Month: March 2015

At the request of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, advocate Paweł Osik works on a case of students from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Four years ago, the results on the chemistry maturity exam of more than 50 high school students in this town were annulled. The students were accused of cheating. “For those students, annulling the results of the exam had dire consequences. Without an opportunity to appeal this decision, the students were not able to apply for studies, and their plans for the upcoming years became unrealistic,” says advocate Paweł Osik.

According to advocate Paweł Osik, it should be a standard that students have the right to initiate a procedure of external verification of exam results. “It is the law maker’s obligation to take into account the fact that mistakes in assessment can occur and it is necessary to guarantee a procedure for questioning erroneous decisions,” advocate Paweł Osik stated.

Appealing against maturity exam results is made more difficult by the fact that the law, among others, does not create an opportunity to freely access exam documentation. In advocate Paweł Osik’s view, it is an odd situation. „As a defense counsel, I have access to, for example, confidential documents which have been gathered in the course of proceedings. Access to those documents is clearly regulated,” he says. “When it comes to appealing the results of the maturity exam, the situation is completely different. Students can only review their work, they cannot however take pictures or make notes,” advocate Paweł Osik explains.

In 2013, the group of students from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski filed complaints with the Constitutional Tribunal. The case is pending. “Until now, the law makers have taken no action to introduce a procedure for appealing the results of the maturity exam. I hope that the Constitutional Tribunal will, as fast as possible, consider this problem and that the ruling will assess the unconstitutionality of those regulations,” says advocate Paweł Osik.

More details on the case of the students and the submitted constitutional complaint are available here.

While on his way home after work, Mr. P. suffered a major stroke. Police officers who intervened concluded that the man was under the influence of alcohol and called the City Guard to transport him to the sobering station.

During the intervention, the man was not tested with a breathalyzer because neither the Police nor the City Guard had one at their disposal at the time. As a result, the man was admitted to the sobering station which conducted a medical examination and called the ambulance four hours after Mr. P.’s admittance.

“While considering the appeal against Mr. P.’s arrest and admittance to the facility, the court stated that the man’s placement in a sobering station was unjustified, misguided, mistaken and carried at least a potential risk to his health and life,” says Irmina Pacho, a lawyer at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR). The court also pointed to the insufficient supervision over the man’s stay in the station.

The court concluded that both the officers of the Police and the City Guard exercised due diligence. It further noticed that it was impossible to lay the blame on the officers for not noticing that Mr. P. was in need of immediate medical care and that it was necessary to transport him to the hospital instead of a sobering station.

„In its case-law, the European Court of Human Rights has multiple times noted that a state has a duty to protect arrested persons and persons deprived of liberty. This duty covers, among others, protection of health and provision of proper healthcare,” explains advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak who, at the request of HFHR, served as Mr. P.’s pro bono lawyer.

„An enhanced standard of protection should also apply to law enforcement officers in situations when they assess the health of persons transported to sobering stations,” advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak adds.

“In HFHR’s view, it is necessary to introduce proper procedures and provide adequate training in order to eliminate the risk of law enforcement officers’ making wrong decisions in the future, which could endanger somebody’s life or health,” Irmina Pacho adds. “Correct assessment of the man’s health and provision of medical care in the key moment just after the stroke could have limited the extent of internal damage.”

After Artur Ł.’s observation, expert witnesses assessed that he suffered from “a mental disorder which prevents him from recognising the meaning of his actions and from controlling his comportment.” Artur Ł. was released from detention in March 2013.

“This case shows how easy it is to abuse state power towards an individual under the guise of fighting terrorism,” says Mikołaj Pietrzak, one of Artur Ł.’s lawyers.

The media reported that even before the suspect’s apprehension, the ABW knew that he had experienced problems with social adaptation and had been a patient in a mental health clinic. As a result, the investigation was discontinued.

In their motion for compensation and in the proceedings before the court, Artur Ł.’s lawyers – advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak and advocate Kacper Florysiak – emphasised that the arrest had significant influence on his health and intensified the symptoms of his disorder.

The judgement is not final.

Artur Ł.’s lawyers filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights in which they allege a violation of the right to liberty and personal safety as well as an infringement of the right to a fair trial.

The Warsaw Pre-moot is an educational project simulating real arbitration proceedings. Students from European universities act as counsels for the parties and are assessed by lawyers who participate in arbitration proceedings on a daily basis.

“Each competition battle is considered by three arbitrators who behave in a manner similar to that in real arbitration proceedings, and who also have the right to ask questions to the participants,” explains advocate trainee Katarzyna Dąbrowska.

During this year’s Warsaw Pre-moot, its participants dealt with a problem which consisted in delivering the right amount of a rare mineral produced by one and distributed by the other party to the dispute. Other elements of the problem concerned the institution of an emergency arbitrator and a joinder of additional parties in arbitration proceedings pursuant to the ICC Rules of Arbitration.

“As in previous years also this year, the participants were prepared very well,” says legal advisor Artur Sidor. “The students not only knew the complexities of the case, but also of the relevant law,” he adds.

The arbitrators’ main task is to give feedback to participants in order to enable them to further develop their legal argumentation skills, taking into account the specificity of international arbitration proceedings.

The Warsaw Pre-moot is one of the competitions which prepare students for the final Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot which takes place every year in Vienna.

More information on the 7th Warsaw Pre-moot is available here.