PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 34907/05) 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 Leszek Hinczewski (“the applicant”), on 18 September 2005.

The applicant was represented by Mr J. Zaleski, a lawyer practising in Katowice. The Polish Government were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The applicant alleged, in particular, that he was prevented from voting in the 2005 Parliamentary Elections in Poland.

On 6 November 2007 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 (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Jastrzębie Zdrój. A The criminal proceedings

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 2 May 1990 the applicant was arrested by the police and detained on remand.

On 31 May 1991 the Katowice Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) convicted the applicant of homicide and sentenced him to twelve years' imprisonment and a fine, to be paid to a charity. The court also sentenced the applicant to four years' deprivation of his civic rights.

The applicant appealed. On 17 December 1991 the Katowice Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) dismissed his appeal.

The applicant served the twelve-year sentence during the following periods: from 2 May 1990 to 14 February 1993; from 17 February 1993 to 20 June 1993; from 18 September 1993 to 31 January 1995; from 12 April 1995 to 22 May 1999; and from 10 October 2001 to 6 March 2005.

On 22 September 1994 the applicant was convicted of burglary by the Dąbrowa Górnicza District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) and sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment. That judgment was partly upheld on appeal by the Katowice Regional Court on 22 December 1994. The applicant served this sentence between 7 May 2005 and 7 August 2007.

B. Elections

On 25 September 2005 the applicant, who was at that time serving his sentence in the Katowice Detention Centre, unsuccessfully attempted to vote in the parliamentary elections. On the same date he wrote a “declaration” in which he complained to the Katowice Local Electoral Commission (Obwodowa Komisja Wyborcza) about not being allowed to vote. The following handwritten note, accompanied by a stamp of the Katowice Local Electoral Commission and an illegible signature, was made on the applicant's declaration: “On 25 September 2005 Mr Leszek Hinczewski came to cast his vote. He did not vote, however, because he was still deprived of his civic rights and his name had been deleted from the list of voters. The Municipal Office was consulted and confirmed that it had been notified by the Katowice Regional Court [about the applicant's conviction in] case IVK 165/90. The date of notification: 22 August 2005.”

C. Monitoring of correspondence

On 9 July 2006 the applicant sent the Court a letter from the Sosnowiec Detention Centre. The envelope in which the letter was delivered to the Registry bears the following stamp: “Będzin District Court Censored” (Sąd Rejonowy w Będzinie Cenzurowano) and an illegible signature. An identical stamp “Bedzin District Court Censored” with an illegible signature can be found on the second page of the applicant's letter addressed to the Registrar. The envelope bears signs of having been opened: its right side has been cut open and then resealed with sellotape.

