A
complaint to
The
Human Rights Committee
c/o
Centre for Human Rights
United
Nations Office
8-14
avenue de la Paix
1211
Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
A
complaint is filed for consideration pursuant to the Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights
I.
INFORMATION ON THE AUTHOR OF COMPLAINT:
Name:
Wojczuk, Second Name(s): Ireneusz
Nationality:
Polish, Profession: art historian
Date
and place of birth: ...
Current
living address: ...
Address
for confidential correspondence (if it differs from the current
address) ...
The
above-mentioned person files a complaint as:
a)
As a victim of one or several rights described hereunder
b)
Attorney-in-fact of a victim (victims)
c)
Acting in a different capacity
If
(c) was selected, the author should explain:
1)
In what capacity he/she acts on behalf of a victim/victims (for
instance family relations or other personal bonds with an apparent
victim/victims):
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2)
What the reason is that the victim(s) is(are) not able to file the
complaint on their own:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
II.
INFORMATION ON AN APPARENT VICTIM/VICTIMS**
(if
it is not the same as the information regarding the author of
complaint)
Name…………………………………………………………
Second Name/Names……………………………………………………………
Nationality………………………………………………..
Profession……………………………………………………………………………..
Date
and place of birth…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Current
address and a place of stay………………………………………………………………………………………
*
cross relevant box or boxes
**
every victim has to be enumerated separately and attach as many pages
as necessary for inclusion of all the victims
III.
STATE AGAINST WHICH COMPLAINT IS DIRECTED
Name
of the country-party to the Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights against which a complaint is filed:
Poland,
Articles
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that were
presumably infringed upon:
article
2, section 3.c
The
steps that have been taken by (or on behalf of) the victim(s) in
order to use domestic legal remedies (appeal to a court of law or
another state authority; when and what the results were - attach
copies of all court or administrative decisions having an importance
for the case):
1)
Court decision (on discontinuation of the proceedings) of the
District Court for Warszawa - Śródmieście, 2nd Criminal Division
of October 2, 2012, file number II K 94/12 with justification
2)
Complaint against a court decision of October 2, 2012 of the District
Cout for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 2nd Criminal Division, file number
II K 94/12 sent in a post office on October 25, 2012
3)
Court decision (on repealing of a court decision of October 10, 2012
and referring the case back for an adjudication) of the Regional
Court in Warsaw, 10th Criminal Appeal Division of January 10, 2013,
file number X Kz 2289/12 with justification
4)
Decision (on discontinuation of proceedings) of the District Court
for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 2nd Criminal Division of June 24, 2013,
file number II K 94/12 with justification
5)
A complaint against a decision of July 24, 2013 of the District Court
for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 2nd Criminal Division, file number II K
94/12 sent in a post office on August 19, 2013
6)
A decision (not accepting the complaint and maintaining in force a
court decision of July 24, 2013) of the Regional Court in Warsaw,
10th Criminal Appeal Division of November 19, 2013, file number X Kz
2279 with justification
Domestic
legal remedies have been exhausted.
If
domestic legal remedies have not been exhausted, please explain the
reasons:
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
IV.
OTHER INTERNATIONAL PROCEDURES
Has
the same case been a subject of another procedure of international
investigation or settlement (for instance Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights, European Commission on Human Rights)? If it so, when
was it done and what were the results:
The
same case was filed to the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg
(16th of May, 2014). The court found the complaint to be unjustified.
V.
FACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES BEING THE SUBJECT OF THE COMPLAINT
Detailed
description of the facts constituting infringement (instances of
infringement) with the indication of appropriate dates:***
On
January 1, 2012 I filed an indictment act against Emilia B.
(attached) in relation to the testimonies given on May 31, 2011
before the District Court for Warszawa - Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division, file number X K 1342 (the minutes have been
attached hereunder). By way of a court order (file number II K 94/12)
of March 12, 2012 I was ordered to pay PLN 300 as a lump sum
equivalent of the borne court costs. I paid the sum, which supports
the fact that the court proceedings were initiated so the indictment
act was, therefore, deemed effective. When I was informed about a
court meeting in a manner described in article 339 §
3 section 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the
lawsuit with the file number II K 94/12, I received an answer to the
indictment act of April 20, 2014 that read (PAGE 2) that article 213
§ 2 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure was referenced to by
citing the content of the said article that reads ”Anyone who
raises or publicizes a true allegation in defense of a justifiable
public interest is deemed not to have committed the offense”, but
the word “true” was deleted therefrom.
On
October 25, 2012, I sent a complaint to the Court against a court
decision of October 2, 2012. In the complaint I alleged that in the
court decision of October 2, 2012, the criminal procedure law was not
observed, i.e. article 7 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure in
relation to article 339 § 3 section 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal
Procedure by conducting substantive analysis of the factual
circumstances presented in the indictment act and making arrangements
as to the existence of the grounds to discontinue the criminal
proceedings described in article 17 § 1 section 2 without
carrying-out evidence taking, which caused the assumption and
adoption of wrong factual circumstances for the basis of the court
decision.
By
way of a decision of January 10, 2013 of the Regional Court in
Warsaw, 10th Criminal Appeal Division, the court decision appealed
against was repealed and referred back to the District Court for
Warszawa - Śródmieście for an adjudication.
I
learned from a notification dated April 4, 2013 that the next court
meeting regarding the discontinuation of the proceedings, on the
same legal basis, would take place on May 8, 2013. On May 8, 2013, I
lodged, in a day office of the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście, a letter which was a court decision of March
19, 2013 on the exclusion of the judges of the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście. As a response, I received a court decision
of May 8, 2013. Due to a court decision of May 8, 2013, in a letter
lodged on May 20, 2012 in a day office of the District Court for
Warszawa -Śródmieście, I repaired the formal defects of my
previous letter. Later on, I received a court decision with the date
of May 29, 2013 sent to me by post regarding the exclusion of only
SSR Justyna Dałkowska [district court judge]. A petition to exclude
other district court judges was not accepted. On July 24, 2013 were
issued 2 court decision: upon the first decision, my petition to
exclude SSR Justyna Dałkowska [district court judge] (I filed
lawsuits against her) from trying the case II K 94/12 was not
accepted and ,upon the second decision, the court proceedings were
discontinued. On August 19, 2013 I sent by post an effective
complaint against a court decision of July 24, 2013 regarding the
discontinuation of court proceedings.
On
August 11, 2013 I sent a letter to the Regional Court in Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division with multiple motivated petitions, i.e.
regarding the exclusion of SSO Eliza Proniewska [district court
judge] (she signed a court verdict to my detriment, a verdict of the
Regional Court in Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division of January 25, 2012, file number X Ka
1322/12, that infringed upon my human rights) and SSO Agnieszka
Zakrzewska (she signed a court decision of the Regional Court in
Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division of January 19, 2010, file number X Kz
1030/09 that certified untruth to my detriment). Those district court
judges, later on, signed a court decision of November 19, 2013 to my
detriment in which they stated that the District Court did not carry
out the court proceedings and evidence taking and, as a result, in
light of the court procedure law, there was no justification for
summoning B. as a witness. Also, the Regional Court in Warsaw stated
that the evidence collected in a court case with the file number X K
1342/10 in which a final judgment was issued verified the veracity of
testimonies given by the witness who in the foregoing case is the
defendant. The petitions found in a letter with the date of November
11, 2013 regarding the transfer of court proceedings to a different
court than the Regional Court in Warsaw and any other court that this
court supervises and the exclusion of all the judges of the District
Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście and the Regional Court in Warsaw
were not accepted.
