Jan Olszyński has been in prison since 2002. During his imprisonment his savings were collected in a savings book opened at PKO BP bank, with interest rate of 0.1% per annum. After realizing that his interest rate was far lower than the average market index, he sent a request to the Cieszyn prisons administration for permission to open a regular bank account. The prisons administration refused and informed the prisoner that there are only two possible forms of depositing financial means during imprisonment – prison deposit (with interest rate 0.0% per annum) and PKO BP bank savings book (with a current interest rate of 0.01% per annum).

Jan Olszyński informed the law enforcement authorities (prosecution) about this – in his opinion – unlawful situation, but the proceeding was remitted. Subsequently, the applicant submitted a complaint to the local Consumer’s Protection Office. The Head of the Office, after a written intervention to the PKO BP bank concluded that the prison administration’s action was consistent with the Polish Code on the Execution of Criminal Sentences. In 2009, Mr Olszyński decided to lodge a complaint against Poland to the European Court of Human Rights.

In our opinion these factual circumstances, at violation of Article 1 of the Protocol No 1 could have take place. There is no regulation in Polish law allowing the limiting of the peaceful enjoyment of the possession of money during imprisonment to that extent. Article 113 section 3 of Polish Code on the Execution of Criminal Sentences undoubtedly grants to prisoners the right to dispose their financial means to a bank account, but the practice, in the particular case of Jan Olszyński, limited this possibility. The problem probably arose from difficulties, that would occur for the prison administration in this situation, when the prisoner would have to meet with a bank agent or sign a contract with the bank. Also, the wording of the Ministry of Justice Regulation regarding financial operations and the administration of the property of the imprisoned, which state that the individual conditions of the saving book should be established in an agreement with the bank, could lead to a misunderstanding of the Code. Because of this, the prison administration limits the choice of the prisoners to between the savings book at PKO BP bank and the prison deposit.

One of the most important aspects of the right of property, which is related to the peaceful enjoyment of the possession, is the right to dispose it. The applicant was unlawfully deprived of this aspect of property.

We are of the opinion, that practical difficulties appearing in the situation of isolation and limited freedom cannot justify the disobedience of the law, especially the law that is very essential for every human being – the right of property. On the other side, there are some prisons where the prisoners are allowed to set up a bank account, but most prisoners do not use this possibility.

In Jan Olszyński’s case, the limitation of right of property seems to be beyond the reasonable extent, required by the Polish law, public interest and the goal of the criminal penalty. Therefore, in the Foundation’s opinion, the restriction does not meet the proportionality test requirements and thus constitutes a violation.