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England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> Biernikiewicz v District Court of Koszalin, Poland [2013] EWHC 257 (Admin) (29 January 2013)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2013/257.html
Cite as: [2013] EWHC 257 (Admin)
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
||
B e f o r e :
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| JUSTYNA ANNA BIERNIKIEWICZ | Appellant | |
| v | ||
| DISTRICT COURT OF KOSZALIN, POLAND | Respondent |
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Ms H Hinton (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) appeared on behalf of the Respondent
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- MR JUSTICE BEAN: This is one of a very large number of cases before the English courts where fugitives from Poland have been convicted of offences of dishonesty in the Polish courts and the sums involved are relatively small.
- Justyna Biernikiewicz is in this category. She was convicted in Poland of five charges of making a false statement about employment. That was in January 2008. She left Poland and came to England a few weeks later. Last year the Polish authorities caught up with her and District Judge Grant ordered her extradition. According to the European arrest warrant, on the strength of which the District Judge ordered her extradition, she has 18 months' imprisonment to serve. She says, and it may be correct, that originally she was given a suspended sentence of imprisonment subject to payment of a fine and that an elderly aunt in Poland helped her with the fine, but that when the aunt died the appellant could no longer pay the instalments. At any rate, her case is that there is a relatively small amount of money left to be paid and she is in negotiation with the Polish court to settle the matter on payment of the balance.
- Ms Adams, on her behalf, submits that extradition for this matter would be disproportionate and would be in breach of the appellant's rights under Article 8 of the Convention. She has no children, but she does have a fiancé in this country, whom she hopes to marry. She submits that no court in this country would impose a sentence of 18 months for this offence of dishonesty.
- I have sympathy with this argument, but it cannot succeed in law following the decision of the Divisional Court in the case of JP, in which the President said, firstly, that the English court must not impose its view of sentencing policy on the courts of the requesting state and, secondly, that the fact that an offence is relatively minor is a factor to be weighed in the balance, but it rarely prevails against the public interest in honouring treaties and giving effect to extradition requests. It follows that there are no grounds for overturning the decision of the District Judge and the appeal must be dismissed.
- However, a statement recently filed by the appellant and confirmed in court today indicates that she, or her friend who is carrying out discussions on the phone, has been told that a decision of the Polish court on the proposed settlement of the case is to be expected within a month. I shall therefore direct that the order dismissing the appeal is not to be sealed until 14 days from today. That will mean that the earliest date on which the Polish authorities can extradite the appellant will be after the expiry of four weeks from today, rather than the usual two weeks, and if the matter has been settled by then, so much the better. But if it has not, the appellant will have to be extradited to Poland and make her peace with the Polish court.
- MS ADAMS: My Lord, I would ask for the usual order for representation.
- MR JUSTICE BEAN: Yes indeed.