PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 38227/02) 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 Marcin Harazin (“the applicant”), on 2 October 2002.

The applicant was represented by Mr W. Hermeliński, a lawyer practising in Warsaw. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 4 May 2004 the Court decided to communicate the application 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 1979 and lives in Tychy.

On 13 July 2000 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of having committed burglary.

On 15 July 2000 the Tychy District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered that the applicant be remanded in custody for a period of three months in view of the strong suspicion that he had committed five counts of burglary. It considered that there was a reasonable risk that the applicant would tamper with evidence, given the fact that he had only partly confessed. Further, the court referred to the risk that the applicant might obstruct the proper conduct of the proceedings by going into hiding. In that regard, the court relied on evidence from one of the applicant’s co-suspects, who had stated that, shortly before having been arrested, the applicant had tried to leave for Germany in order to evade serving a sentence of imprisonment which had been previously imposed on him. Finally, the court had regard to the severity of the anticipated penalty.

Subsequently, the applicant was charged with 8 counts of burglary. He confessed to 2 counts.

On 30 January 2001 the District Prosecutor terminated the investigation. On the same day he filed a bill of indictment with the Tychy District Court. The applicant had been indicted on 8 charges of burglary and one charge of assault. There were 6 other defendants in the case. The prosecution asked the court to hear evidence from 42 witnesses.

From 1 June 2001 to 19 December 2002 the trial court listed 10 hearings (for 1 June, 6 July, 9 November and 7 December 2001 and 30 January, 20 March, 17 May, 17 July, 27 September and 19 December 2002). All those hearings were cancelled for various reasons, usually because the police had failed to bring the accused from prison.

The trial began on 17 January 2003. The subsequent hearings were held on 30 January, 21 February and 20 and 21 March 2003. At the hearing held on the latter date the District Court fined 5 witnesses who had failed to appear.

The District Court several times prolonged the applicant’s detention, holding that there was a reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences in question and that, given his attempt to leave Poland and the resultant risk that he might go into hiding or tamper with evidence, as well as the fact that he had only partly confessed, keeping him in custody was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings. The court also relied on the serious nature of the charges against the applicant and the severity of the anticipated penalty. Lastly, the court had regard to the fact that the applicant had a previous conviction.

The relevant decisions were given on 12 October 2000 (prolonging his detention until 5 January 2001), on 28 December 2000 (ordering his continued detention until 13 February 2001), on 8 February 2001 (extending his detention until 13 May 2001), on 10 May 2001 (prolonging that period until 13 August 2001), on 10 August 2001 (ordering his continued detention until 13 November 2001), on 5 November 2001 (extending his detention until 13 February 2002), on 13 February 2002 (prolonging his detention until 13 May 2002) and on 13 May 2002 (ordering his continued detention until 7 July 2002).

In its decision of 10 April 2002 dismissing the applicant’s appeal against the prolongation of his detention, the Katowice Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) instructed the District Court to take determined measures with a view to speedily terminating the trial.

On 14 June 2002 the District Court made an application to the Katowice Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) pursuant to Article 263 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Kodeks postępowania karnego), asking for the applicant’s detention to be prolonged beyond the statutory time-limit of 2 years. The court stressed that, due to the complex nature of the case, it had so far been impossible for it to open the trial and that the applicant should be kept in custody since the grounds originally given for his detention were still valid.

On 26 June 2002 the Court of Appeal prolonged the applicant’s detention until 30 December 2002. It relied on the same grounds as previously invoked by the District Court. It noted that the applicant had attempted to flee the country. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal considered that the trial court had not been responsible for the delays incurred in the proceedings to date. In this respect, it referred, inter alia, to the fact that 7 hearings had been cancelled since the police had failed to bring the accused from prison. On the other hand, it considered that prolongation of the applicant’s detention until 30 December 2002 would give the District Court sufficient time to conclude the proceedings, provided that it accelerated its examination of the case.

On 14 November 2002 the Tychy District Court made yet another application under Article 263 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, asking the Court of Appeal to prolong the applicant’s detention until 30 June 2003. It stressed that it had still been impossible for it to begin the trial and that the grounds previously given for keeping the applicant in custody were still valid.

On 27 November 2002 the Court of Appeal partly granted the application and ordered that the applicant be held in custody until 31 March 2003. It drew the District Court’s attention to the fact that it had not stated any concrete reasons to justify the fact that the proceedings had not been terminated within the time-limit of 2 years specified in Article 263 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In the Court of Appeal’s view, the laconic statement of the District Court that the trial had not been concluded for reasons which could not be attributed to it, was not sufficient. The Court of Appeal also criticised the fact that between June 2002 and 30 December 2002 the District Court had listed only two hearings. A hearing scheduled for 17 July 2002 was cancelled because not all of the victims had been properly summoned, while the hearing listed for 27 September 2002 was cancelled due to the holiday of one of the counsel. The Court of Appeal further noted that on 6 November 2002 a new judge had been assigned to the case. However, it noted that the District Court had not taken any significant measures aimed at concluding the proceedings, as had been indicated in the earlier decisions of the Regional Court and the Court of Appeal. It lastly stressed that the case was not particularly complex and suggested that the District Court should properly organise the trial and terminate it by the end of March 2003.

