Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: European Court of human rights

Date: 11/04/2008

Subject: The applicant, Eryk Kozłowski, is a Polish national who was born in 1975 and lives in Szczecin (Poland). In June 1999 he was arrested on suspicion of robbery. He was convicted as charged in September 2001 and sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment. That judgment was upheld on appeal. The case concerned the applicant’s complaint about: the unlawfulness and excessive length of his detention on remand; the excessive length of the criminal proceedings against him; and the fact that his parents were refused permission to visit him during most of his pre-trial detention as it was feared that they might obstruct the proceedings. He relied on Article 5 (right to liberty and security), Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) and Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life). The Court noted that between June 1999 and September 2001 the applicant’s parents had only been allowed to visit him six times. With the passage of time and given the severity of the consequences for the applicant’s family life of the lack of contact with his parents, as well as the authorities’ general obligation to assist the applicant in maintaining contact with his family during his detention, the Court considered that the situation called for a careful review of the necessity of keeping him in complete isolation from his mother. However, no alternative means of ensuring that the applicant’s contact with his parents would not lead to any collusive action or otherwise obstruct the process of taking evidence had been considered, such as, for instance, supervision by a prison officer. Nor had the competent authorities given detailed reasons for their decisions. The Court considered that Mr Kozłowski’s family life had been diminished to a degree that could be justified neither by the inherent limitations involved in detention nor by the pursuance of the legitimate aim of the prevention of disorder and crime relied on by the Polish Government. It concluded unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 8 on account of restrictions of the applicant’s contacts with his family, and awarded him EUR 1,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage. The remainder of the application was declared inadmissible.

Parties: Eryk Kozłowski c/ Polonia

Classification: Freedoms - Art. 7 Privacy