Communicated on 10 September 2019
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 12669/17
Włodzimierz MARCZAK
against Poland
lodged on 4 February 2017
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Włodzimierz Marczak, is a Polish national who was born in 1963 and is detained in Wrocław.The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.The applicant’s accident in 1997 and his imprisonment
On an unspecified day in 1997 the applicant had a traffic accident in which he suffered an anterior chamber haemorrhage and a detached retina in his left eye.
He had been serving his prison sentence in various detention establishments in Poland from at least 1997 until 4 February 2017, date on which he lodged his application with the Court.The medical care afforded to the applicant in and outside prison facilities from 1997 to 2016
From 1997 until 2003 the applicant applied several times, without success, for a break in serving his prison sentence in order to obtain surgical ophthalmological treatment. In December 2003 he was eventually granted a break as requested.
In 2004 he underwent a vitrectomy of the left eye and three other eye operations within 30 months of his break.
In the subsequent course of his detention the applicant applied anew several times for a break in serving his prison sentence in order to undergo further surgical treatment which was necessary, according to the applicant, to save the sight in his left eye. His requests were dismissed.
The applicant was receiving ophthalmological treatment in the detention facilities where he was held. This treatment included, among other things, regular consultations with medical specialists and anti-inflammatory conservative treatment of his left eye. However, against his explicit wishes, he did not undergo any other eye surgery. The sight in his left eye was gradually deteriorating and in 2016 it was limited to light perception.
On 21 June 2016 a court medical expert, appointed for the purpose of the proceedings concerning another of the applicant’s requests for a break in his prison sentence, held that any surgical treatment of the applicant’s left eye would at that time be futile, since the deterioration was too advanced and the operation would not improve eye function.
In consequence, on 12 July 2016 the Wrocław Regional Court, basing its decision on the aforementioned expert opinion, dismissed the applicant’s request for a break in serving his sentence in order to undergo ophthalmological surgery outside the prison.The overall conditions of the applicant’s detention and the accident of 13 January 2012
Based on the documents issued by the domestic authorities submitted by the applicant, the general conditions of his detention seem not to have differed from the general statutory standards under Polish law.
However, at least from 28 December 2011 to 17 September 2013, the applicant was detained in cells with window blinds, notwithstanding his limited sight.
On 13 January 2012 during his detention in Włocławek Prison the applicant tripped in his cell and hit his head against a bed frame. This caused a forehead injury. He received first aid from the prison medical personnel and was subsequently taken to hospital, where his wound was sutured.Relevant domestic law and practice
The relevant provisions of domestic law concerning medical care and conditions of detention in prisons and remand centres are set out in the Court’s judgments in cases: Sławomir Musiał v. Poland, no. 28300/06, §§ 48-61, 20 January 2009, Kaprykowski v. Poland, no. 23052/05, §§ 36-39, 3 February 2009, Orchowski v. Poland, no. 17885/04, §§ 75-85, 13 October 2009, and Bujak v. Poland, no. 686/12, §§ 51-52, 21 March 2017. More recent developments regarding conditions of detention are described in the Court’s decision in the case of Łatak v. Poland (dec.), no. 52070/08, §§ 25‑54, 1 October 2010.
COMPLAINT
Relying on Articles 5 and 14 of the Convention, but in substance under Article 3 of the Convention, the applicant complains that he was not provided with adequate medical care by the prison healthcare system during his detention in various penitentiary establishments in Poland for almost twenty years. He also complains of inadequate conditions of detention, in particular being held in cells with window blinds at least from 28 December 2011 to 17 September 2013 notwithstanding his limited sight, which resulted in an accident and a head injury on 13 January 2012 in Włocławek Prison.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Has the applicant exhausted domestic remedies, as required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
2. Did the applicant’s detention in various detention establishments in Poland from 1997 to 2016 amount to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention, taking into account the following elements:
- the nature and the course of the applicant’s illness;
- the relevant recommendations of the medical experts regarding the applicant’s treatment;
- the quality and the alleged lack of promptness of the medical care provided to the applicant within the penitentiary system, in particular in order to avoid the deterioration and loss of sight in his left eye;
- the overall conditions of the applicant’s detention, in particular his incarceration in cells with window blinds at least from 28 December 2011 to 17 September 2013;
- the accident of 13 January 2012 in Włocławek Prison resulting in the applicant’s head injury?
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