The
Regional Court in Warsaw orders me to pay PLN 200 and charges me with
the court costs. As far as the court order of November 29, 2013 is
concerned , all the court costs are settled by my father who is
almost 80 years old and is ill (1st
disability class) as I cannot afford paying those court costs as I
have been fined multiple times by the District Court for Warszawa
Śródmieście and Regional Court in Warsaw, which is the result of
infringing on my human rights.
In
a court case that was heard by the Regional Court for Warszawa -
Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal division, pursuant to article 212 § 1 of the Polish
Criminal Code, I was found guilty based on untrue testimonies given
by Emilia B.. When I filed a private prosecution indictment act in
the same District Court for Warszawa - Śródmieście, 2nd
Criminal Division, file number II K 94/12(other legal remedies were
ineffective), based on the same article, i.e. article 212 § 1 of the
Polish Criminal Code, the main legal proceedings were not carried
out, evidence was not taken, petitions as to evidence were not
considered, and , as a result, the proceedings were discontinued,
which shows unequal treatment before the law.
/linki/
February
27, 2015
Ireneusz
Wojczuk
(date
and signature of the author of the complaint)
*** attach as many
pages as necessary for the creation of full description
Warszawa,
January 25th,
2012
Regional Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście
X Criminal Justice
ul. Marszałkowska 82
00-517 Warszawa
Private prosecutor: Registry Office
Ireneusz Wojczuk Regional Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście
00-517
Warszawa, ul. Marszałkowska 82
Date:
January 27th,
2012
No. ................. Signature............ Time
..............
The Bill of Indictment
against Emilia B.
residing: ul. P. ... m. ..., W. ...
for having accused Ireneusz Wojczuk of writing anonymous
letters, which has resulted in humiliation of the Private Prosecutor
in the public opinion and has exposed him to the loss of respect,
which is essential for performance of the art historian and the
museologist profession, and also the professions of the expert
witness and for performance of holding the managing position in
Culture
Department,
i.e.
for
the offence Art. 212 the Penal
Code
JUSTIFICATION
Emilia B. testified evidence in the Regional Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście,
ref. XK 1342/10, on
May 31st,
2011 page 713
that:
quote: ''SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)''.
As the result of the slander, I do not longer work as
the art historian, the museologist, the expert witness and I do not
longer hold the managing position in Culture Department.
I am filing for questioning B. as the witness due to the
knowledge that the witness possesses that Ireneusz Wojczuk does not
longer work as the art historian, the museologist, the expert witness
and does not longer hold the managing position in Culture Department
in relation to the slander of Ireneusz Wojczuk as he has written the
anonymous letters.
Emilia
B. April 20th,
2012
ul. P. ... m. ... To:
W. ... The Regional Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście
in Warszawa
II Criminal Department
ul. Marszałkowska 82
00-517 Warszawa
Ref. II K 94/12
THE RESPONSE FOR THE BILL INDICMENT
In
relation to the bill of indicment, received on April 18th,
2012, on the basis of the article 338 paragraph 2 of the Code of
Criminal Proceedings, as the response to the bill of indicment of the
ref. above, by the private prosecutor Ireneusz Wojczuk against Emilia
B. as of the crime on the basis of the article 212 paragraph 1 of the
Criminal Code of the crime of slander – the defendant Emilia B.
claims the action she is accused of is not a crime.
Due to the above, the defendant requests for:
- the adjudication of the proceedings on the basis of the article 17 paragraph 1 p. 2 of the Code of Criminal Proceedings,
- charging the private prosecutor Ireneusz Wojczuk – on the basis of the article 632 p. 1 of the Code of Criminal Proceedings,
- taking into account the documentation evidence, that is the proceedings act from the court proceedings ref. X K 1342 / 10, taking place in the X Criminal Department of the Regional Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście in Warszawa
JUSTIFICATION
The
private prosecutor Ireneusz Wojczuk accuses Emilia B. of the fact
that the defendant has committed the crime of slander, defined in the
article 212 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, that is unjustified
slander. The defendant committed the crime – according to the
private prosecutor – while testifying evidence as a witness during
the court proceedings on May 31st,
2011 ref. X K 1342/10, taking place in the Criminal Department of the
Regional Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście in Warszawa.
The
defendant claims that the allegation, made by the private prosecutor,
is unjustified. The defendant indeed testified on May 31st
, 2011 in the X Criminal Department of the Regional Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście, in which the private prosecutor has been
(and still is) the defendant. The private prosecutor in that
proceedings is the Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship, in which the
defendant is employed. In that proceedings Ireneusz Wojczuk is
accused by the former employer of the crime as in the article 212 of
the Criminal Code.
The proceedings have been conducted since 2008 and still
in the court of first instance. The defendant Emilia B. has been a
witness in the proceedings. The verdict has not been issued yet.
The
defendant informs that, as far as she knows, that the activity in a
case of the defamation crime relies on slander, in other words, to
humiliate someone in the public opinion or to expose them to the
public trust lost, for the profession or job being hold. In the
defendant's opinion, the act of revealing the circumstance to be able
to humiliate the individual or without the will to humiliate or harm
them, excludes any signs of a crime (the court verdict from April
18th
1934 on the basis of 3K 306/34 EC 1934, z. 11, p. 242). The evidence
does not constitute the crime if it is false and slanding, but
without the witness being aware of the fact of the untrue testimony.
The
form of the testimony evidence given by the defendant (the witness)
Emilia B., in the proceedings ref. X 1342/10 on May 31st,
2011 shows that the testimony were not an attempt to humiliate the
private prosecutor I. Wojczuk or if they resulted from the witness's
responsibilities and her knowledge in the field. Even if one were to
consider that the defendant's actions were a crime, the article 213
paragraph of the Criminal Code, however, in accordance with the
article 212 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, which would be applied
here, does not commit a crime the individual who in public accuses a
defendant or serves to gain the public interest. The private
prosecutor, Ireneusz Wojczuk, in included in the group of public
people, since he was not only the legal expert and he also was the
Manager of the Department of Science and Hunting in the Museum of
Hunting and Horsemanship until 2008, in other words till he was the
employee of the above Museum, having the status of the national
institution of culture.
In
this proceedings, there is a very significant fact that the court
case ref. XK 1342/1, in which Emilia B. testified at the proceedings
on May 31st,
2011, was not completed because so far no verdict has been made. That
court should assess if the witness's testimony is relevant (in the
proceedings ref. X K 1342/10). Therefore, no other court, apart from
that one, the proceeding take place in, is not entitled to evaluate
the witness's testimony.
The justification of considering the evidence from the
documents, the acts of the proceedings ref. X K 1342/10 there is a
need for the court to get familiar with the entire Emilia B.'s
testimony in that proceedings when the criminal proceedings of
Ireneusz Wojczuk took place. I. Wojczuk included selective parts of
Emilia B.'s testimony, making it biased. It should not be like that.
