PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 23614/08) 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 two Polish nationals, Mr Henryk Urban and Mr Ryszard Urban (“the applicants”), on 17 March 2008.

The applicants, who had been granted legal aid, were represented by Mr Z. Cichoń, a lawyer practising in Cracow. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The applicants alleged that their case had not been heard by an “independent tribunal”.

On 30 June 2009 the Court decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (former Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, now Article 29 § 1).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicants were born in 1962 and 1960 respectively and live in Uherce Mineralne.

Both applicants were charged with the administrative offence (wykroczenie) of refusing to disclose their identity to the police. Henryk Urban (“the first applicant”) was also charged with using offensive language in a public place.

On 13 September 2006 the Lesko District Court, in summary proceedings, convicted the applicants as charged. They lodged an objection to the ruling. Consequently, their case was examined by the District Court in ordinary proceedings.

On two occasions the applicants requested the court to admit a certain Z.W. to the proceedings as a representative of a civil society organisation and/or their counsel. The District Court refused their requests as inadmissible in law. The second applicant was represented by legal-aid counsel.

On 7 November 2006 the first applicant filed a request for the withdrawal of all judges and “assessors” (junior judges) of the Lesko District Court on the ground that he had lost faith in them. On 21 December 2006 the Krosno Regional Court decided to exclude two Lesko District Court judges, J. Ł. and L. R.-S., from examining the first applicant's case as they had been victims and witnesses in an earlier criminal case against the first applicant. In respect of the other judges and assessors of the Lesko District Court, the applicant's request was dismissed. The Regional Court held that the general dissatisfaction of the first applicant with the decisions given by the District Court in his cases had not undermined the impartiality of those judges and assessors.

On 29 December 2006 the District Court decided to examine the two applicants' cases jointly.

On 31 August 2007 the first applicant requested that the assessor (asesor sądowy) B. R.-G. withdraw from the case on the ground that she had not accepted a medical certificate excusing his mother from attending a hearing. On 24 September 2007 the Lesko District Court, sitting as a single judge, dismissed the first applicant's request as ill-founded and prompted only by his subjective assessment of the assessor.

On 2 October 2007 the Lesko District Court, sitting as an assessor, gave judgment. Both applicants were convicted of failing to disclose their identity to the police and sentenced to a fine of PLN 100. The first applicant was acquitted of the other charge.

The applicants appealed. They objected, inter alia, to the fact that their case had been decided by an assessor, alleging that she was not a judge. They referred to the Constitutional Court's judgment of 24 October 2007 and submitted that the assessor could not exercise judicial powers because she did not offer sufficient guarantees of independence.

On 10 December 2007 the Krosno Regional Court upheld the District Court's judgment. It considered the applicants' objections to the composition of the first-instance court, based on the Constitutional Court's judgment, unfounded. No further appeal lay against the Regional Court's judgment.

According to the Government, the applicants did not question the ability of an assessor to give judgments, but they alleged that the particular assessor who had judged them had not been impartial. The applicants referred to the assessor as an institution only after the Constitutional Court's judgment, in the supplement to their appeal.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e1
001-101962_a6_em1
CODE
DIRECT
23614/08
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-101962_a6_e2
001-101962_a6_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e3
001-101962_a6_em3
DEM
QUASI
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e4
001-101962_a6_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Henryk Urban
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e5
001-101962_a6_em5
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Ryszard Urban
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e6
001-101962_a6_em6
DATETIME
QUASI
17 March 2008
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e7
001-101962_a6_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Z. Cichoń
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e8
001-101962_a6_em8
LOC
QUASI
Cracow
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e2
001-101962_a6_em9
ORG
NO_MASK
001-101962_a6_em2
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e9
001-101962_a6_em10
PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e10
001-101962_a6_em11
DATETIME
QUASI
30 June 2009
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e11
001-101962_a6_em12
DATETIME
QUASI
1962
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e12
001-101962_a6_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
1960
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e13
001-101962_a6_em14
LOC
QUASI
Uherce Mineralne
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-101962_a6_e4
001-101962_a6_em15
PERSON
DIRECT
001-101962_a6_em4
Henryk Urban
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-101962_a6_e14
001-101962_a6_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
13 September 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em17
ORG
QUASI
Lesko District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em18
ORG
NO_MASK
001-101962_a6_em17
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-101962_a6_e16
001-101962_a6_em19
PERSON
QUASI
Z.W.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em20
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e17
001-101962_a6_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
7 November 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em22
ORG
QUASI
Lesko District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e18
001-101962_a6_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
21 December 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e19
001-101962_a6_em24
ORG
QUASI
Krosno Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em25
ORG
QUASI
Lesko District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e20
001-101962_a6_em26
PERSON
QUASI
J. Ł.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e21
001-101962_a6_em27
PERSON
QUASI
L. R.-S.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em28
ORG
QUASI
Lesko District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e19
001-101962_a6_em29
ORG
NO_MASK
001-101962_a6_em24
Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em30
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e22
001-101962_a6_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
29 December 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em32
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e23
001-101962_a6_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
31 August 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-101962_a6_e24
001-101962_a6_em34
PERSON
QUASI
assessor (asesor sądowy) B. R.-G.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e25
001-101962_a6_em35
DATETIME
QUASI
24 September 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em36
ORG
QUASI
Lesko District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e26
001-101962_a6_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
2 October 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em38
ORG
QUASI
Lesko District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-101962_a6_e27
001-101962_a6_em39
QUANTITY
QUASI
PLN 100
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e28
001-101962_a6_em40
ORG
NO_MASK
Constitutional Court's
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e29
001-101962_a6_em41
DATETIME
QUASI
24 October 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e30
001-101962_a6_em42
DATETIME
QUASI
10 December 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e19
001-101962_a6_em43
ORG
QUASI
Krosno Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-101962_a6_e15
001-101962_a6_em44
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e28
001-101962_a6_em45
ORG
NO_MASK
Constitutional Court's
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e31
001-101962_a6_em46
ORG
NO_MASK
Regional Court's
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-101962_a6_e28
001-101962_a6_em47
ORG
NO_MASK
Constitutional Court's
Henryk Urban
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Henryk Urban