Source: http://echr.ketse.com/doc/13732.03-en-20051018/view/
Timestamp: 2020-07-11 19:51:56
Document Index: 224658939

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application no. 13732', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 12', '§ 12']

OSINSKI v. POLAND
OSINSKI v. POLAND About Project
Application no. 13732/03
by Przemysław OSIŃSKI
Having regard to the above application lodged on 24 March 2003,
The applicant, Mr Przemysław Osiński, is a Polish national who was born in 1973 and lives in Gdańsk.
On 31 March 1999 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery. On 1 April 1999 the Gdańsk District Court remanded him in custody for a period of three months in view of the reasonable suspicion that he had committed armed robbery, having regard to evidence obtained in the course of the investigation. It further held that there was a reasonable risk that the applicant might abscond and attempt to induce witnesses to give false testimonies.
On 24 June 1999 the Gdańsk Regional Court prolonged the applicant’s detention until 30 September 1999. It found that the prolongation was justified by the need to obtain and secure evidence from many sources and interrogate a number of other persons who could be charged together with the applicant.
On 15 September 1999 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal extended the applicant’s detention until 31 December 1999. It found that it was highly probable that he had committed the offence in question. It also relied on the need to obtain various expert reports. Lastly, it held that the severity of the anticipated penalty justified the prolongation of the applicant’s detention.
Later, several other persons were detained and charged in connection with the same investigation conducted by the Department of Organised Crime of the Gdańsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The applicant was charged with the commission of 35 robberies and armed robberies.
On 8 December 1999 the Court of Appeal ordered that the applicant be kept in custody pending investigation until 30 March 2000. It relied on the reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed the offences with which he had been charged. In that respect, it referred to evidence given by A.Ł., a member of the same criminal group, who acted as a witness against the other suspects. The Court of Appeal further relied on the need to obtain and secure evidence, in particular from experts in ballistics, biology and fingerprints. It stressed that it was also necessary to hold a reconstruction of the crime and to confront the suspects with each other. It also considered that the scale and the nature of the offences in question justified the applicant’s continued detention.
On 30 March 2000 the Supreme Court prolonged the applicant’s detention pending investigation – which had meanwhile exceeded the one-year time-limit set for detention pending the investigation under Article 263 § 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure – until 30 June 2000. It considered that the case was “particularly complex” given the volume of evidence and the number of the charges against the numerous suspects. It also held that there was a reasonable risk that the applicant and other suspects might obstruct the investigation.
On 24 May 2000 the Supreme Court ordered that that term should further be prolonged until 15 December 2000. It reiterated the previous grounds given for the applicant’s detention and added that the case was very complex, given that 6 further suspects had in the meantime been charged and detained in the case and that several other potential suspects were still being searched for.
Further prolongation of the applicant’s detention pending the investigation were ordered by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal on 13 December 2000 (up to 31 March 2001) and on 7 March 2001 (up to 31 May 2001). In its decision of 13 December 2000, the Court of Appeal reiterated the original grounds given for his detention. Taking into account the nature of the offences, the Court of Appeal added that the fact that the charges against all the nine suspects were closely interrelated justified a fear that, once released, they might obstruct the proceedings. It also referred to the particular complexity of the case. Furthermore, it noted that the prolongation of the investigation was due to the fact that new suspects had been identified in the course of the investigation. In its decision of 7 March 2001, the Court of Appeal added that the prolongation of detention was justified by the need to obtain DNA evidence.
Between 23 January and 16 February 2001 the applicant was granted access to the case-file. On 19 February 2001 he asked to be allowed additional time for consultation of the case-file.
On 10 May 2001 the Gdańsk Regional Prosecutor terminated the investigation. On 15 May 2001 the applicant was indicted before the Gdańsk Regional Court on several dozen counts of armed robbery which had been committed in an organised armed criminal group. The bill of indictment listed 120 charges brought against 19 defendants, who all were detained on remand. The case-file comprised 114 volumes. The prosecution asked the court to hear evidence from 366 witnesses. The principal witness was A.Ł., who was indicted together with all the defendants but gave evidence against them.
The trial began on 28 December 2001. However, as of April 2002 the reading out of the bill of indictment by the prosecution still continued. Initially, the trial court held three hearings per month.
During the trial, the Gdańsk Court of Appeal prolonged the applicant’s detention several times. The relevant decisions were given on 23 May 2001 (extending his detention up to 31 October 2001), on 24 October 2001 (ordering his continued detention until 31 March 2002), on 13 March 2002 (prolonging that period until 30 September 2002), on 11 September 2002 (extending his detention until 31 December 2002), on 18 December 2002 (prolonging his detention until 30 June 2003), on 25 June 2003 (prolonging his detention until 31 December 2003), on 17 December 2003 (extending that term until 30 June 2004), on 23 June 2004 (extending that term until 31 December 2004), on 15 December 2004 (ordering his continued detention until 31 March 2005), on 30 March 2005 (extending that period until 30 June 2005) and on 22 June 2005 (prolonging his detention until 30 October 2005). As of the latter date 8 of the 19 accused were still detained on remand.
In all those decisions the Court of Appeal considered that the original grounds given for the applicant’s detention were still valid. It stressed that the applicant’s detention was the only measure which could secure the proper conduct of the proceedings in that particularly complex case, given the nature of the charges, the number of the defendants and the connections between them. In addition, it referred to the volume of evidence to be heard.
In its decision of 13 March 2002 prolonging the applicant’s detention, the Court of Appeal observed that the delays in the trial were partly attributable to some of the defendants who attempted to disrupt the proceedings and, consequently, had to be removed from the court room. It instructed the trial court to hold more than 3 hearings per month. Furthermore, it held that no other preventive measure could secure the proper conduct of the trial. In that respect, the Court of Appeal observed that there was a reasonable risk that the applicant and other defendants might interfere with the proceedings, given the nature of the charges, the severity of the anticipated penalty and the fact that such attempts had been made in the course of the investigation.
On 15 January 2003 the Gdańsk Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s and his 17 co-defendants’ request for the judges and lay members of the trial court to withdraw.
In its decision of 25 June 2003 extending the applicant’s detention, the Court of Appeal observed that the trial could not have been terminated due to obstructiveness of the defendants who filed numerous requests challenging the trial court. It further observed that although the applicant and other defendants were free to make use of their procedural rights, the abuse of those rights had undoubtedly led to delays in the trial. It also noted that the trial court had taken various procedural steps in order to accelerate the proceedings.
In its decision on the applicant’s detention of 23 June 2004, the Court of Appeal observed that up to April 2003 the main reason for the delays during the trial was the obstructiveness of the defendants and the abuse of the rights of the defence. It also observed that the trial could be concluded by the end of 2004 provided that the Regional Court endeavoured to organise the trial efficiently.
In its decision of 18 January 2005 dismissing the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 15 December 2004 prolonging his detention, the Court of Appeal held that Article 258 § 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure established a presumption to the effect that the likelihood of a severe penalty being imposed on the applicant might induce him to obstruct the proceedings. It added that the risk of absconding or tampering with witnesses which existed in the present case did not have to be supported by any concrete facts, but resulted from the above presumption1.
In its decision of 22 June 2005 the Court of Appeal again referred to the presumption established by Article 258 § 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In its decision of 27 July 2005 dismissing the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 22 June 2005 prolonging his detention, the Court of Appeal held that that presumption alone justified the applicant’s continued detention. It also held that keeping the applicant in custody was necessary in order to prevent him from interfering with the trial, given the reasonable risk of such interference which flowed from the fact that he had been charged with commission of the offences in an organised criminal group.
By June 2005 the trial court held over 150 hearings and heard more than 400 witnesses.
2. The applicant’s complaint against the unreasonable length of proceedings
On 19 November 2004 the applicant filed with the Gdańsk Court of Appeal a complaint about a breach of his right to a trial within a reasonable time and asked for compensation. He relied on Section 5 of the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (“the 2004 Act”) which entered into force on 17 September 2004.
The applicant submitted that the charges against all the defendants had been unjustifiably joined to be examined in one set of the proceedings. He further claimed that numerous hearings had been cancelled and that the process of taking evidence from witnesses had been lengthy.
On 12 January 2005 the Court of Appeal dismissed his complaint as unfounded, having regard to the criteria set out in Section 2 § 2 of the 2004 Act. It held that the joint examination of the charges against the defendants who had commissioned a crime acting collectively was justified under the domestic law. Furthermore, it considered that it could not be said that the exceptional cancellations of some hearings pointed to inactivity on the part of the trial court. The Court of Appeal also found that the applicant’s complaint relating to the allegedly lengthy process of taking evidence from witness was unsubstantiated.
1. Remedies against unreasonable length of the proceedings2
“The court shall inform the detainee’s lawyer of the time of a court session at which a decision is to be taken on the prolongation of detention on remand or at which an appeal against a decision imposing or prolonging detention on remand is to be examined.”
On 20 July 2000 paragraph 4 was amended and since then the competence to prolong detention beyond the time-limits set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 has been vested in the court of appeal within whose jurisdiction the offence in question has been committed. In addition, new paragraph 5 was added. It provides:
1. The applicant complains about the excessive length of his pre-trial detention. He does not invoke any provision of the Convention in that respect.
2. The applicant further complains under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the unreasonable length of the criminal proceedings against him.
3. He also complains under Article 6 § 3(b) that he was not afforded sufficient time for consultation of the case-file and thus did not have adequate time for the preparation of his defence.
1. The applicant complains about the excessive length of his pre-trial detention without invoking any provision of the Convention. The Court notes that this complaint falls to be examined under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
2. The applicant further complains under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about unreasonable length of the criminal proceedings against him.
The Court considers that this complaint falls to be examined under Article 6 § 1 read in conjunction with Article 6 § 3 (b) of the Convention.
Decides to adjourn the examination of the applicant’s complaints concerning the excessive length of his pre-trial detention and the undue length of the criminal proceedings against him;
1 The Court of Appeal relied on the decision of the Supreme Court of 19 November 1996, no. IV KZ 119/96, published in OSP 1997 no. 4, item 74.
2 For a more detailed rendition of the relevant domestic legal provisions see Charzyński v. Poland (dec.) no. 15212/03, §§ 12-23; and Michalak v. Poland (dec.) no. 24549/03, §§ 12-23, to be published in ECHR 2005-…; also available on the Court’s Internet site: www.echr.coe.int
OSIŃSKI v. POLAND DECISION