European Court of Human Rights

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 10824/11
Robert Wincenty HOLOWNIA
against Poland
lodged on 2 February 2011

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Robert Wincenty Holownia, is a Polish national, who was born in 1958 and lives in Warszawa.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 5 November 1999 at 6.20 p.m. the applicant was stopped by the police during a routine traffic control. He was arrested as there was an arrest order pending against him in the context of criminal proceedings concerning, apparently, a minor case of fraud.

During the arrest he informed the officers that he suffered from rheumatoid inflammation of joints and that he took medication. He was taken to hospital for a check-up. He was then taken to police station where he spent two nights in a cell. He was not allowed to take any medication. On 7 November 1999 he was taken to Warszawa – Mokotów detention centre.

His requests to be allowed to take medication were refused. He was told that he would be examined by the detention centre doctor. He was put in a cell.

During the night from 7 to 8 November 1999, approximately at 2 a.m. the applicant fell off the bed and could not get up. The prison guard officer, called by an inmate, did not enter the cell but ordered the inmate to help the applicant climb the bed. The inmate did so. Subsequently the applicant fell of the bed again. He remained on the floor until the morning.

At 8 a.m. the applicant did not get up and he had difficulty moving. He was taken to a hospital. Doctors diagnosed stroke. It was established that he suffered from rheumatoid inflammation of joints and from diabetes of type 2.

The applicant partially lost movement in one arm and leg. He does not work since then. He was assessed by the social insurance authorities as suffering from considerable and permanent disability.

The applicant requested the prosecution authorities to institute criminal proceedings concerning the alleged offence of failure to provide assistance to him. The investigation was apparently discontinued in 2000, the prosecution finding that neither the police officers nor prison guards had a case to answer.

On 24 July 2002 the applicant lodged a compensation claim with the Warsaw Regional Court.

His claim was dismissed by a judgment of 10 November 2006. The applicant appealed. The Warsaw Court of Appeal quashed the judgment and ordered re-examination, finding that the first-instance court had failed to establish the facts of the case correctly, in particular as to the applicant’s medical history prior to his arrest.

On 18 November 2009 the Warsaw Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s claim. It found that the applicant had been arrested on 5 November 1999 and put in detention on remand in Warszawa-Mokotów detention centre on 7 November 1999.

The court referred to medical expert opinions prepared for the purposes of the case. They indicated that it was not established that prior to his arrest the applicant had regularly been taking medication for his rheumatoid inflammation of joints. However, even assuming that he did, the fact that he did not receive them for three days preceding his stroke, had no incidence on the stroke itself. The stroke had probably been caused by his circulation problems which could have been caused, in part, by his previously undiagnosed diabetes. The court found that in the absence of causal link between the refusals to give the applicant medication from the day of his arrest and his stroke on 8 November 1999, the statutory conditions for liability in tort were not met.

The court heard also R.J., the inmate who shared the cell with the applicant during the night of 7 November 1999. He had testified that when the applicant fell off the bed, no medical assistance had been given to him. The court observed that leaving the applicant in the cell unassisted by the prison guards was inappropriate. However, it was of the view this failure was of no relevance for the applicant’s compensation claim as the stroke had most probably been caused by the applicant’s ailments pre-existing his arrest.

On 15 October 2010 the Warsaw Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the judgment.

On an unspecified later date the social insurance authorities declared that the applicant was suffering from serious and permanent disability. He needs assistance in everyday life and is unable to work. He receives no income apart from disability benefit.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that the officers in the detention centre failed to provide him with appropriate medical assistance after he had a stroke.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has the applicant been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?

Reference is made to the fact that on 8 November 1999 he did not receive medical assistance in the Warszawa-Mokotów Detention Centre from approximately 2 a.m. when he suffered a stroke until after 8 a.m.