The Circuit Court Of Warszawa-praga Against Patryk Michal Maciejec
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Sheriff F R Crowe |
| Neutral Citation | [2019] SC EDIN 37 |
| Court | Sheriff Court |
| Docket Number | R91/15 |
| Date | 25 April 2019 |
| Published date | 01 May 2019 |
IN THE SHERIFF COURT OF LOTHIAN AND BORDERS AT EDINBURGH
[2019] SC EDIN 37
R91/15
DECISION OF SHERIFF FRANK R CROWE
UNDER THE EXTRADITION ACT 2003
In the case of
THE CIRCUIT COURT OF WARSZAWA-PRAGA
against
PATRYK MICHAL MACIEJEC whose domicile of citation has been specified as an address
in Edinburgh
Act: Richardson QC, Jajdelski, Crosbie; Solicitor for the Lord Advocate on behalf of the
Polish Authorities
Alt: Claire Mitchell; good + Stewart
Edinburgh 25 April 2019
Introduction
[1] This is one of 2 "test cases"(the other being Kamil Charyszyn E10/18) which it was
agreed would be dealt with to hear evidence and determine Article 6 challenges which were
lodged in Polish extradition proceedings in the wake of concerns which were raised about
new laws and procedures brought in by the Polish Government following their general
election victory in 2015. This case was selected as it involves a number of different offences,
some of the charges are at the accusation stage, while there are multiple conviction cases
with the prospect of the requested person serving consecutive sentences.
[2] By the summer of 2018 and in the wake of "grave concerns" previously expressed in
the report of 11 December 2017 by the Venice Commission, the body responsible for
monitoring the rule of law for the European Union, that political changes in Poland put "at
2
serious risk the independence of all parts of the Polish Judiciary", The Reasoned Proposal in
Accordance with Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union regarding the Rule of Law in Poland"
published by the European Commission on 20 December 2017 ("the Reasoned Proposal")
and the decision by Mrs Justice Donnelly in the High Court of Ireland in Minister of Justice &
Equality v Celmer [2018] IEHC 119 (Celmer No 1) which resulted in a reference to the Grand
Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union on 25 July 2018, discussions took
place among parties how to deal with this and all other Polish cases which may be affected
by these developments.
Chronology
[3] Mr Maciejec faced a provisional arrest warrant and 3 conviction warrants within the
European Arrest Warrant (EAW). The accusation matter (Case 1.1 in section C of the EAW)
arises from the District Court in Otwock and a warrant issued on 5 April 2013 (File No II K
86/12) and involves an allegation of driving a lorry on 29 December 2011 while disqualified,
having been banned from driving on 29 August 2011.
[4] Case 1.3.1 concerns a charge of housebreaking committed on the night of 23/24 May
2009 in the company of a minor whereby a shop was broken into and goods worth PLN
12,000 (£2,400) were stolen. This is case No Ko 557/12 (also known as II K 649/09) where
Mr Maciejec was convicted on 1 April 2010 and a warrant was issued on 25 May 2010. A
sentence of 1 year 5 months and 25 days' imprisonment remains outstanding.
[5] Case 1.3.2. involved 17 charges of theft from a Polish telecommunications company,
while in the course of employment, at various premises in Otwock while acting with another
or others. The charges date from 17 June to 14 August 2010 and involve large quantities of
electrical cable worth PLN 16,596.82 (approximately £3,300). In addition there is another
3
charge of theft of power tools dating from 28 or 29 June 2010, the goods totalling PLN 3,000
(roughly £600). Finally there is a charge of driving an estate car on 16 August 2010 with
excess alcohol 72 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of his breath. Conviction on all matters
was pronounced at the District Court in Otwock on 29 August 2011 and on 5 October 2012
execution of the sentence of 2 years' imprisonment was ordered, with conditional
suspension of its execution (Case Ko 754/12).
[6] Case 1.3.3 is another charge of driving with excess alcohol. This offence occurred on
4 January 2011 where Mr Maciejec drove a car while there was 85 microgrammes of alcohol
in 100 millilitres of his breath. Conviction occurred on 6 February 2012 at Otwock District
Court and on 22 February 2013 a warrant was issued to serve the sentence of 1 year's
imprisonment, with conditional suspension on its execution (Case Ko 44/13).
[7] The EAW was signed by Circuit Court judge Piotr Goclawski in Warsaw on 23 April
2015 and certified by the UK National Crime Agency on 14 May 2016.
[8] Mr Maciejec was arrested on the EAW and first appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court
on 4 August 2015 and remanded in custody until 3 September 2015 when he was granted
bail. Matters were delayed initially as Mr Maciejec had a domestic case for which trial had
been set for 29 April 2016. Bail was revoked on 4 April 2016 following application being
made by the Lord Advocate as Mr Maciejec had not been signing on twice a week at
Corstorphine Police Station in terms of his bail order. Bail was however granted on 7 April
2016 when the case called for a further Preliminary Hearing. However at the next hearing on
2 June 2016 Mr Maciejec failed to appear and a warrant was granted which was extant until
he was arrested on 2 October 2017. Mr Maciejec was bailed on 30 November 2017 and has
been at liberty since. He claimed at the time he had panicked about these proceedings and
failed to appear.
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