Month: September 2014

The jury of the competition (composed of, among others, Jadwiga Sztabińska, Editor-in-chief of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna; Agnieszka Tałasiewicz, Managing Partner at the Ernst & Young Law Tałasiewicz and Partners Law Firm; Andrzej Zwara, President of the Polish Bar Council and Dariusz Sałajewski, President of the National Council for Legal Advisors) recognised advocate Paweł Osik’s successes in criminal cases and in cases concerning human rights protection.

Advocate Paweł Osik’s engagement in pro bono cases, such as defence of Greenpeace activists who were arrested on the roof of the Ministry of Economy in 2013, was also of significance for his placement in the ranking.

Advocate Paweł Osik has been cooperating with the Pietrzak Sidor & Partners Law Firm since June 2010. Last year, he became a Partner at the Pietrzak Sidor & Partners Law Firm.

Paweł, please accept our congratulations and best wishes for further successes!

“Upon accepting this Award, I would like to thank my co-partner Artur Sidor, as well as all the other partners and persons who cooperate with our law firm. It is the hard work and engagement of my colleagues that allows me to pursue professional fulfilment every day,” said advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak.

The Professions of Public Trust Award is given to advocates, legal advisors, architects, actors and doctors. The purpose of the competition is to select ambassadors of those professions, who distinguish themselves in their activity, display untainted integrity and work for the benefit of the local community.

“It is a great honour to find oneself included in such a group of distinguished advocates nominated for the Award. This Award means a lot to me, and I would like to thank all the people who nominated me, as well as those who cast their vote on me,” said legal advisor Artur Sidor who, during the official ceremony, accepted the Award on behalf of Mikołaj Pietrzak.

Congratulations, Mikołaj!

Currently, Ukraine is working on the new Lustration Law. The aim of the new Law is to exclude persons belonging to the circles of the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February, from holding high public positions.

The participants of the conference (including, among others, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Special Administrative Court and the Interim Special Commission for Vetting of Judges of General Jurisdiction Courts) discussed such matters as the current state of works on the new Law. One of the greatest challenges which lie ahead of the authors of the Ukrainian Lustration Law is its compliance with the standards of lustration proceedings set forth in international law.

Advocate Paweł Osik attended a session on the practical aspects of lustration and its compatibility with international regulations. “The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe established basic rules of the lustration process in its resolution of 1996,” says advocate Paweł Osik. “According to the resolution, the lustration proceedings should be founded on the principle of a democratic state ruled by law, and the lustration itself should not be used as a tool for revenge or payback,” explains advocate Paweł Osik.

In its case-law, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also created standards of the lustration proceedings. “In the case Ivan Turek against Slovakia, ECHR stated that a person suspected of cooperation with secret services of a totalitarian regime should have a guarantee of their right of defence and access to all documents related to them and used in the proceeding,” adds advocate Paweł Osik.

Last week, advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak conducted training on the application of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for a group of judges, prosecutors and advocates from EU countries. The purpose of the training, organized in Copenhagen by the European Institute of Public Administration, was to identify the most important problems in the application of EAW in EU member states.

In May this year, the European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST) published a report in which it listed the most significant problems in the application of EAW. Among these problems, EUROJUST notes slow communication between competent authorities in particular states and difficulties the countries experience in organizing translations of EAW into the language of the arrested person. It also notices countries’ failures to notify withdrawal of an EAW in a timely fashion, especially when the suspect or accused had been arrested. Professionals with practical experience also point out the problems related to the assessment of proportionality and the double representation requirement in cases concerning the execution of EAW.

In its report, published in May this year, among the most significant problems in the application of EAW, the European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST) included slow communication between competent authorities in particular states, difficulties the countries experience in organizing translations of EAW into the language of the arrested person, and failures to notify withdrawal of an EAW in a timely fashion, especially when the suspect or accused had been arrested. Professionals with practical experience also point out the problems related to the assessment of proportionality and the double representation requirement in cases concerning the execution of EAW.

The execution of EAW raises serious doubts when it comes to the use of pre-trial detention. “In the recent years, the experiences with EAW have shown that some countries rarely apply pre-trial detention for the period of EAW’s execution, while other use detention as if by default. Unfortunately, Poland belongs to the second category. These differences constitute one of the more serious problems for practical enforcement of the principle of mutual trust between EU countries,” says advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak.

Advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak further notes that deducting the time spent in detention arising from the execution of an EAW in a different member state from the total period of detention to be served in the country which issued the warrant is yet another practical, unresolved problem related to the application of EAW.

“We have been cooperating with Kacper, Paweł, Ula and Ewa for several years. They are excellent lawyers, we are proud to have them in our team” – says legal advisor Artur Sidor, Partner at the Pietrzak Sidor & Partners Law Firm.

Advocates Kacper Florysiak, Paweł Osik and Urszula Podhalańska represent Clients in criminal proceedings. Legal advisor Ewa Ryczko specializes in civil law, especially in commercial law and labour law.

Advocate Kacper Florysiak specializes in transnational or extradition cases or so-called ordinary crimes. He also provides legal counsel and represents collective entities (especially companies) in criminal proceedings, in circumstances including violations of a company’s interests as a result of committing a crime, when penal and legal instruments of protection can be applied.

Advocate Paweł Osik specializes in criminal law, broadly, including cross-border proceedings and lustration cases. He is an expert in issues concerning the protection of human rights, especially proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Advocate Urszula Podhalańska is an expert in criminal cases, especially those of a transnational nature, in particular proceedings resulting from issuances of European Arrest Warrants and extradition proceedings. She also handles cases regarding criminal economic law, traffic offences and medical misconduct.

Legal advisor Ewa Ryczko is engaged in corporate service to companies, drawing up legal opinions as well as developing and verifying agreements and other documents as a part of ongoing legal services to entrepreneurs. She advises and represents clients with regard to legal aspects of investments and various fields of economic law and leads court disputes, especially those concerning economic relations between entrepreneurs, bankruptcy and recovery proceedings, civil liability and labour law.

Currently, the Pietrzak Sidor & Partners Law Firm’s team is composed of 10 lawyers.

More information regarding our lawyer’s areas of specializations is available here.