001-70889_a4_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
24 February 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e24
001-70889_a4_em32
DATETIME
QUASI
5 June 1998
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e16
001-70889_a4_em33
ORG
QUASI
Łódź District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-70889_a4_e25
001-70889_a4_em34
DATETIME
NO_MASK
3 years’
Sławomir Zielonka
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Sławomir Zielonka