For many years Wiesław Rutkowski was working as a police officer in the Central Bureau of Investigations. In September 2002, he was arrested in the office of the Head of the Bureau. He was charged with participating in a criminal ring that allegedly stole cars and handled stolen vehicles. He was accused of accepting bribes for not putting suspected car thieves in custody, and supplying the ring members with insider police information, both instances being a serious dereliction of the police officer’s duties.
Wiesław Rutkowski remained in detention for eight months and two weeks. As a consequence of the arrest, he was suspended and subsequently dismissed from the force in 2008. He has lost a significant amount of his salary, as well as the chance for promotion and career development. In July 2010, the District Court for Warszawa-Mokotów acquitted Wiesław Rutkowski of all the charges.
Mr Rutkowski filed a lawsuit for protection of his personal interests against the State Treasury. The first-instance court awarded him only PLN 59,500 as compensation for moral loss sustained over the period of his incarceration but dismissed his claims for compensation for financial loss. Wiesław Rutkowski appealed against the ruling.
The court of appeal upheld the sentence, ordering the State Treasury to pay Mr Rutkowski PLN 59,500 as compensation for moral loss. “The Court of Appeal also pointed out that the Circuit Court had correctly applied the law and taken into consideration all circumstances affecting the amount of the compensation for moral loss. Still, the determination of the exact sum of compensation is a very subjective exercise”, says Irmina Pacho, a lawyer with the HFHR. The Court decided that the awarded compensation was adequate.
Wiesław Rutkowski was represented by Mr Michał Drwal of Clifford Chance, acting pro bono.
