COURTS AND THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
- On 23 August 2019 the Commissioner for Human Rights filed a cassation appeal to the advantage of a Polish citizen with regard to whom a Greek authority (the Prosecutor’s Office of the Athens Appeal Court) has issued a European arrest warrant, demanding the Polish party to surrender the person and transfer her to Greece. (more)
- The CHR has challenged the decision of the President of the Personal Data Protection Authority, which blocked the Supreme Administrative Court’s judgment regarding the lists of persons supporting the candidates for the National Council of the Judiciary. According to the Commissioner the President of the Personal Data Protection Authority may not take a decision which results in non-compliance of a legally issued judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court, as this would undermine the foundations of the state ruled by law and the rules governing the system of justice. (more)
- Employees’ transfer to job positions in distant locations: an important judgment of a court, regarding discrimination. (more)
- A court has considered that an appeal lodged by a legal guardian of a legally incapacitated person, which guardian was not a party to a proceeding before a first instance court, is not admissible. The Commissioner has lodged a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court with regard to the case. (more)
- Any other professional activity performed by a public prosecutor outside his/her position, regardless of whether such activity is paid or not, is subject to supervision by the prosecutor’s superiors; this may be concluded from the reply by the country’s Prosecutor General to the CHR’s letter. According to the Commissioner, such interpretation of the regulations may have a "freezing effect" and lead to non-engagement of prosecutors in educational activities regarding the system of justice. (more)
- Citizens complain that they encounter problems when they want to immediately pay a penalty fee adjudicated by a court. It is up to the court’s efficiency to indicate the date on which the adjudicated penalty may be paid. The sooner it is paid, the sooner the period after which the penalty will be deleted from the files will expire. (more)
EQUAL TREATMENT
- The government proposes that the police should have the right to order a perpetrator of domestic violence, who poses a risk to the life or health of the victim, to immediately leave the apartment and its immediate surroundings, and to issue a restraining order. This has been demanded by the Commissioner for a long time as a solution that contributes to immediate and effective protection of victims' rights. (more)
- The Commissioner has started an explanatory proceeding regarding the case of the person who simulated, using a doll and a photograph, that he was cutting the throat of archbishop of Kraków Marek Jędraszewski. (more)
- The mayor of Gorzów Wielkopolski refused to permit the holding of the Equality march, planned for 24 August 2019. He justified the refusal by a risk caused by the fact that at the same place and time, other assemblies were already scheduled. The Commissioner has challenged the decision and indicated that the mayor did not indicate any specific significant risks that might be posed to the lives or health of people or to property. The court in Gorzów Wielkopolski agreed with the CHR’s argumentation. (more)
RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY
- 17 thousad PLN was spent on medical treatment of patients of the National Centre for preventing dissocial behaviours in Gostynin during the five years of the centre’s operation. Its budget is sufficient to to meet all medical needs of the patients, the CHR has been informed by the centre’s director. (more)
- A prisoner was escorted to a doctor’s office across the city with cuffs on his hands and legs. He complained to the CHR of degrading treatment. The Commissioner considered that this method of escorting the prisoner was unjustified, too severe and disproportionate to the risk. The prisoner reported his offence himself and was imprisoned for less than four months. It would not have been reasonable to expect him to try to escape. (more)
OTHER NEWS
- Doctoral degree students complain that they may not attend more than one doctoral degree course at a same time. This, in the opinion of the CHR, is an arbitrary interference with the constitutional right to education. (more)
- A citizen has lost his status of an unemployed person because he took part in a 16-day training of the Territorial Defence Forces, for which he received a fee. The Commissioner appealed against the related decision of the head of the Małopolskie Voivodeship government to an administrative court and pointed out that the fee for the training participation could only suspend the right to the unemployment benefit but could not lead to losing the status of an unemployed person. The head of the Małopolskie Voivodeship government agreed with the CHR’s complaint as part of the internal audit proceeding. (more)