FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 42365/11
Helena ŚCIRKO and Michał ŚCIRKO
against Poland
lodged on 21 June 2011
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicants, Ms Helena Ścirko and Mr Michal Ścirko, are Polish nationals, who were born in 1963 and 1965 respectively and live in Dubiecko.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
On the night of 4 February 2007 the applicants’ son died in a car accident. The accident occurred when the applicants’ son turned left into the driveway of his house. At that moment Mr A.M., who was overtaking, hit him. Mr A.M. was speeding, had no driving licence and was under the influence of alcohol. He escaped from the scene of the accident with the help of a friend and his father. Two passengers, who had been in the same car as the applicant, sustained minor injuries and were able to identify A.M. as the perpetrator of the accident. All persons involved knew each other as they had been partying at the same discotheque on the night in question.
It appears that just after the accident the prosecutor initiated an investigation.
On 11 December 2007 the prosecutor indicted Mr A.M. and the other two persons who had helped him to escape from the scene of the accident before the Przemyśl District Court (Sąd Rejonowy).
It appears that the applicants participated in the proceedings as auxiliary prosecutors.
The case was assigned to a junior judge (assessor). However, she could not proceed with the trial as she had been waiting to be appointed as a professional judge.
On 28 May 2009 an expert opinion on mechanics was submitted to the court.
The first hearing was held on 4 February 2010 and afterwards hearings were held at regular intervals.
On 3 February 2010 the first applicant lodged a complaint about a breach of her right to trial within a reasonable time and asked for just satisfaction. She relied on the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to an investigation conducted or supervised by a prosecutor and to a trial within a reasonable time (Ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu przygotowawczym prowadzonym lub nadzorowanym przez prokuratora I postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki) (“the 2004 Act”).
On 25 March 2010 the Przemyśl Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) dismissed the complaint. It agreed that there had been a period of inactivity of the District Court. However it had been caused by the exceptionally long process of nomination of the judge to whom the case had been assigned.
On 15 November 2010 the Przemyśl District Court gave a judgment. The court convicted Mr A.M. as charged and sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment and indefinite prohibition on driving. The other two accessories were also convicted.
On 12 April 2011 the Przemyśl Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) amended the first-instance judgment by lowering the sentence against Mr A.M. to seven years’ imprisonment and banning him from driving for ten years. It appears that the judgment is final.
COMPLAINT
The applicants complain under Article 6 of the Convention about the unreasonably long time it took the domestic courts to examine the case against the person who caused the accident in which their son had died.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Having regard to the positive obligations of the State, was the investigation into and judicial examination of the death of the applicants’ son thorough and effective, as required by Article 2 of the Convention (see, for example, Anna Todorova v. Bulgaria, no. 23302/03, 24 May 2011)? Reference is made in particular to the fact that the trial court had been inactive for the initial two years.
2. The Government are invited to clarify whether there had been any particular circumstances justifying why the assessor dealing with the case could not have been appointed as a judge earlier or the case transferred to another judge.
3. What was the course of the investigation into the accident until lodging of the bill of indictment in December 2007? The Government are invited to submit copies of the relevant decisions pertaining to that period.
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