The applicant submitted that his letter from the Ombudsman had been interfered with by the authorities. He provided the original envelope in which the letter was delivered to him. The envelope bears the stamp of the sender, the Office of the Ombudsman in Warsaw, and is postmarked 27 July 2005. According to other stamps, it appears that the letter arrived at the Sosnowiec Detention Centre on 1 August 2005 (Areszt Śledczy w Sosnowcu), and was then sent to the Dabrowa Gornicza District Prosecutor (Prokuratura Rejonowa... Dabrowa Gornicza), who returned it to the Detention Centre on 11 August 2005. On the stamp of the Dabrowa Gornicza District Prosecutor there is a handwritten note: “Censored” (Ocenzurowano) and an illegible signature. The envelope bears signs of having been opened: the top has been cut open and then resealed with sellotape.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-100897_a4_e1
001-100897_a4_em1
CODE
DIRECT
34907/05
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-100897_a4_e2
001-100897_a4_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
ETHNIC
insert
001-100897_a4_e3
001-100897_a4_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish national
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-100897_a4_e4
001-100897_a4_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Leszek Hinczewski
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e5
001-100897_a4_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
18 September 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e6
001-100897_a4_em6
PERSON
QUASI
Mr J. Zaleski
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-100897_a4_e7
001-100897_a4_em7
LOC
NO_MASK
Katowice
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e8
001-100897_a4_em8
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-100897_a4_e9
001-100897_a4_em9
PERSON
NO_MASK
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e10
001-100897_a4_em10
ORG
NO_MASK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e11
001-100897_a4_em11
MISC
QUASI
2005 Parliamentary Elections
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-100897_a4_e12
001-100897_a4_em12
LOC
NO_MASK
Poland
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001-100897_a4_e13
001-100897_a4_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
6 November 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e14
001-100897_a4_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
1971
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e15
001-100897_a4_em15
LOC
QUASI
Jastrzębie Zdrój
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e16
001-100897_a4_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
2 May 1990
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e17
001-100897_a4_em17
DATETIME
QUASI
31 May 1991
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e18
001-100897_a4_em18
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e19
001-100897_a4_em19
DATETIME
QUASI
twelve years'
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001-100897_a4_e20
001-100897_a4_em20
DATETIME
QUASI
four years'
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001-100897_a4_e21
001-100897_a4_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
17 December 1991
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e22
001-100897_a4_em22
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny)
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001-100897_a4_e23
001-100897_a4_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
twelve-year
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e16
001-100897_a4_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
2 May 1990
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001-100897_a4_e24
001-100897_a4_em25
DATETIME
QUASI
14 February 1993
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001-100897_a4_e25
001-100897_a4_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
17 February 1993
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001-100897_a4_e26
001-100897_a4_em27
DATETIME
QUASI
20 June 1993
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001-100897_a4_e27
001-100897_a4_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
18 September 1993
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001-100897_a4_e28
001-100897_a4_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
31 January 1995
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001-100897_a4_e29
001-100897_a4_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
12 April 1995
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001-100897_a4_e30
001-100897_a4_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
22 May 1999
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e31
001-100897_a4_em32
DATETIME
QUASI
10 October 2001 to 6 March 2005
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001-100897_a4_e32
001-100897_a4_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
22 September 1994
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e33
001-100897_a4_em34
ORG
QUASI
Dąbrowa Górnicza District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e34
001-100897_a4_em35
DATETIME
QUASI
two years and three months
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e35
001-100897_a4_em36
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e36
001-100897_a4_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
22 December 1994
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e37
001-100897_a4_em38
DATETIME
QUASI
7 May 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e38
001-100897_a4_em39
DATETIME
QUASI
7 August 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e39
001-100897_a4_em40
DATETIME
QUASI
25 September 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-100897_a4_e40
001-100897_a4_em41
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e11
001-100897_a4_em42
MISC
QUASI
001-100897_a4_em11
parliamentary elections
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e41
001-100897_a4_em43
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Local Electoral Commission (Obwodowa Komisja Wyborcza)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e42
001-100897_a4_em44
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Local Electoral Commission
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e39
001-100897_a4_em45
DATETIME
QUASI
25 September 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e4
001-100897_a4_em46
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Leszek Hinczewski
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e43
001-100897_a4_em47
ORG
NO_MASK
Municipal Office
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e35
001-100897_a4_em48
ORG
QUASI
Katowice Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e44
001-100897_a4_em49
CODE
QUASI
case IVK 165/90
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e45
001-100897_a4_em50
DATETIME
QUASI
22 August 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e46
001-100897_a4_em51
DATETIME
QUASI
9 July 2006
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e47
001-100897_a4_em52
ORG
QUASI
Sosnowiec Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e48
001-100897_a4_em53
MISC
QUASI
“Będzin District Court Censored” (Sąd Rejonowy w Będzinie Cenzurowano)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e49
001-100897_a4_em54
MISC
QUASI
“Bedzin District Court Censored”
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e50
001-100897_a4_em55
ORG
NO_MASK
Ombudsman
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e51
001-100897_a4_em56
ORG
NO_MASK
Office of the Ombudsman
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e52
001-100897_a4_em57
LOC
NO_MASK
Warsaw
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e53
001-100897_a4_em58
DATETIME
QUASI
27 July 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-100897_a4_e47
001-100897_a4_em59
ORG
QUASI
Sosnowiec Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-100897_a4_e54
001-100897_a4_em60
DATETIME
QUASI
1 August 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e47
001-100897_a4_em61
ORG
QUASI
001-100897_a4_em59
Areszt Śledczy w Sosnowcu
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-100897_a4_e55
001-100897_a4_em62
ORG
QUASI
Dabrowa Gornicza District Prosecutor (Prokuratura Rejonowa... Dabrowa Gornicza)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-100897_a4_e56
001-100897_a4_em63
ORG
NO_MASK
Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e57
001-100897_a4_em64
DATETIME
QUASI
11 August 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
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001-100897_a4_e58
001-100897_a4_em65
ORG
QUASI
Dabrowa Gornicza District Prosecutor
Leszek Hinczewski
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Leszek Hinczewski