FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 71845/10
Zdzisław CICHOWSKI
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 10 March 2015 as a Committee composed of:
George Nicolaou, President,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 25 October 2010,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant, Mr Zdzisław Cichowski, is a Polish national, who was born in 1964 and lives in Gdańsk.
The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms J. Chrzanowska, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant was involved in several sets of criminal proceedings.
On 19 December 2007 the Supreme Court ordered the applicant’s detention on remand on charges of attempted murder and robbery. Afterwards his detention was extended on many occasions. The courts considered that keeping the applicant in detention was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings, given the risk that he might go into hiding. The courts further attached importance to the likelihood of a severe sentence of imprisonment being imposed on the applicant.
During the court proceedings the authorities further prolonged the applicant’s detention pending trial. In particular, it was extended on 10 June 2008 (until 30 September 2008), 25 June 2009 (until 30 September 2009), 22 September 2009 (until 31 October 2009), 8 December 2009 (until 28 February 2010) and 11 February 2010 (until 30 April 2010). The courts repeated the grounds previously given for the applicant’s continued detention. The courts referred to the fact that in the first trial, before reopening, the applicant had been convicted to 12 years’ imprisonment and that this was also the maximum sentence he faced in the present trial. In addition, he had threatened one of the victims.
On 23 June 2010 the Gdańsk Regional Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The conviction was upheld by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal on 16 December 2012.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complained under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention about the unreasonable length of his pre-trial detention.
THE LAW
On 17 November 2014 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant:
“I, Zdzisław Cichowski, note that the Government of Poland are prepared to pay me, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, PLN 10,000 (ten thousand Polish zlotys) to cover any and all pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to me.
This sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Poland in respect of the facts giving rise to this application. I declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.”
On 23 January 2015 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:
“I, Justyna Chrzanowska, Agent of the Government, declare that the Government of Poland offer to pay to Zdzisław Cichowski, with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, PLN 10,000 (ten thousand Polish zlotys) to cover any and all pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.
This sum will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court to strike the case out of its list of cases. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on it, from expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”
The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 2 April 2015.
Fatoş AracıGeorge Nicolaou
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy