Communicated on 24 August 2015
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 73436/14
Piotr Mariusz BURIAK
against Poland
lodged on 18 November 2014
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Piotr Mariusz Buriak, is a Polish national, who was born in 1982 and lives in Milanówek.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
1. Criminal proceedings against the applicant and imposition of the so-called “dangerous detainee” regime
On 3 October 2013 the applicant was arrested and detained in the Warszawa Mokotów Detention Centre. He was suspected of having deprived third persons of liberty and having tormented them in order to obtain financial benefits.
On the same day the Penitentiary Commission (“the Commission”) classified the applicant as a “dangerous detainee”.
The Commission subsequently extended the application of the special regime to the applicant on 13 March, 5 June and on 3 September 2014. It relied on the applicant’s serious lack of moral character (wysoki stopień demoralizacji) and suspicion that he had committed serious offences.
The applicant appealed against all of the above listed decisions.
His appeals were examined and dismissed by the Warsaw Regional Court on 10 April, 17 July and 25 September 2014 respectively. The Regional Court considered each time that the challenged decisions of the Commission had been issued by a competent authority and in accordance with the relevant provisions of law.
On 26 February 2015 the Commission again extended the application of the dangerous detainee regime to the applicant.
The applicant appealed.
On 20 March 2015 the Warsaw Regional Court quashed the challenged decision and remitted the case finding that the Commission had failed to examine all the relevant circumstances referring to the applicant’s situation.
The applicant failed to submit a decision given by the Commission after the remittal, but in his letter of May 2015 he informed the Court that he was still detained as a “dangerous detainee”.
On 26 May 2015 the applicant further informed the Court that he had been released from detention.
2. Particular aspects of the regime
The cell, including its sanitary facilities, was constantly monitored via closed-circuit television.
The applicant was subjected to a body search every time he left and entered the cell.
The applicant also submitted that the only window in the cell was not transparent and that a limit had been set on visits from his family members.
B. Relevant domestic law and practice
The relevant domestic law and practice concerning the imposition of dangerous detainee status are set out in the Court’s judgments in the cases of Piechowicz v. Poland (no. 20071/07, §§ 105-117, 17 April 2012), and Horych v. Poland (no. 13621/08, §§ 44-56, 17 April 2012).
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that the imposition of the “dangerous detainee” regime on him amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment in breach of this provision.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Having regard to the cumulative effect of the “dangerous detainee” regime imposed on the applicant from 3 October 2013 until May 2015, has he been subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention? The parties are requested to refer in their observations to the leading judgment of Piechowicz v. Poland, no. 20071/07, 17 April 2012.
The Government are invited to submit a copy of the decision imposing the regime on the applicant and the decisions lifting the regime and the applicant’s detention.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy