PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 38007/02) 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 Artur Warsiński (“the applicant”), on 3 October 2002.

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

On 29 November 2006 the President of the Fourth Section of the Court decided to communicate to the Government the complaint concerning the issue of the possible monitoring of the applicant's correspondence. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it was decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

A. The criminal proceedings against the applicant

The applicant, Mr Artur Warsiński, is a Polish national who was born in 1976 and lives in Bytów.

The applicant was charged with drug trafficking and detained on remand from 6 April 2002 to 21 May 2004. He was detained in the Słupsk Detention Centre.

On 28 May 2003 the Słupsk Regional Court found the applicant guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment. The applicant appealed.

On 30 December 2003 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal amended the judgment and sentenced the applicant to two years and four months' imprisonment. The judgment is final.

B. The monitoring of the applicant's correspondence

On 3 October 2002 the applicant sent a letter to the European Court of Human Rights. It was received by the Court on 21 October 2002. It bears a stamp “censored on” (cenzurowano dnia ...), a handwritten date “2 October” and an illegible signature. The envelope also bears a stamp of the Słupsk Regional Court.

On 4 December 2002 the applicant sent another letter to the European Court of Human Rights. It was received by the Court on 17 December 2002. It bears a stamp “censored on”, a handwritten date “4 December” and an illegible signature. The envelope also bears a stamp of the Słupsk Regional Court.

It also appears that both envelopes had been cut open and resealed with adhesive tape.

The applicant submitted a photocopy of an envelope sent to him on 24 October 2002 by the Court. It bears a stamp “censored on”, a handwritten date “31 October 2002” and an illegible signature. The envelope also bears a stamp of the Słupsk Regional Court. The applicant claimed that he had received the letter in an opened envelope.

The applicant also produced a photocopy of an envelope sent to him on 22 November 2002 by “Amnesty International”. It bears a stamp “censored”, a handwritten date “28 November 2002” and an illegible signature. The envelope also bears a stamp of the Słupsk Detention Centre, with a date of receipt (25 November 2002) and a stamp of the Słupsk Regional Court.

Lastly, the applicant submitted a photocopy of an envelope sent to him on 28 November 2002 by “Transparency International - Polska”. It bears a stamp “censored”, a handwritten date “3 December” and an illegible signature. The envelope also bears a stamp of the Słupsk Detention Centre, with a date of receipt (2 December 2002) and a stamp of the Słupsk Regional Court.

On 12 June 2003 the applicant sent a letter to the Słupsk Regional Court in which he complained about censorship of his correspondence.

On 30 June 2003 he received a letter from the President of the Słupsk Regional Court informing him that, according to the information obtained from the Criminal Department of the Słupsk Regional Court, the applicant's correspondence had not been censored. He further stated that the applicant's correspondence had been stamped “censored” by mistake.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e1
001-83747_a1_em1
CODE
DIRECT
38007/02
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-83747_a1_e2
001-83747_a1_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-83747_a1_e3
001-83747_a1_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e4
001-83747_a1_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Artur Warsiński
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e5
001-83747_a1_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
3 October 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-83747_a1_e6
001-83747_a1_em6
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e7
001-83747_a1_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e8
001-83747_a1_em8
DATETIME
QUASI
29 November 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e4
001-83747_a1_em9
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Artur Warsiński
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e3
001-83747_a1_em10
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e9
001-83747_a1_em11
DATETIME
QUASI
1976
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e10
001-83747_a1_em12
LOC
QUASI
Bytów
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e11
001-83747_a1_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
6 April 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e12
001-83747_a1_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
21 May 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-83747_a1_e13
001-83747_a1_em15
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e14
001-83747_a1_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
28 May 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em17
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-83747_a1_e16
001-83747_a1_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
three years
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e17
001-83747_a1_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
30 December 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e18
001-83747_a1_em20
ORG
NO_MASK
Gdańsk Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-83747_a1_e19
001-83747_a1_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
two years and four months
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e5
001-83747_a1_em22
DATETIME
QUASI
3 October 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e20
001-83747_a1_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
21 October 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e21
001-83747_a1_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
2 October
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em25
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e22
001-83747_a1_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
4 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e23
001-83747_a1_em27
DATETIME
QUASI
17 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e24
001-83747_a1_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
4 December
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em29
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e25
001-83747_a1_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
24 October 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e26
001-83747_a1_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
31 October 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em32
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e27
001-83747_a1_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
22 November 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-83747_a1_e28
001-83747_a1_em34
ORG
QUASI
Amnesty International
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e29
001-83747_a1_em35
DATETIME
QUASI
28 November 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e13
001-83747_a1_em36
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e30
001-83747_a1_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
25 November 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em38
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e29
001-83747_a1_em39
DATETIME
QUASI
28 November 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-83747_a1_e31
001-83747_a1_em40
ORG
QUASI
Transparency International - Polska
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e32
001-83747_a1_em41
DATETIME
QUASI
3 December
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e13
001-83747_a1_em42
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e33
001-83747_a1_em43
DATETIME
QUASI
2 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em44
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e34
001-83747_a1_em45
DATETIME
QUASI
12 June 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em46
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e35
001-83747_a1_em47
DATETIME
QUASI
30 June 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e15
001-83747_a1_em48
ORG
QUASI
Słupsk Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-83747_a1_e36
001-83747_a1_em49
ORG
QUASI
Criminal Department of the Słupsk Regional Court
Artur Warsiński
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Artur Warsiński