Concluding – as for the action Emilia B. is accused of
by the private prosecutor Ireneusz Wojczuk is not a crime. The court,
on the basis of the article 17 paragraph 1 p. 2 of the Code of
Criminal Proceedings should cancel the proceedings.
Ref. II K 94/12
THE PROTOCOL OF THE PROCEEDINGS
October
2nd,
2012
The Regional Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście in
Warszawa II Criminal Department made of:
The Judge Justyna Koska-Janusz
The secretary: Tomasz Popis
with the participation of the Prosecutor – the
notified did not appear
After having reviewed the proceedings with the
participation of the defendant Emilia B. accused of the crime on the
basis of the article 212 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code pursuant to
the article 339 paragraph 3 p. 1 of the Code of Criminal Proceedings.
The court has decided the following:
1/ on the basis of the article 17 paragraph 1 p. 2 of
the Code of Criminal Proceedings to adjudice the criminal
proceedings,
2/
on the basis of the article 98 paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal
Proceedings suspend creating the justification until October 9th,
2012
Ref. II K 94/12
THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE DECISION OF THE REGIONAL
COURT FOR WARSZAWA-ŚRÓDMIEŚCIE IN WARSZAWA ON OCTOBER 2ND, 2012
The defendant Emilia B. has been accused by Ireneusz
Wojczuk that she has committed the crime of slander by testifying
that he might have been the author of anonyms what has humiliated the
private prosecutor in the public opinion and has exposed him to lose
the public trust necessary to perform the jobs of art historian, the
museologist, the expert witness and holidng the managing post in the
Culture Department, that is the crime on the basis of the article 212
paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.
The court has stated and decided the following:
1/
On May 31st,
2012 Emilia B. was investigated as a witness in the legal proceedings
against Ireneusz Wojczuk in the Regional Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście in Warsaw in X Criminal Department ref. 1342
/ 10 of the action defined in the article 212 paragraph 1 of the
Criminal Code. She said: SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION
page 77
Subject to criminal liability, pursuant to article 212 §
1 of the Polish Criminal Code, is a person who defames another
person, a group of people, an institution, a legal person or an
unincorporated legal person by making statements or claims that may
debase such a person in the public opinion or subject this person to
the loss of trust that is necessary for the occupation of a given
position, performing a given profession or activity. The crime of
defamation belongs to the category of intentional crimes that may be
committed with direct intent (dolus directus)
or due to recklessness (dolus
eventualis). The perpetrator of an unlawful
act, therefore, has to be aware that his/her statement bears a
defamatory claim towards another person, a group of people, an
institution, a legal person or an unincorporated legal person.
Furthermore, he/she has to realize that mentioning or dissemination
of such a claim may potentially subject the entity it regards to
debasement in the public opinion or subject him/her/it to the loss of
trust indispensible for the occupation of a given position,
performing a given profession or type of activity. As far as the
willingness to commit a given act is concerned, the perpetrator
should want to debase an entity or subject this entity to the loss of
trust or when being aware of the consequences, decides not to act
differently.
When transposing the aforementioned remarks to the case
at hand, in the Court opinion, there are no grounds to claim that
Emilia B., the defendant, had an intention of slandering Ireneusz
Wojczuk. It should be noted that the defendant, when formulating
those statements, was giving testimonies as a witness, which obliged
her to give those testimonies and make the facts referring to the
case known to the general public.
The subject of the prior criminal court proceedings was
determination of the identity of the perpetrator causing defamation
by sending anonymous letters to various institutions. The defendant,
being then heard as a witness, gave testimonies as to in what
circumstances the assumptions that the private prosecution was the
author of the anonymous letters were made as well as the grounds for
making such assumptions. When giving those testimonies, Emilia B.
gave an account of the circumstances regarding the factual state of
affairs as of 2008, and, in particular, the fact of having had a
conversation with Director Olech and the conclusions drawn on the
basis of this conversation. Doing so, which was giving testimonies
about the events of 2008, in the Court opinion, cannot be treated as
an intention to debase the private prosecution in the public opinion.
It needs to be further noted that in the case of an act
causing defamation that was committed non-publicly, a deliberate
intent has to encompass the untruthfulness of the charge. In this
case, in Court’s opinion, the defendant acts “non-publicly” as
the statements that the private prosecution contends were made during
a court trial in camera. In this place, the expressions of “publicly”
and “in a public place” have to be treated as having different
meaning. According to the Supreme Court of Poland’s resolution of
September 20, 1973 that was adopted by 7 judges (VI KZP 26/73, OSNKW
1973, nr 11, poz. 132) [6th
Criminal Chamber 26/73, Criminal and Military Decisions of the
Supreme Court of 1973, no. 11, item 132] “acting in public (…)
takes place when either due to the place in which an action occurs or
due to the circumstances and the way of the perpetrator acts his/her
behavior is or can be perceived (seen) by an unspecified group of
people, and the perpetrator, being aware of this possibility, decides
to act in a given manner regardless of possible consequences”. At
this moment, it needs to be noted that, contrary to court trials that
the general public has access to, court trials held in camera may be
accessed by a very limited group of people (art. 361 § 1 of the
Polish Code of Criminal Procedure), and those persons are obliged to
observe professional secrecy as to the circumstances disclosed during
court proceedings held in camera. Due to this reason, the requirement
of there being an unspecified group of people that could familiarize
themselves with the content of the court proceedings has not been
met. The notion of “publicly” does not pertain to the place, but
to the situation that cannot be perceived in
abstracto but always has to be treated in
concreto, and in this case, during the court
trial in question, except for the defendant, were present also the
private prosecution’s attorney ad litem and the Court represented
by a judge that made a ruling in the case at hand. In conclusion,
acting in public obviously has a public character, but an opposite
situation cannot be excluded, which consists in having a non-public
character despite of taking place in a public place.
Therefore, in a situation when a given person made or
disseminated an allegation non-publicly which turned out to not to be
true, but when he/she when a given claim was convinced of the
veracity of the claim, the notion of action under mistaken
circumstances applies as to a prohibited act provided for in the
article 28 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code.
Consequently,
such a person does not bear criminal liability for a crime described
in article 212 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code regardless of whether
a mistake is justified or not. The Polish Criminal Code does not
provide for an unintentional crime of defamation (vide A. Jaskuła,
Legal regulations
as to the features of a prohibited act in the Polish Criminal Code
and selected European countries,
Journal of Criminal Code and Penal Sciences of 1999, item 2, p. 150).
Pursuant to article 17 § 1 paragraph 2 of the Polish
Code of Criminal Procedure, a legal action is not started, and if it
is started, it shall be discontinued if a given act does not contain
the features of an unlawful act or when, according to the law, a
perpetrator does not commit a crime. Bearing this in mind, the act of
the defendant did not contain the features of an unlawful act and,
consequently, the criminal proceedings had to be discontinued.
Warsaw,
October 25, 2012
Ireneusz Wojczuk
District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście
2nd Criminal Division
82 Marszałkowska street
00-517 Warsaw
File reference II K 94/ 12
Complaint against decision of October 2, 2012
Contrary to the facts found in justification, it is
stated that [citation] “there are no grounds to claim that the
defendant Emilia B. had an intention to debase Mr. Ireneusz Wojczuk”.