The applicant was released on 21 March 2003. All the applicant’s earlier applications for release and appeals against decisions prolonging his detention had been to no avail.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-71942_a2_e1
001-71942_a2_em1
CODE
DIRECT
38227/02
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correct
001-71942_a2_e2
001-71942_a2_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
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001-71942_a2_e3
001-71942_a2_em3
DEM
QUASI
Polish
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001-71942_a2_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Marcin Harazin
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001-71942_a2_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
2 October 2002
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PERSON
QUASI
Mr W. Hermeliński
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LOC
QUASI
Warsaw
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ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
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PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
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001-71942_a2_em10
DATETIME
QUASI
4 May 2004
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DATETIME
QUASI
1979
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LOC
QUASI
Tychy
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DATETIME
QUASI
13 July 2000
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DATETIME
QUASI
15 July 2000
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ORG
QUASI
Tychy District Court
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ORG
QUASI
001-71942_a2_em15
Sąd Rejonowy
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DATETIME
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three months
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QUANTITY
QUASI
five counts
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LOC
QUASI
Germany
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QUANTITY
QUASI
8 counts
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QUANTITY
QUASI
2 counts
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DATETIME
NO_MASK
30 January 2001
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ORG
QUASI
District Prosecutor
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ORG
QUASI
Tychy District Court
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001-71942_a2_e23
001-71942_a2_em25
QUANTITY
QUASI
8 charges
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001-71942_a2_e24
001-71942_a2_em26
QUANTITY
QUASI
one charge
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001-71942_a2_e25
001-71942_a2_em27
QUANTITY
QUASI
6 other defendants
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001-71942_a2_em28
QUANTITY
QUASI
42 witnesses
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DATETIME
QUASI
1 June 2001
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QUASI
19 December 2002
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001-71942_a2_e29
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QUANTITY
QUASI
10 hearings
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001-71942_a2_e30
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DATETIME
QUASI
1 June
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6 July
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QUASI
9 November and 7 December 2001
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30 January, 20 March
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17 May
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17 July
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27 September
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QUASI
19 December 2002
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17 January 2003
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30 January
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21 February
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DATETIME
QUASI
20 and 21 March 2003
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ORG
QUASI
District Court
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QUANTITY
QUASI
5 witnesses
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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correct
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LOC
QUASI
Poland
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001-71942_a2_e44
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DATETIME
QUASI
12 October 2000
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QUASI
5 January 2001
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28 December 2000
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13 February 2001
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8 February 2001
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13 May 2001
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10 May 2001
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QUASI
13 August 2001
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QUASI
10 August 2001
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13 November 2001
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5 November 2001
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13 February 2002
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13 February 2002
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13 May 2002
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13 May 2002
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7 July 2002
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DATETIME
QUASI
10 April 2002
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ORG
QUASI
Katowice Regional Court
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ORG
QUASI
001-71942_a2_em65
Sąd Okręgowy
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001-71942_a2_em67
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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DATETIME
QUASI
14 June 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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ORG
QUASI
Katowice Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_em71
ORG
QUASI
001-71942_a2_em70
Sąd Apelacyjny
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001-71942_a2_em72
DATETIME
QUASI
2 years
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DATETIME
QUASI
26 June 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_e65
001-71942_a2_em75
DATETIME
QUASI
30 December 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_e66
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QUANTITY
QUASI
7 hearings
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DATETIME
QUASI
30 December 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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DATETIME
QUASI
14 November 2002
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ORG
QUASI
Tychy District Court
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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DATETIME
QUASI
30 June 2003
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DATETIME
QUASI
27 November 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_e70
001-71942_a2_em87
DATETIME
QUASI
31 March 2003
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001-71942_a2_e41
001-71942_a2_em88
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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001-71942_a2_e62
001-71942_a2_em89
DATETIME
QUASI
2 years
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_e41
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_e71
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DATETIME
QUASI
between June 2002
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001-71942_a2_e65
001-71942_a2_em94
DATETIME
QUASI
30 December 2002
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001-71942_a2_em95
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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001-71942_a2_e72
001-71942_a2_em96
QUANTITY
QUASI
two hearings
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17 July 2002
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QUASI
27 September 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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DATETIME
QUASI
6 November 2002
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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001-71942_a2_e76
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ORG
NO_MASK
Regional Court
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001-71942_a2_e64
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ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
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001-71942_a2_e41
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ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
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001-71942_a2_e77
001-71942_a2_em105
DATETIME
QUASI
end of March 2003
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21 March 2003
Marcin Harazin
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Marcin Harazin