In 2000 Edward Kupczak became a victim of a car accident, as a result of which he suffered continuously from severe back pain. In order to ease the pain he had a morphine pump implanted in his body. In 2006 Mr. Kupczak was arrested on suspicion of him leading an organized criminal gang. In 2006 the court in Kielce decided that if Mr. Kupczak receives the necessary medical assistance he may be detained. In the period when he was detained, the authorities had the morphine pump refilled with saline solution. In January 2007 the detention of Mr. Kupczak was extended. According to the Polish court, providing Mr. Kupczak with a morphine pump was enough to relieve him from chronic pain. The Court did not take into consideration that the pump had not been working properly for at least 4 months. Mr. Kupczak complained repeatedly that the pump was not functioning properly and that the pain-killers he was receiving were not easing the pain. The appellate court did not consider the complaint. In April 2007 Polish court extended Mr. Kupczak’s detention awaiting trial. Following this decision, the detention was prolonged three more times.

In July 2008 experts from Krakow University Hospital confirmed that Mr. Kupczak suffered from recurrent pain every hour, and that since 2007 the morphine pump had not been working properly. Other pain killers were administered orally. They were however not adapted to Mr. Kupczak’s needs.

The court lifted Mr. Kupczak’s detention in May 2009.

Mr. Kupczak complained to the ECHR that the detention lasting two-and-a-half-years during which he did not obtain the necessary medical treatment had caused him inhuman suffering. This according to him qualifies as a violation of article 3 (prohibition of torture and other inhuman treatment).
The Court observed that the crucial question in this case was whether Mr. Kupczak had been given the possibility to use a morphine pump. The Court found that such a possibility had not been given to him during the entire period of his detention.

ECHR observed that Polish courts had not order an expert medical opinion in order to assess the adequacy of the medical treatment, despite the numerous requests made by Mr. Kupczak’s attorney. Moreover ECHR emphasized that Polish courts when extending his detention considered Mr. Kupczak’s state oh health only two years after his arrest.

According to ECHR Polish authorities by failing to provide necessary medical assistance (no steps were taken in order to fix the morphine pump) violated article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Court held that Poland was to pay Mr. Kupczak EUR10,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damages.