Let me remind that the defendant testified before the District Court
for Warszawa-Śródmieście, file reference no. XK1342/10, May 31,
2011, PAGE 713 that [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
Later on, PAGE 713, when giving testimonies, she said [citation]
“SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”. The
defendant irrationally slanders me for just the sake of doing so,
PAGE 716, [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”
In the justification, it is noted that subject to a criminal
liability is a person who defames another by making claims that a
given person acts in a certain way or has characteristics that may
subject him/her to the loss of necessary trust for a given position,
profession or type of activity.
It
is appropriately mentioned in the justification that the defendant
when giving testimonies as a witness was obliged to [citation] “make
the facts about that case known to the court”, but the defendant,
based on her “subjective whim”, for the sake of just doing so,
defamed me by saying [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)” PAGE 717
she testified that [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”,
perfectly realizing that her actions were defamatory and being aware
of the responsibility, PAGE 716, she added [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
I
was groundlessly slandered, defamed, and humiliated by Emilia B.
before the court, who, in the Court’s opinion, [citation] “acted
non-publicly”, which does not correspond to the factual state of
affairs, because, as a result, I was humiliated in the public
opinion, which subjected me to the loss of trust necessary for the
profession of an art historian (the defendant is also an art
historian), for the profession of a museum employee [the defendant is
also a museum emplyee], a court expert witness (the defendant
slandered me in the presence of a judge, attorney, and a recording
clerk; false, groundless accusations are spread between the courts; I
am constantly informed thereof by lawyers and expert witnesses, which
also translates to the lack of work opportunities in the capacity of
a court expert witness ), as well as it prevents me from holding
managerial posts in the Ministry of Culture (the defendant, PAGE 718,
said [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
In
the justification, article 28 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code was
referred to which does not apply due to the fact that an accusation
became publically known, and the defendant, as stated above, realized
that the accusations did not match the reality and were irrational.
I,
therefore, allege that the criminal procedure law was breached, i.e.
article 7 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure in relation to
article 339 § 3 section 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure,
by carrying-out substantive evaluation of the factual state of
affairs presented in an indictment and finding the basis for the
discontinuation of criminal proceedings described in article 17 §
1, section 2 without carrying-out the submission and evaluation of
evidence, which resulted in adoption of wrong factual basis for the
contested court decision.
I,
hereby, notify of a possibility of committing a crime described in
article 271 § 1, § 3 and article 231 § 1, § 2 of the Polish Code
of Criminal Procedure by SSR Jusyna Koska - Janusz (district court
judge) who, in the justification, calls Mr. Olech a director and does
not mention the reporting clerk as present during the court trial.
Due
to a lawsuit of September 24, 2012, confirmation of receipt date of
September 24, 2012, against Anna Mizak I, hereby, request to exclude
Anna Mizak from the proceedings that I am a party to, who just in the
period between July 26, 2012 and August 28, 2012 managed to issue 5
court decisions to my detriment in the 2nd
Division and 10th
Division of the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście.
Against
State Treasury represented by the President of the District Court in
Warsaw (file reference VI C 1302/12, 6th
Civil Division of the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście) and
State Treasury represented by the President of Regional Court in
Warsaw court proceedings were initiated based on a lawsuit of August
6, 2012, confirmation of receipt date of August 6, 2012.
In
relation to the lawsuit of July 20, 2012, confirmation of receipt
date of July 23, 2012, against Maciej Gruszczyński (the President of
the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście, proceedings with file
reference number VIC1842/12, 6th
Civil Division of the District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście I,
hereby, request to transfer the case to a different court than the
District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście.
By
way of the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 6th
Civil Division’s decision of September 7, 2012 (file reference
VIC1402/12), for the court proceedings initiated by me, the President
of the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście and the President
of the Regional Court in Warsaw were called to participate in the
court proceedings in the capacity of organizational units of State
Treasury. Because of this, and in order to avoid partiality and lack
of objectivism I, hereby, request to refer the case to a different
court than the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście and, at the
same time, to refer the case to a different court than the Regional
Court in Warsaw and any other courts that the this court supervises.
For the above reasons, I request that the case
be transferred to a different court than the District Court for
Warszawa Śródmieście and, at the same time, I request that the
case be referred to a different court than the Regional Court in
Warsaw and any other courts that this court supervises.
Due
to article 6, section 3.d of Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms stating that [citation] “Everyone
charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum
rights: [..] to
examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the
attendance and
examination of
witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses
against him”,
being infringed upon as far as I am concerned by the District Court
for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division, file reference XK 1342/10, I request to refer the
case to a different court than the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście. It was exactly in this case that Mr. Stefan
Jan Olech perpetrated an act described in Article 212 § 1 of the
Criminal Code.
For
the above reasons, I request that the case be referred to a different
court than the Regional Court in Warsaw and any other courts that
this court supervises.
File
reference X Kz 2289/12
COURT DECISION
of January 10, 2013
Regional
Court for Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division comprised of:
Chairman:
SO Wanda Jankowska - Bebeszko (Regional Court Judge)
Judges:
SO Małgorzata Beata Janicz
(Judge Rapporteur)
SSO
Piotr Bojarczuk (Regional Court Judge)
Reporting
clerk: Court Reporting Clerk - Apprentice Monika Parda
as
a result of
a
complaint filed by the private prosecution
against
the District Court’s decision for Warszawa-Śródmieście
of
October 2, 2012,
regarding
discontinuation
of court proceedings
pursuant
to article 437 § of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure
decides to
repeal
the contested decision and refer the case to back for an adjudication
to the District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście in Warsaw.
Justification
The
complaint filed by the private prosecution turned out to be justified
and caused annulment of the decision of trial court as well as the
referral of the case back to the trial court for an adjudication.
While not determining the result of the renewed court proceedings in
the foregoing case, the Criminal Court of Appeal found that the
justification of the decision of October 2, 2012 is not subject to
instance supervision as the basis for discontinuation of the
proceedings does not result from the decision, even though several
important aspects were mentioned therein.
It
should be remembered that a substantial part of the justification
should be proper presentation of Court reasoning causing issuing a
decision in a given manner, and in the foregoing case, the Court did
not manage to meet these requirements.
The
Regional Court’s doubts are further raised by the evidence material
on which the foregoing decision was issued. It is true that the
District Court had at its disposal the case files no. XK 1342/10, but
its consequence was the attachment of the certified copy of court
trial minutes of May 31, 2012 during which the defendant did not give
testimonies. It is also true that later on the copy of proper minutes
of May 31, 2014 of the same case were attached to the case files, but
the minutes in question were photocopied whose compliance with the
original was not certified, they did not have signatures of the judge
and the reporting clerk, and were probably attached to the case files
by the private prosecution itself.
Bearing
in mind the above irregularities and presuming that it is premature
to refer to the substantive issues of the complaint, the Regional
Court has decided as set out at the beginning of the foregoing
decision.
