CASE OF KOZIMOR v. POLAND
Violation of Art. 8
Nicolas Bratza
5. The applicant was born in 1971 and lived in Przemyśl, Poland. 6. On 14 August 1997 the applicant was arrested by the police. On 15 August 1997 the Przemyśl District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) decided to detain the applicant on remand in view of the reasonable suspicion that he had committed a homicide. 7. Subsequently, the applicant's pre-trial detention was prolonged on several occasions, in particular at the hearing held on 5 November 1998. 8. On 21 December 1998 the Przemyśl Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) convicted the applicant of homicide and sentenced him to 25 years' imprisonment. 9. On 29 April 1999 the Court of Appeal quashed the impugned judgment and remitted the case. 10. On 2 June 1999 the Przemyśl Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) decided to prolong the applicant's pre-trial detention. The court gave the following reasons: “Prolongation of the applicant's detention on remand is justified by the fact that the applicant has been accused of homicide.” 11. On 24 February 2000 the Przemyśl Regional Court dismissed the applicant's request for release. The reasons of the decision are as follows: “[The applicant] has been accused of having committed [a homicide] and the original reasons for keeping him in detention are still valid.” 12. On 3 March 2000 the Przemyśl Regional Court further prolonged the applicant's pre-trial detention. The court found that keeping the applicant in detention was necessary because he had been charged with homicide and the trial court had started the process of obtaining expert evidence. 13. On 12 April 2000 the trial court held the first hearing. Subsequently, ten hearings were held. 14. On 2 June and 29 August 2000 the applicant's pre-trial detention was prolonged as the courts considered that the necessity to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings and the severity of the anticipated penalty justified keeping him in custody. 15. On 14 September 2000 the Rzeszów Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's appeal against the decision of 29 August 2000. The applicant submits that neither he nor his lawyer was informed about the majority of scheduled court sessions at which his detention on remand was prolonged and that he was not allowed to attend any of these sessions. 16. On 28 December 2000 the Rzeszów Regional Court gave judgment. The court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to 25 years' imprisonment. The applicant appealed. 17. On 17 May 2001 the Rzeszów Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) amended the impugned judgment. The court sentenced the applicant to 15 years' imprisonment. The applicant lodged a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy). 18. On 28 February 2002 the Supreme Court dismissed his cassation appeal as being manifestly ill-founded. 19. On 28 February 2001 the Court's Registry sent to the applicant, who at that time had been detained on remand in the Przemyśl Detention Centre, an application form and accompanying documents in reply to his letter in which he had notified his intention to lodge a complaint with the Court. The Court's envelope delivered to the applicant bears the stamp: Rzeszów Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy w Rzeszowie) and a handwritten note: censo., 21.03.2001 (cenzu. 21.03.01). 20. The envelope from the Chancellery of the Senate of the Republic of Poland of 30 January 2001 bears the same stamp as above and a handwritten note: censored, 1 [February 20]01 (cenzurowano, 7.02.01) and an illegible signature. 21. The applicant also submitted that his correspondence with his courtappointed lawyer had been censored by the authorities of the Przemyśl Detention Centre. He provided an envelope addressed to his lawyer which bears the following stamps: the Rzeszów Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy w Rzeszowie), a hand-written note: censored, 19 [July 20]00 (cenzurowano, 19.07.2000) and an illegible signature. The envelope was posted on 19 July 2000. The second envelope, also addressed to his lawyer, bears the same stamp of the Regional Court, a date: 1.02.2001 and an illegible signature. The third envelope was addressed to the applicant by his lawyer. The envelope, posted on 26 January 2001, bears the following stamps: the Przemyśl Prison 29.01.2001 (Zakład Karny w Przemyślu), the Rzeszów Regional Court, 1.02.2001, and an illegible signature. 22. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1997, which entered into force on 1 September 1998, defines detention on remand as one of the socalled “preventive measures” (środki zapobiegawcze). Article 249 § 5 provides that the lawyer of a detained person should be informed of the date and time of court sessions at which a decision is to be taken concerning prolongation of detention on remand. 23. A more detailed rendition of the relevant domestic law provisions is set out in the Court's judgments in Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 75, ECHR 2000XI, and Celejewski v. Poland, no. 17584/04, §§ 22 and 23, 4 May 2006. 24. Rules relating to means of controlling correspondence of persons involved in criminal proceedings are set out in the Code of Execution of Criminal Sentences (Kodeks karny wykonawczy) (“the 1997 Code”) which entered into force on 1 September 1998. Article 102 (11) of the 1997 Code provides that convicted persons are entitled to uncensored correspondence with the State authorities and with the Ombudsman. The relevant part of Article 103 § 1 of the Code provides as follows: “Convicts (...) have a right to lodge complaints with institutions established by international treaties ratified by the Republic of Poland concerning the protection of human rights. Correspondence in those cases (...) shall be sent to the addressee without delay and shall not be censored.” Pursuant to Article 214 § 1, “Unless exceptions are provided for in the present Chapter, a detainee shall enjoy at least the same rights as are secured to a convicted person serving a sentence of imprisonment under the ordinary regime in a closed prison....” Article 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that a person detained on remand has a right to communicate freely with his lawyer. A prosecutor may order the control of the detainee's correspondence with his lawyer; however, such measure cannot be maintained longer than 14 days after the detention order has been imposed. For a more detailed rendition of the relevant domestic law provisions, see the Court's judgments in Michta v. Poland, no. 13425/02, § 33, 4 May 2006 and Kwiek v. Poland, no. 51895/99, § 23, 30 May 2006.