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Another violation of the right to liberty and security of the person in a Polish case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted a unilateral declaration by the Polish government in the case Rembak against Poland. The government acknowledged a violation of art. 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) as a result of imposition on the applicant of the regime of “dangerous detainee” and of the violation of art. 5 § 3 of the Convention due to the unreasonable duration of the applicant’s pre-trial detention.

Norbert Rembak was arrested in 2005. The proceedings in his case lasted 8 years and all this time the applicant remained in detention on remand. What is more, for over 3 years the applicant was classified as a dangerous detainee which had a number of consequences, such as for example his placement in a single cell and the use of other measures within the special security regime.

In his application to ECHR, Norbert Rembak claimed that his excessive pre-trial detention and prolonged classification as a dangerous detainee violated the provisions of the Convention.

“When justifying its decision to accept the government’s unilateral declaration, ECHR relied on its previous case-law concerning the use of a dangerous detainee status. In 2012, in the case Piechowicz against Poland, ECHR ruled that the dangerous detainee status should be used exceptionally and only for a period when it is necessary,” says advocate Paweł Osik who, together with advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak, represented Norbert Rembak before ECHR.

It has been the second case of this type considered by ECHR recently. At the beginning of November, ECHR accepted the government’s unilateral declaration in the case Hernandez against Poland. The government acknowledged a violation of the Convention in that case with regard to the excessive length of the applicant’s pre-trial detention and criminal proceedings (more information available here).

This press information was prepared with consent of the applicant who was represented by the lawyers from the Pietrzak Sidor & Partners Law Firm.