PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 18157/04) 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 Paweł Kurczewski (“the applicant”), on 7 May 2004.

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

On 4 May 2006 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate the complaint concerning the excessive length of the applicant's detention 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 Gdańsk.

On 16 April 2002 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of having committed robbery.

On 17 April 2002 the Gdańsk District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) remanded him in custody until 16 July 2002 on reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offence in question. The court also considered that keeping the applicant in detention was justified by the existence of strong and substantial evidence, in particular testimonies of a victim and witnesses. It also gave as a ground for detention the severity of the likely sentence. Further, the court considered that, given the risk that the applicant might tamper with evidence, in particular intimidate witnesses, keeping him in detention was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the investigation.

On 13 May 2002, following an appeal by the applicant, the Gdańsk Regional Court upheld that decision.

The applicant's further appeals against decisions extending his detention and all his subsequent, numerous applications for release and appeals against refusals to release him, were unsuccessful.

In the course of the investigation, the applicant's detention was extended on four occasions. The relevant decisions were given by the Gdańsk District Court on 15 July and 15 October 2002, and later on 15 January and 10 April 2003.

In all their detention decisions the authorities repeatedly relied on the original grounds given for the applicant's detention. They also attached importance to the need to extend the investigation in the light of new charges against the applicant, and to obtain fresh evidence, in particular evidence from experts.

On 25 March 2003 the applicant was indicted before the Gdańsk District Court. He was charged with robbery and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. The bill of indictment concerned five defendants and, in all, twelve charges were brought against them. The prosecution asked the court to hear evidence from around forty witnesses. Further, the bill of indictment included fifty items of evidence to be produced at the hearing.

On 5 June 2003 the trial court held the first hearing. It subsequently scheduled sixteen hearings in the case. Four of them were cancelled for various reasons.

In particular, it appears that no hearing took place between 14 August 2003 and 15 January 2004. Hearings scheduled for 9 October and 11 December 2003 were cancelled due to, among other things, the failure to bring the co-accused to trial from prison, and the fact that a hearing scheduled for 6 November 2003 had to be cancelled because a trial judge was on mission.

During the court proceedings the court ordered several expert opinions.

In the meantime, the authorities further extended the applicant's detention pending trial on many occasions.

The relevant decisions were given on the following dates.

At a hearing on 9 October 2003 the Gdańsk District Court extended the applicant's detention until 15 January 2004. Subsequently, on 11 March 2004 it extended his detention until 15 April 2004. Since on 16 April 2004 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), further extension of his detention was ordered by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny). On 23 March 2004 it extended his detention until 30 June 2004. The next decision was given by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal on 29 June 2004, when it extended his detention until 15 August 2004. In all those decisions the courts stated that the grounds originally given for the applicant's detention were still valid. They repeated the grounds previously given for his continued detention.

All the appeals and applications for release lodged by the applicant were to no avail.

On 28 July 2004 the Gdańsk District Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to four years' imprisonment.

The applicant appealed on 7 December 2004. His detention was subsequently extended on several occasions.

The appellate hearings scheduled for 12 October and 12 December 2005 and 2 February 2006 were cancelled for various reasons, such as illness or absence of defence lawyers, and the need to obtain evidence.

On 3 February 2006 the Gdańsk Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) quashed the applicant's detention order. He was released on the same date.

It appears that the first-instance judgment was upheld by the Gdańsk Regional Court on 11 July 2007.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-84576_a4_e1
001-84576_a4_em1
CODE
DIRECT
18157/04
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-84576_a4_e2
001-84576_a4_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
ETHNIC
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DEM
NO_MASK
Polish national
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PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Paweł Kurczewski
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001-84576_a4_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
7 May 2004
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001-84576_a4_em6
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
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001-84576_a4_em7
PERSON
NO_MASK
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
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001-84576_a4_em8
ORG
NO_MASK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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001-84576_a4_em9
DATETIME
QUASI
4 May 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-84576_a4_em10
DATETIME
QUASI
1979
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correct
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001-84576_a4_em11
LOC
QUASI
Gdańsk
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DATETIME
QUASI
16 April 2002
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DATETIME
QUASI
17 April 2002
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001-84576_a4_em14
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
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001-84576_a4_e15
001-84576_a4_em15
DATETIME
QUASI
16 July 2002
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001-84576_a4_e16
001-84576_a4_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
13 May 2002
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ORG
QUASI
001-84576_a4_em48
Gdańsk Regional Court
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ORG
QUASI
001-84576_a4_em14
Gdańsk District Court
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001-84576_a4_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
15 July and 15 October 2002
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DATETIME
QUASI
15 January and 10 April 2003
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001-84576_a4_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
25 March 2003
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ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk District Court
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DATETIME
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5 June 2003
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14 August 2003
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15 January 2004
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DATETIME
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9 October and 11 December 2003
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6 November 2003
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001-84576_a4_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
9 October 2003
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ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk District Court
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001-84576_a4_em30
DATETIME
NO_MASK
15 January 2004
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DATETIME
QUASI
11 March 2004
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DATETIME
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15 April 2004
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16 April 2004
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DATETIME
NO_MASK
two years
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001-84576_a4_em35
ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny)
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001-84576_a4_em36
DATETIME
QUASI
23 March 2004
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001-84576_a4_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
30 June 2004
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ORG
QUASI
001-84576_a4_em35
Gdańsk Court of Appeal
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001-84576_a4_em39
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29 June 2004
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15 August 2004
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DATETIME
QUASI
28 July 2004
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ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk District Court
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DATETIME
NO_MASK
four years'
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001-84576_a4_em44
DATETIME
QUASI
7 December 2004
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001-84576_a4_em45
DATETIME
NO_MASK
12 October and 12 December 2005
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2 February 2006
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3 February 2006
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ORG
QUASI
Gdańsk Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy)
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Gdańsk Regional Court
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DATETIME
QUASI
11 July 2007
Paweł Kurczewski
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Paweł Kurczewski