Published on 14 June 2021
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 3020/20
Mariusz ORDAK
against Poland
lodged on 24 April 2020
communicated on 25 May 2021
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Mariusz Ordak, is a Polish national who was born in 1981 and is detained in the Koszalin Detention Centre (Areszt Śledczy).The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant was charged with participating in an organised criminal group and illegal drug trade. He was arrested on 17 June 2017 and on 21 June 2017 the Koszalin District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) detained him on remand for three months.
On 4 September 2017 the Koszalin Regional Prosecutor (Prokurator Regionalny) requested extension of the applicant’s detention. On 11 September 2017 the Koszalin Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) extended the detention for further two months. The court again referred to the significant probability that the applicant had committed the offences in question and the fact that he faced a severe penalty. Moreover, it stressed the need to ensure the proper conduct of the proceedings, given the fact that the applicant was the leader of an organised criminal group and could therefore make attempts to establish with other members the most favourable version of their testimony. The applicant did not appeal.
On 30 November 2018 the prosecutor filed an indictment against the applicant with the Koszalin Regional Court.
The applicant’s detention was regularly extended every few months, initially by the Koszalin Regional Court and later by the Szczecin Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny). It was not until 17 December 2019 that the applicant filed his first appeal (against the decision of the Szczecin Court of Appeal of 3 December 2019 extending the applicant’s detention until 2 June 2020).
On 21 January 2020 the Szczecin Court of Appeal upheld the decision in question. It again stated that the collected evidence indicated a high probability that the applicant had committed the offences and that he faced a severe penalty. Furthermore, the court pointed to a serious risk of obstructing the course of the proceedings, as the applicant had been involved in the activities of an organised criminal group.
On 26 March 2020 the applicant filed a request to replace detention with a less severe preventive measure. On 21 April 2020 the applicant’s request was dismissed by the Koszalin Regional Court, which repeated the arguments that the domestic courts had used in their previous decisions.
On 27 May 2020 the Szczecin Court of Appeal extended the applicant’s detention until 29 November 2020. On 23 June 2020 the Szczecin Court of Appeal, acting as a court of second instance, upheld this decision. The court reiterated arguments used in the previous decisions and also added that the case was complex, as the case file comprised more than 50 volumes and there were 14 co-defendants. Moreover, it stated that other preventive measures would not adequately secure the course of the proceedings.
On 27 November 2020 the Koszalin Regional Court acting as a first instance court sentenced the applicant to 5 years’ imprisonment. The judgment is not final.Relevant domestic law and practice
The relevant domestic law and practice concerning detention on remand (tymczasowe aresztowanie), the grounds for its extension, release from detention and rules governing other so-called “preventive measures” (środki zapobiegawcze) are set out in the Court’s judgments in the cases of Gołek v. Poland (no. 31330/02, §§ 27-33, 25 April 2006); Celejewski v. Poland (no. 17584/04, §§ 22-23, 4 May 2006), and Kauczor v. Poland (no. 45219/06, §§ 25-33, 3 February 2009).
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention of the unreasonable length of his detention on remand.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Was the length of the applicant’s pre-trial detention in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention?
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