II
K 94/12
COURT DECISION
This 24th day of July, 2013
District
Court for Warszawa Śródmieście, 2nd
Criminal Division, case heard by:
Presiding
Judge: SSR Justyna Dałkowska (District Court Judge)
Reporting
Clerk: Krzysztof Głuszkowski
having
heard, during a sitting on July 24, 2013,
the
case of Emilia B.
accused
based on the article 212 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code
in
regard to discontinuation of the proceedings
based
on article 17 § 1 section 2 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure
and article 632 section 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure
decides
1. based on article 17 § 1 section 2 of the Polish Code
of Criminal Proceedings, to discontinue the court proceedings in the
foregoing case
2. based on article 632 section 1 of the Polish Code of
Criminal Proceedings, that the settled costs of the court proceedings
be borne by the private prosecution
Justification
Emilia B. was accused by
Ireneusz Wojczuk of defaming him on May 31, 2012 by saying that he
had written anonymous letters, which humiliated the private
prosecution in the public opinion and subjected him to the loss of
trust necessary for performing the profession of an art historian, a
museum employee, an expert witness as well as prevented him from the
occupation of a managerial position in the Ministry of Culture, which
constitutes an act under article 212 § 1 of the Polish Code of
Criminal Procedure.
The Court has held the
following:
In the Court’s opinion,
the act that Emilia B. has been accused of does not meet the criteria
of an act described in article 212 § of the Polish Criminal Code.
Pursuant to article 212 §
1 of the Polish Criminal Code, a person is subject to criminal
liability who defames another person by saying that this person acts
in certain way or has certain characteristics that may debase him/her
in the public opinion or subject him/her to the loss of trust
necessary for a given position, profession or type of activity.
A legal interest protected by criminal law based on the
article commented on is honor. Commonly honor is referred to as
respect, acknowledgement, recognition, but it also has another
meaning that corresponds to cult, adoration, and in that sense
normally, is not normally subject to criminal protection. There is a
duality in the understanding of the term “honor”, i.e. in an
external aspect (objective scope) and internal aspect (subjective
scope). When honor is referred to in an external aspect, one has in
mind the value that a given person has in the eyes of other people
(social importance of a human being), but as far as an internal
aspect of honor is concerned, the sense of one’s own dignity is
referred to (internal value a person represents in his/her eyes). In
the case of article 212 of the Polish Criminal Code, the subject of
protection is the external aspect of honor (objective scope).
Pursuant to this article, a concrete natural person may possibly be
slandered. Penalized behavior which was described in article 212 §
of the Polish Criminal Code has been defined in broad terms by way of
use of the expression “slanders”. In order to conduct the correct
interpretation of the normative meaning of a legal classification of
an unlawful act, a reference to the of system of values that
functions in the society needs to be made. According to an
explanation that can be found in a dictionary, to “slander” means
to “accuse somebody of something, ascribe something to somebody, to
fault somebody with something” without valid grounds. Due to the
lack of normative constraints, it should be construed that the act of
defamation can be conducted in any form that allows for the passing
of information to another person. The act of defamation may refer to
a certain type of acting (for instance carrying-out a crime,
conducting immoral life) or having certain characteristics (for
instance alcoholism, drug addiction, mental disease, sexual
deviation) that may defame a person in the public opinion or subject
this person to the loss of trust necessary for occupation of a given
position, conducting a certain profession or a type of activity.
Attributes of an offence cannot be ascribed to the fact whether
certain actions caused the results described in the law. Article 212
§ 1 of the Polish Criminal Code does not mention defamation in a
general sense, but specifically mentions “defamation in the public
opinion”, which means that the article in question does not refer
to hurting personal feelings of the wronged party, but rather how a
defamed person will be perceived by a broad, unspecified group of
people. Punishable is defamation that may cause humiliation of a
given person in the opinion of other people or that may end up in a
given person being considered humiliated. According to the
established case law and legal doctrine, remarks and opinions
formulated as part of scientific, artistic or professional critique
as well as actions and duties (for instance reports of treasury
control office, police reports, opinions about subordinate employees)
conducted as part of one’s professional activity do not meet the
criteria of defamation unless those remarks and opinion are not true
and the person who disseminates them is aware of their lack of
veracity and the perpetrator wants to compromise someone’s
reputation or undermine the trust to a defamed person (compare the
verdict of the Supreme court of May 23, 2012, V KKN 435/00,
declaration in the scope of law and prosecution 2003, no. 6, item 5).
Expressions
made when exercising rights under one’s authority (for instance
notification of commission of a crime by somebody) that are related
to fulfillment of one’s legal responsibility (for instance giving
testimonies as a witness, lodging written observations during a court
trial) as well as exercising one’s right to defense do not
constitute defamation. The crime of defamation can be committed in a
basic or aggravated type, which in turn can be committed with a
direct intent (dolus directus) as well as a result of recklessness
(dolus eventualis). The perpetrator of a forbidden act has to,
therefore, be aware that the statement he/she makes involves a
defamatory claim directed at another person, group of people, an
institution, a legal person or an incorporated unit without legal
capacity. At the same time, he/she has to be aware that making such a
claim or dissemination thereof may potentially subject an entity it
regards to humiliation and debasement in the public opinion or the
loss of trust necessary for occupation of a given position,
performing a profession or certain type of activity. As far as the
aspect of voluntary action is concerned, the perpetrator should want
to humiliate a given entity or subject him/her/it to the loss of
trust or accept consequences thereof being aware of the lack of
veracity of a defamatory claim he/she makes. In the case of
defamation committed non-publicly, the perpetrator’s intent should
refer to the lack of veracity of a defamatory claim being made.
Article 213 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code complements the type of
a prohibited act described in article 212 § 1 of the Polish Criminal
Code with a feature of truthfulness of a certain claim. In a
situation when a given person made or disseminated a claim
non-publicly, which turned out not to be true, but when making such a
claim, he/she was not aware of the lack of compliance thereof with
the actual state of affairs, the notion of acting under a mistake
applies as to the circumstances constituting a feature of a forbidden
act under article 28 § of the Polish Criminal Code. Consequently,
such a person does not bear criminal liability for a crime under
article 212 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code regardless of whether a
mistake was justified or not as the Polish Criminal Code does not
provide for a crime of defamation committed unintentionally.
When
transposing the above contemplations to the foregoing case, it has to
be clearly stated that there are no doubts as to the fact that Emilia
B. on May 31, 2012,when giving testimonies against Ireneusz Wojczuk
as a witness regarding the court case with a file number X K 1342/10
tried by the District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście in Warsaw,
10th Criminal
Division,
said
that “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
As
mentioned above, the features of a crime described in article 212 §
1 of the Polish Criminal Code constitute defamation of another person
in the public opinion, i.e. the way in which a defamed person will be
perceived by a broad, unspecified group of people. This condition has
not been met in the foregoing case as Emilia B. expressed the words
she has been accused of in the indictment act during a court trial
which was tried by the District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście in
Warsaw, X Criminal Division on May 31, 2011 with a file number X K
1342/10. It also has to be mentioned that the court proceedings were
held in camera so, as a result, the content of the testimonies given
by Emilia B. might have possibly reached only a concrete small group
of people. Also, it has to be clearly stated that the persons
participating in the hearing were authorized to take part therein
pursuant to article 361 § 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal
Procedure. Such persons are obliged to keep in secrecy any
circumstances regarding court proceedings held in camera. It has to
be underlined that the behavior described as public cannot be
classified as such only because it took place in a public place.
Acting publicly cannot be perceived as being equivalent to acting in
a public place.
