PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 38713/06) 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 Marcin Bereza (“the applicant”), on 18 September 2006.

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

The applicant alleged, in particular, that his detention had exceeded a “reasonable time” within the meaning of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.

On 7 February 2007 the President of the Fourth Section of the Court decided to give notice of the application to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it was decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1972 and lives in Warsaw.

On 18 December 2003 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of murder, extortion, robbery and drug trafficking committed while acting as part of an organised criminal group.

On 23 December 2003 the Warsaw District Court remanded him in custody, relying on the reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences in question. The court indicated that the evidence gathered in the case, in particular the witnesses’ testimonies, showed that there was a strong probability that the applicant had committed the crimes he was suspected of. It attached importance to the serious nature of those offences and the likelihood of a severe sentence of imprisonment being imposed on the applicant. It further considered that keeping the applicant in detention was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings, given the risk that he might tamper with evidence, induce witnesses to give false testimony or go into hiding. In this connection the court stressed that an order for the applicant’s arrest had been issued on 4 September 2000.

The applicant’s appeal against the detention order, likewise his further appeals against some of the decisions extending his detention and all his subsequent applications for release and appeals against refusals to release him, were unsuccessful. In his applications and appeals, he argued that his lengthy detention violated the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In the course of the investigation, the applicant’s detention was extended on several occasions, namely on 15 March 2004 (to 17 August 2004), 2 August 2004 (to 17 December 2004), 10 December 2004 (to 2 July 2005) and 7 June 2005 (to 31 October 2005). In all their detention decisions the authorities relied on the original grounds given for the applicant’s detention. The courts stressed that due to the complexity of the case and the large volume of evidence the preparatory proceedings had still not been completed.

On 17 October 2005 a bill of indictment was lodged with the Warsaw Regional Court. There were 57 defendants in the case, all charged with numerous counts of attempted murder, extortion, robbery, drug trafficking, theft, illegal possession of firearms, battery and forgery committed in an organised criminal group. In the bill of indictment the prosecutor requested the court to hear evidence from 435 witnesses, including 5 key witnesses, and to take another 627 pieces of evidence listed therein.

During the court proceedings the authorities further extended the applicant’s detention pending trial on several occasions, namely on 6 October 2005 (to 18 December 2005), 6 December 2005 (to 28 April 2006), 25 April 2006 (to 31 October 2006), 27 October 2006 (to 28 February 2007), 23 February 2007 (to 23 July 2007), 17 July 2007 (to 12 December 2007) and on 19 November 2007 (to 19 March 2008). The courts repeated the grounds previously given for the applicant’s continued detention. They relied especially on the complexity of the case and the large number of co-accused.

On 3 April 2006 the trial court held the first hearing. It subsequently held some 85 hearings in the case. The proceedings before the Warsaw Regional Court are still pending.

On an unspecified date in September 2006 the applicant made a written request to the Warsaw Regional Court for the appointment of a new lawyer on the ground that he did not “trust” G.R, his court-appointed defence counsel.

On 21 September 2006 G.R. informed the Head of Warsaw Regional Court that the applicant claimed to have lost trust in him as his defence counsel and asked the court to decide whether he should still represent the applicant. It transpires from the file that G.R. remained the applicant’s defence counsel.

On 4 March 2008 the applicant was released from Detention Centre.