PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 10816/02) 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 Piotr Kozimor (“the applicant”), on 22 December 2000.

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

On 6 September 2005 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate the complaints concerning the length of the applicant's pre-trial detention, lack of equality of arms in the proceedings for prolonging his pre-trial detention and the censorship of his correspondence 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.

On 23 September 2005 the applicant's sister, Mrs Renata Kozimor, informed the Court's Registry that the applicant had died on 12 August 2005. She stated that she wished to continue the proceedings before the Court in her late brother's stead.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1971 and lived in Przemyśl, Poland.

1. The criminal proceedings

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.

Subsequently, the applicant's pre-trial detention was prolonged on several occasions, in particular at the hearing held on 5 November 1998.

On 21 December 1998 the Przemyśl Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) convicted the applicant of homicide and sentenced him to 25 years' imprisonment.

On 29 April 1999 the Court of Appeal quashed the impugned judgment and remitted the case.

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.”

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.”

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.

On 12 April 2000 the trial court held the first hearing. Subsequently, ten hearings were held.

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.

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.

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.

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).

On 28 February 2002 the Supreme Court dismissed his cassation appeal as being manifestly ill-founded.

2. The monitoring of the applicant's correspondence

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 hand‑written note: censo., 21.03.2001 (cenzu. 21.03.01).

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 hand‑written note: censored, 1 [February 20]01 (cenzurowano, 7.02.01) and an illegible signature.

The applicant also submitted that his correspondence with his court‑appointed 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.