For the above reasons, in the Court’s opinion, in the
foregoing case, the defendant’s actions can be seen as having only
a non-public character. But for this feature to be valid, the
perpetrator has to act with intent and he/she has to be aware of the
lack of veracity of the claim being made.
In
the Court’s opinion, actions on the part of Emilia B. cannot be
seen as being done with intent as the defendant was giving her
testimonies in the court case heard by the District Court for
Warszawa Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION) For the
above reasons, it is difficult to claim that the defendant was making
any defamatory statements, and even more so, untrue statements, and
neither can it be said that her actions were done with intent. As has
been already said, the defendant was making the statements challenged
by the private prosecution when she participated in the court case X
K 1342/10 as a witness. Also, It has to be stated that she was giving
her testimonies, having taken a vow of truth pursuant to article 188
§ 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as having been
informed of the criminal responsibility for giving false testimonies
pursuant to article 233 § 1 of the Polish Criminal Code and,
consequently, she was obliged to “to say the only truth and not
hide anything that she was aware of.” For the above reasons, in the
Court’s opinion, there are no grounds to state that the untrue
claims were made by the defendant with intent.
Also,
it has to be stated that, even if the actions of the defendant met
the features of the act she has been accused of, her actions would
not constitute a crime as, pursuant to a verdict of the Polish
Supreme Court of March 9, 1934, file number III K 469/33, “there
are some types of statements that have to be distinguished, but they
are not unlawful and, therefore, they do not constitute a crime. To
the group of those statements belong among other things: (…)
statements made when performing a duty under the public law. (…) To
the group of such statements will belong any statements that an
entity is obliged to make as a result of the binding law, such as,
for instance, testimonies given to the police, in a court of law (…).
There are not doubts as to the fact that this is the case in the
foregoing case.
For
the above reasons, the Court came to a conclusion that there are no
grounds to state that the defendant’s actions met the features of
an unlawful act described in article 212 § 1 of
the Polish Criminal Code and the court proceedings have to be
discontinued pursuant to article 17 § 1 item 2 of the Polish Code of
Criminal Procedure as it has been found that the defendant actions
have not met the criteria of an unlawful act.
Decision
as to the court costs is a consequence of the decision to discontinue
the proceedings.
For the above reasons, the Court has issued a decision as said first
above.
Warsaw,
August 15, 2013
Ireneusz Wojczuk
District Court for Warszawa - Śródmieście
2nd Criminal Division
ul. Marszałkowska 82
00-517 Warszawa
File
number IIK94/12
Complaint
against a decision of July 24, 2013 on discontinuation of the
proceedings
A
request to summon B. as a witness has not been considered [indictment
act].
A
request (my letter of May 1, 2013) to exclude all judges of the
District Court for Warszawa - Śródmieście has not been considered.
Attached to the files is the decision of the Regional Court in
Warsaw, 10th Criminal Appeal Division, file number X ko99/13 , which
excluded the judges of the District Court for Warszawa - Śródmieście
and refers the case for trial to a different court of the same level.
A
request (my letter of May 1, 2013) to attach to the files of the
foregoing case the files of the case tried by the District Court for
Warszawa - Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division, file number XK1342/10 regarding the parts of a
justification cited below of the court decision with the file number
XK1342/10 of July 26,2012, PAGE 15, citation: “E. B. underlined
that it was her who marked out Ireneusz Wojczuk as a potential author
of the letters”.
There
has been no notification of the change of content of court decision
of July 24, 2013 regarding exclusion of a judge.
I
demand that the minutes of a court meeting of July 24, 2013 be
changed by addition of [citation] “The
District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście, 2nd
Criminal Division, in a court decision of November 2, 2012,
discontinues the court proceedings regarding the court case with the
file number IIK 94/12 pursuant to article 17 § 1 section 2 of the
Polish Code of Criminal Procedure. The Regional Court in Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Decision, in a court decision of January 1, 2013, repeals
the above-mentioned court decision and refers the case back for an
adjudication to the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście in
Warsaw. The court proceedings are again discontinued by the same
District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście pursuant to the same
article 17 § 1 section 2 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure.
“
The
District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 2nd
Criminal Division, in a court decision of October 2, 2012,
discontinues the proceedings regarding a court case with the file
number IIK 94/12 pursuant to article 17 § 1 section 2 of the Polish
Code of Criminal Procedure. The Regional Court in Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Division, in a court decision of January 10, 2013 repeals
the above-mentioned court decision and refers the base back for an
adjudication to the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście. The
proceedings in the case were discontinued pursuant to article 17 §
section 2 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure by the same
District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście which did not carry out
the necessary court proceedings.
I,
hereby, allege that the relevant stipulations of the criminal
procedure, i.e. article 7 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure in
relation to article 339 § 3 section 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal
Procedure, were not observed in that the substantive analysis
presented in the indictment act regarding the factual basis was
carried out on the basis of which the decision to discontinue
proceedings was made due to the grounds described by article 17 § 1
section 2 of the Polish Criminal Code without taking appropriate
evidence, which resulted in adoption of the wrong factual basis for
the challenged court decision.
The
District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division (file number X K 1342/10) and the Regional Court
for Warszawa-Śródmieście in Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division (file number X Ka 1322/12) acting in the
interest of the private prosecutor of the said Museum of Hunting and
Horsemanship in Warsaw:
a) failed to hear A., K., B.,
and J., which I petitioned about and whose declarations
previously attached to the files of the court case number XK 1342/10
exclude a possibility of my sending envelopes with a post office
stamp of November 28, 2007 and March 10, 2008. The hearing of the
witnesses is of key importance to the foregoing case. Not hearing
those witnesses is contradictory to my right to defend myself and
infringes upon article 6 section 3d of Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ,
which states that [citation] “Everyone
charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights: […]
d. to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain
the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the
same conditions as witnesses against him; The
court heard the testimonies of 4 witnesses of private prosecution
employee’s.
b) dismissed all of my motions as to evidence
c) did not consider motions mentioned in the appeal.
In a court case heard before the District Court for
Warszawa - Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division, file number X K 1342/10. The court heard the
evidence of the private prosecution employees that the private
prosecution petitioned about, including Emilia B. among others.
Emilia B., in the interest of her employer being the private
prosecution in a court case with the file number X K 1342/10,
slandered me, defamed me, humiliated me with an attempt to accuse so
I was punished , which I demonstrated in the justification of the
indictment act IIK94/12 and which was referred to later on in the
justification to the court verdict of July 26, 2012, PAGE 15,
[citation] “E.
B., underlined that it was her who indicated Ireneusz Wojczuk as a
potential author of anonymous letters” This
is not true, PAGE 714 says [passage], “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”
PAGE 717 says [citation], “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”
Ms. Emilia B. slandered my by saying that I had written anonymous
letters without knowing their content as Mr. Piotr Świda ..., PAGE
713, [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
B., PAGE 1067, A., PAGE 1065, K., PAGE 1066, J., PAGE 1068, signed
true court statements which involved such statements as [citation]
“Ireneusz Wojczuk is a trustworthy person.
Ireneusz Wojczuk does not use and has never used words such as “deal”
or “perks” [both informal expressions in Polish]. Ireneusz
Wojczuk has never spoken poorly of Piotr Świda. Ireneusz Wojczuk has
never spoken poorly of the Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship in
Warsaw.”
