PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 48247/06) 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 Grzegorz Dublas (“the applicant”), on 10 November 2006.

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

The applicant alleged, inter alia, that the length of his pre-trial detention and of criminal proceedings against him had exceeded a “reasonable time” within the meaning of Articles 5 § 3 and 6 § 1 of the Convention.

On 30 August 2007 the President of the Fourth Section decided to communicate the complaints concerning the length of the applicant’s pre‑trial detention and of his criminal proceedings to the Government. It was also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3 of the Convention).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1972 and lives in Pruszcz Gdański.

On 8 June 2004 he was arrested by the police.

On 9 June 2004 the Gdańsk District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) decided to place the applicant in pre-trial detention as there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that he had been dealing in drugs. The court also cited the risk that the applicant would go into hiding, in view of the likelihood of a heavy sentence.

On 2 September and 4 November 2004 the applicant’s detention was extended. In addition to the two grounds given previously, the District Court cited the need to ensure the proper conduct of the investigation.

On 26 October 2004 the applicant was indicted before the Gdańsk District Court. His pre-trial detention was subsequently extended.

As the length of the applicant’s detention had reached the statutory time‑limit of two years laid down in Article 263 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Kodeks postępowania karnego), the District Court made a series of applications to the Gdańsk Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) for the applicant’s detention to be extended beyond that term. On 18 May and 17 August 2006 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal granted the applications and extended his detention, citing the reasonable suspicion against the applicant and the length of the sentence that was likely to be imposed. The Court also considered that the District Court could not be held responsible for not having completed the trial as there had been objective procedural difficulties in hearing all the witnesses.

The first hearing was held on 21 January 2005. Subsequently, hearings were held at regular intervals.

The applicant’s applications for release from detention and his appeals against the decisions extending the preventive measure were dismissed.

On 17 October 2006 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal extended the applicant’s detention until 20 November 2006. It cited the reasonable suspicion against the applicant and found that detention was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings given the likelihood of a heavy sentence.

The applicant’s detention on remand was not extended beyond that date and on 20 November 2006 he was released.

On 4 August 2006 the applicant lodged a complaint under section 5 of the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (Ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki) (“the 2004 Act”). On 3 November 2006 the Gdańsk Regional Court dismissed the complaint, finding that the trial had been conducted speedily and with no periods of inactivity.

The proceedings are still pending before the trial court.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e1
001-88721_a1_em1
CODE
DIRECT
48247/06
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-88721_a1_e2
001-88721_a1_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e3
001-88721_a1_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e4
001-88721_a1_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Grzegorz Dublas
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e5
001-88721_a1_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
10 November 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e6
001-88721_a1_em6
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e7
001-88721_a1_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e8
001-88721_a1_em8
DATETIME
QUASI
30 August 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e9
001-88721_a1_em9
DATETIME
QUASI
1972
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e10
001-88721_a1_em10
LOC
QUASI
Pruszcz Gdański
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e11
001-88721_a1_em11
DATETIME
QUASI
8 June 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e12
001-88721_a1_em12
DATETIME
QUASI
9 June 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e13
001-88721_a1_em13
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e14
001-88721_a1_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
2 September
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e15
001-88721_a1_em15
DATETIME
QUASI
4 November 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e13
001-88721_a1_em16
ORG
NO_MASK
001-88721_a1_em13
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e16
001-88721_a1_em17
DATETIME
QUASI
26 October 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e17
001-88721_a1_em18
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e18
001-88721_a1_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
two years
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e13
001-88721_a1_em20
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e19
001-88721_a1_em21
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e20
001-88721_a1_em22
DATETIME
QUASI
18 May
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e21
001-88721_a1_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
17 August 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-88721_a1_e19
001-88721_a1_em24
ORG
QUASI
001-88721_a1_em21
Gdańsk Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e13
001-88721_a1_em25
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e22
001-88721_a1_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
21 January 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e23
001-88721_a1_em27
DATETIME
QUASI
17 October 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e19
001-88721_a1_em28
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e24
001-88721_a1_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
20 November 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e24
001-88721_a1_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
20 November 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e25
001-88721_a1_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
4 August 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e26
001-88721_a1_em32
DATETIME
QUASI
3 November 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-88721_a1_e27
001-88721_a1_em33
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk Regional Court
Grzegorz Dublas
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Grzegorz Dublas