PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 20315/04) 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 Sławomir Wierzba (“the applicant”), on 17 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 complaints concerning the excessive length of the applicant’s detention and the length of criminal proceedings to the Government. It also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1980 and lives in Gdańsk.

A. Criminal proceedings against the applicant and his detention on remand

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 robbery and had attempted to escape. 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 collude with other co‑accused, keeping him in detention was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the investigation.

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 relied on the reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed the offence with which he had been charged and on the risk that he might go into hiding. As regards the latter, the court stressed that the applicant had already attempted to escape.

On 25 March 2003 the applicant was indicted before the Gdańsk District Court. 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 applicant 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.

In the course of the trial, the court ordered several expert opinions.

During the proceedings the applicant’s detention was extended on several occasions. At a hearing held on 9 October 2003 the Gdańsk District Court extended the applicant’s detention until 15 January 2004. On 15 January 2004 the court ordered that the term should be prolonged until 15 March 2004. On 11 March 2004 it ordered that the applicant be kept in custody 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.

In the course of the investigation and the court proceedings the applicant made numerous, but unsuccessful, applications for release and appealed, likewise unsuccessfully, against refusals to release him and against decisions extending his detention.

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

The first-instance judgment was upheld by the Gdańsk Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) on 11 July 2007.

In the meantime, between 3 October 2002 and 5 January 2005 the applicant served prison sentences which had been imposed on him in other criminal proceedings.

B. Proceedings under the 2004 Act

On 15 December 2004 the applicant lodged a complaint under section 5 of the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (Ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki) (“the 2004 Act”). He sought a ruling declaring that the length of the proceedings before the Gdańsk District Court had been excessive and an award of just satisfaction in the amount of 10,000 Polish zlotys (PLN).

On 11 February 2005 the Gdańsk Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s complaint. Since the first-instance judgment in the case had been given before the 2004 Act came into force, the Gdańsk Regional Court examined only the conduct of the appellate proceedings and found no delays for which the relevant court could be held responsible.