Mr. Piotr Świda (director of the private prosecution
and a person to whom Emilia B. responds and covered from him during
his absence), long before the court verdicts in the case with the
file number X K 1342/10, declared his own verdict regarding my
authorship of the anonymous letters sent to his supervisor in the
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Mr. Jacek Miler, by saying
[citation] “the person who initiated this
correspondence, i.e. Mr. Ireneusz Wojczuk because of his
unpredictable insinuations during the last two years caused the
Museum as well as many persons and institutions from the public
finance field and me personally a lot of unnecessary and unjustified
work whose value cannot be recovered. I would much appreciate it if
this was taken into account when receiving any other revolutionary
information from Mr. Wojczuk (Office of the
District Prosecutor in Warszawa - Śródmieście, file number
3Ds42/11/KS, PAGE 29].
Emilia
B. has an intention of slandering Ireneusz Wojczuk. Let me remind
that the defendant testified before the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście, file number XK1342/1 of May 31, 2015, PAGE
713, [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
Later on, PAGE 713, she testified, citation: “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”.
The defendant irrationally slanders me for the sake of just doing so
as well as of writing anonymous letters by stating that, PAGE 716,
[citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”
Subject to criminal liability provided for in article 212 § 1 of the
Polish Criminal Code is subject a person who accuses another person
of certain actions or characteristics who can humiliate him/her in
the public opinion or subject him/her to the loss of trust necessary
for the occupation of a certain profession or a type of activity.
Emilia B., when giving testimonies as a witness, was
obliged to [citation] „make facts known
regarding that case”, but instead Emilia
B., at whim, for the sake of just slandering me, defamed me
[citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”, PAGE
717, she testified [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”,
perfectly realizing that her actions were defamatory towards me and
being aware of the consequences, she, PAGE 716, testified [citation]
“SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)”
I
was slandered, defamed and humiliated by Emilia B. before the court
who, in the court’s opinion, acted “non-publicly”, which does
not correspond to reality because I, as a result of slandering,
became debased in the public opinion, which subjected me to the loss
of trust necessary for the profession of an art historian (the
defendant is also an art historian), a museum employee (the defendant
is also a museum employee), an expert witness (the defendant
slandered me in the presence of a judge, an attorney, and a recording
clerk - slandering statements spread from court to another, I am
constantly informed about this by lawyers and expert witnesses, lack
of work from courts in the capacity of an expert witness), . At the
same time I cannot occupy a managerial post or any other post in the
Ministry of culture or any other post related to cultural activity
(the defendant, PAGE 718, said [citation] “SECRET
(CLOSED SESSION)” as in
such situations she reports directly to the Ministry of Culture.
An
accusation directed towards me by Emilia B. became disclosed publicly
(a witness was not allowed to give testimonies even though she had
knowledge about the subject). In addition, the defendant, as has been
shown above, perfectly realized that the accusation did not
correspond to reality and was irrational.
Out
of all employees of the private prosecution, i.e. the Museum of
Hunting and Horsemanship, who gave testimonies in a court case with
the file number XK1342/10, i.e. Piotr Świda, Marek M., Stefan Olech,
Sebastian J., it was only Emilia B. who slandered me. Emilia B.’s
attitude to “the letter of law” and modifying in to her own
advantage is perfectly described by the second page of the response
to the lawsuit, [citation] “pursuant to
article 213 § 2 of the Polish Criminal Code which could be applied
here, a person who publicly raises an allegation [missing adjective
as the article actually reads true allegation] related to someone’s
performing a public function or does so in order to protect social
interest does not commit a crime described in article 212 § 1 of the
Polish Criminal Code.” In this passage,
Emilia B. admits herself that she raised an allegation towards me
publicly.
In
a court case before the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście.
10th Criminal
Division (file number X K 1342/10), SSR Urszula Gołębiewska -
Budnik (District Court Judge] acted in a biased manner to my
detriment. Urszula Gołębiewska - Budnik has been recently promoted
to the position of the Vice-President of the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście and all judges of criminal division of this
Court report to her (it is also the case with Justyna Dałkowska
presiding over the case with the file number IIK94/12], which
resulted in bias in the proceedings with the file number IIK94/12 to
my detriment. SSR Magdalena Roszkowska [District Court Judge] in a
letter of December 6, 2010 ordered me to [citation] “repair
the formal deficiencies in the letter of November 10, 2010”
(sent by me via electronic mail on November 10, 2010 and November 14,
2010 to the office for the
handling of complaints and requests of the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście as the title of the electronic mail letter
read “District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście, file number X K
1342/10) by ordering me to “put
a handwritten signature on the letter.”
Attached to the letter of November 10, 2010 [PAGES 542-544] directed
to the President of the 10th
Division was a letter of November 10, 2012 [PAGE 548] directed to the
office for the handling of complaints and requests of the Ministry of
Justice that already had my handwritten signature. SSR Urszula
Gołębiewska-Budnik, by way of a court order of January 27, 2011,
declared my letter of November 10, 2010 ineffective, [citations]
“Ireneusz Wojczuk was ordered to “repair
the formal deficiencies in the above-mentioned letter
[of November 10, 2010] by
putting a handwritten signature on the letter within 7 days as
otherwise the letter would be deemed ineffective, as of now the
formal deficiencies of the letter have not been repaired. In
a letter of October 10, 2011 directed towards the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmieście, 10th
Criminal Division, I requested to attach to the attach to the case
files 9 pages attached to the foregoing letter. Pages 1-7 are the
print-outs of the photographs made by me on October 3, 2012, which
are photographs of Volume III of the case files in which there is
PAGE 548 that was handwritten by me. This is further supported by the
photographs made by me on April 22, 2012 on pages 8-9 that were
attached to the letter of October 10, 2011. Out of all the remaining
volumes of the case with the file number XK 1342/10m only Volume III
is in such a poor condition, with torn covers and easily accessed
string threads. Apart from that, it seems that the picture made on
April 22, 2012, PAGE 548 [PAGE 8, on top], does not have metal
staples, which can be seen on the print-out of a photograph made on
October 3, 2011, PAGE 548 [PAGE 7], PAGES 1116-1124 - photographs of
Volume III.
Against
Urszula Gołębiweska-Budnik court proceedings have been initiated by
me before the Regional Court for Warszawa Praga, which contributes to
the bias of the defendant to my detriment.
Against
Justyna Dałkowska a lawsuit is brought which has been attached to
the case files, which contributes to the bias on the part of the
defendant.
For
the above reasons as well as due to the fact that my human rights are
infringed upon by the District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście,
10th
Criminal Division (file number X K 1342/10) and the Regional Court
in Warsaw, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division (file number X Ka 1322/12) I request that
the case be heard again and referred back for an adjudication by a
different court than the Regional Court in Warsaw and any other
district court that this court supervises.
I
have no doubts that the above-mentioned court proceedings will find
a special and permanent place in the annals of the Polish justice
system.
