PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 51895/99) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Polish national, Mr Bogdan Kwiek (“the applicant”), on 17 August 1998.

The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agents, Mr K. Drzewicki and subsequently, Ms S. Jaczewska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The applicant alleged, in particular, that the authorities had violated his right to respect for correspondence guaranteed under Article 8.

The application was transmitted to the Court on 1 November 1998, when Protocol No. 11 to the Convention came into force (Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11).

The application was allocated to the Fourth Section of the Court (Rule 52 § 1 of the Rules of Court). Within that Section, the Chamber that would consider the case (Article 27 § 1 of the Convention) was constituted as provided in Rule 26 § 1.

On 17 June 2003 the Court declared the application partly admissible. 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 1 November 2004 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1). This case was assigned to the newly composed Fourth Section (Rule 52 § 1).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1968 and lives in Chełm, Poland.

On 10 September 1994 the applicant began serving a sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment that he had received for robbery on an unknown date.

On 16 December 1994 the Lublin Regional Prosecutor (Prokurator Rejonowy) charged him with homicide. On the same day the prosecutor also ordered that the applicant be detained on remand.

At the beginning of December 1995 the Regional Prosecutor lodged a bill of indictment with the Lublin Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki). The applicant was indicted on charges of homicide, aggravated robbery and possessing a firearm and ammunition without a licence.

On 11 August 2000 the Lublin Regional Court convicted him of armed robbery and possessing a firearm and ammunition without a licence.

On 26 April 2001, on the applicant’s appeal, the Lublin Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) partly amended the first-instance judgment.

The applicant did not file a cassation appeal (kasacja) with the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyzszy).

A. The monitoring of the applicant’s correspondence

The applicant produced 6 envelopes. Some of them contain letters. All envelopes bear traces of having been opened after having been sealed; their sides were cut open and, in some instances, resealed with adhesive paper tape.

On an unknown date in December 1997 the applicant wrote a letter to his defence counsel. The envelope bears stamps: “Censored” (“cenzurowano”) and “ 1997-12-9”.

On 17 July 1998 the applicant’s defence counsel sent a letter to him. The envelope bears a stamp that reads: “Censored. R[egional] C[ourt] Lublin”. A hand written note indicates that on 21 July 1998 the letter was received at the Regional Court’s registry and posted to the applicant on the same day.

On 28 September 1998 a letter that the applicant received from the Constitutional Court was opened and stamped “censored” by the Lublin Regional Court.

On 21 October and 9 November 1998 the Regional Court opened and stamped “censored” 2 letters sent to the applicant by a certain O.K., his sister-in-law (“O.K.”).

On 15 April 1999 the Regional Court opened and censored a letter sent to the applicant by the Court’s Registry on 6 April 1999. In that letter the registry informed the applicant that his defence counsel had been asked to provide more detailed information of his trial. A copy of the registry’s letter to the counsel – which, in addition to the request for information, contained an explanation as to why the applicant’s complaint about the length of detention lacked prospects of success – was enclosed with that letter.