File
number X Kz2279/13
COURT DECISION
this 19th
day of November, 2013
Regional
Court for Warszawa, 10th
Criminal Appeal Division hearing the case:
Presiding
Judge SSO Krzysztof Chmielewski [Regional
Court Judge] - judge rapporteur
Judges SO
Eliza Proniewska [Regional Court Judge]
SO
Agnieszka Zakrzewska [Regional Court Judge]
having
familiarized themselves with the case of Emilia
B.
accused
of an act described in article 212 § of the
Polish Criminal Code
based
on private prosecution complaint
against
the District Court Decision for Warszawa - Śródmieście of July 24,
2013
in
the matter of discontinuation of the proceedings
pursuant
to article 437 § 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure
decides:
1.
not to accept the complaint and maintain in force the contested court
decision
2.
order the private prosecution, Ireneusz Wojczuk, to pay the amount of
PLN 200 (two hundred Polish zlotys)for the 2nd
instance of the proceedings and charge him with other costs of the
proceedings.
JUSTIFICATION
By
way of a court decision of July 24, 2013 the District Court for
Warszawa - Śródmieście, pursuant to article 17 § section 2 of the
Polish Code of Criminal Procedure, discontinued the court proceedings
in the matter and declared the amount of court costs to be paid (page
237).
The
above judgment was contested by the private prosecution who alleged
that, in the court decision of July 24, 2013, the court procedures
were not observed, i. e. article 7 of the Polish Code of Criminal
Procedure in relation to article 339 § 3 section 1 of the Polish
Code of Criminal Procedure, in that the substantive analysis
presented in the indictment act regarding the factual basis was
carried out on the basis of which the decision to discontinue
proceedings was made due to the grounds described by article 17 § 1
section 2 of the Polish Criminal Code without taking appropriate
evidence, which resulted in adoption of the wrong factual basis for
the challenged court decision.
The
Regional Court held as follows:
The
complaint of the private prosecution is devoid of the legal basis
and, therefore, shall not be accepted.
As
the Supreme Court of Poland noted in a decision of September 13, 2013
issued in a court case with the file number V KK 143/05, “court
proceedings prior to a court trail may be discontinued in a manner
provided for by article 339 § 3 section 1 of the Polish Code of
Criminal Procedure based on article 17 § 1 section 2 of the Polish
Code of Criminal Procedure when it follows from the evidence
collected in pre-trail stage (properly presented with an indictment
act initiated by private prosecution) that the act that the defendant
has been accused of does not have the features of an unlawful act.
Such
a decision has to be based solely on the evidence material as to
which there are no doubts. However, when the collected evidence does
not have explicit meaning and when factual findings regarding
significant circumstances have to be carefully and thoroughly
researched many aspects of the evidence material have to be
inspected, then it is obvious that the court proceedings cannot be
discontinued prior to a court trial.”
When
referring to the foregoing case, the above-mentioned opinion of the
Supreme Court that the District Court fully agrees with, it has to be
stated that the decision to discontinue the court proceedings was not
made prematurely. The District Court did not, however, conduct the
court trial, but it properly found that, based on the collected
material evidence in the case, the defendant’s actions do not have
the features of an unlawful act.
In
the opinion of the court of appeal, the complainant’s allegations
do not challenge the court adjudication and the argumentation of the
Regional Court. It has also to be underlined that their allegations
were not clearly formulated and their justification was chaotic.
At
the beginning it has to be clearly stated that slandering has to
refer to actions or characteristics than may debase a given person in
the public opinion or subject him/her to the loss of trust necessary
for the occupation of a given position, performing a given position
or type of activity. It does not have the features of a slandering
act whether that is caused such results described in the relevant
legal act. Slandering may take place when somebody disseminates
certain information, even only it is done in the form of suspicion or
repeating a rumor that a given person came up with or actually heard
from many people, or when this is done in the form of a concrete
allegation.
Contrary to the statements of the complainant, the
Court of the first instance is right in that the statements of Emilia
B. made as witness in a court trial X K 1342/10 did not have a
defamatory character. The testimonies given by the defendant were
intended to present the actual order of events related to writing and
sending so-called anonymous letters involving information about
irregularities in the Museum whose author turned out to be the
private prosecution. Presentation of the facts that she given when
giving her testimonies did not have tendentious, debasing or
humiliating character and did not have a form exceeding the
boundaries described in article 212 of the Polish Criminal Code. The
court trying this case properly finds that the defendant was summoned
to the court to give her testimonies as a witness and the witness was
informed about criminal responsibility for giving false testimonies
and, therefore, she was aware of the consequences of giving false
testimonies. It also has to be stated that the evidence material
collected in the case with the file number X K 1342/10, in which a
final judgment was made, verified the veracity of the testimonies
given by the witness who in the foregoing case is the defendant. As
the Court of the first instance properly found, the defendant’s
actions cannot be treated as being done with intent. From the
evidence material collected in the case it follows
that Emilia B. did not have an intention to slander the
complainant and subject him to the loss of good name.
In
order for a crime described in article 212 § 1 of the Polish
Criminal Code to be deemed as committed with intent the defendant has
to be aware of the lack of veracity of the testimonies he/she gives.
It is impossible to agree with the statement that the defendant’s
statements involved humiliating content or disqualified the
complainant in the professional environment. The analysis of the
content of the contested testimonies does not give grounds to the
statement that they discredited the defendant in the eyes of the
public opinion or subjected him to the loss of trust necessary for a
given position. In none of the passages of the testimonies there was
any evaluating content in reference to the professional competencies,
skills or professional experience.
It
is impossible to claim that there are grounds to accept the foregoing
complaint in reference to the statements found at the beginning
hereof.
Due
to the fact that the Court of the first instance discontinued the
evidence-taking proceedings, it would be groundless in light of the
procedure law to summon B. as a witness.
A
petition to exclude the judges of the District Court for
Warszawa-Śródmiescie, which was in fact treated as a petition to
exclude Justyna Dałkowska, a judge, was considered on May 29, 2012
(PAGE 222) and the defendant was informed thereof (PAGE 227). Another
petition to exclude the judge rapporteur was filed during a court
meeting on July 24, 2012 (PAGE 235) and was considered on the very
first day. The decision regarding those petitions was announced
during a court meeting that, after a break, the private prosecution
did not attend (PAGE 234, PAGE 236). In the opinion of the court of
appeal, proceedings in the foregoing matter should be deemed
appropriate. It is further backed by the content of article 100 § 2
of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure that states that a court
decision or a court order issued outside a court room has to be
delivered to the public prosecutor, a party to court proceedings and
a person not being a party who has a right of appeal if they did not
take part in a court meeting or were not present when they were
announced; in other cases the content of a court decision or a court
order has to be delivered to the parties.
Contrary
to the complainant’s statements, the court of the first instance
had at its disposal the case file of the District Court for Warszawa
- Śródmieście with the file number X K 1342/10 (PAGE 231, PAGE
232). Also, the copies of court meeting minutes certified by a day
office employee are found in the case files, including justification
and decision of the court of appeal.
Also
a petition to change the minutes of a court meeting of July 24, 2013
has to be deemed unjustified as the minutes involve all the necessary
elements pursuant to article 148 of the Polish Criminal Code. The
order of events presented in the minutes does not raise any doubts.
Having no grounds to accept the complaint, the contested
court decision has to be, therefore, maintained in force.
Adjudication regarding the court costs is backed by
article 632 section 1 of the Polish Code of Criminal Code and article
13 section 2 of an act on the court charges in criminal matters (i.e.
Journal of Law of 1983, no. 49, item 233 as amended)
* * *
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