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Three years ago the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a lack of procedure allowing for the effective pursuit of compensation in a situation where a person is unable to use their property for its intended purpose constitutes a breach of property rights.

The Polish Bank Association informed the HFHR that in May 2013 the organisation prepared the Best Practices in the Provision of Banking Services for Persons with Disabilities.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has presented a legal brief in the case of Orlandi and others v. Italy, currently pending before the European Court of Human Rights. The case concerns the violation of the right to respect for private and family life resulting from the Italian authorities’ denial to register a civil partnership entered into abroad.

According to the data from the Ministry of Justice there is a drop in the number of pre-trial detention orders. In 2011, district courts issued more than 18,000 orders, whereas in 2012 the figure fell to 15,000. It seems that decisions to admit motions to order pre-trial detention filed by prosecutors are taken by courts in a somewhat automatic way.

On 21 February, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination published recommendations for Poland. It is suggested, for instance, that Poland should include racist motivation in the Criminal Code as an incriminating factor to be taken into account by a court in determining guilt and punishment. The CERD also recommends to continue work for the Roma community and bolster anti-Semitism initiatives in Poland.

M. K. was detained for 134 days due to an error of the court. Currently, he is seeking the payment of PLN 300,000 as compensation for moral loss. The first hearing in the M.K. case was held in the Circuit Court in Katowice.

Last week the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considered the Polish government’s report on actions aimed at fighting racial discrimination. The UN Committee’s members probed the Polish government about the efficiency of proceedings in hate crimes, multi-layered Roma discrimination and stadium racism.

On 5 February the Committee for Justice and Human Rights and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Polish Sejm unanimously appointed the permanent subcommittee for the enforcement of European Court of Human Rights judgments.

District Court in Bydgoszcz today acquitted W.K., an employee accused of defaming his former employer who called the latter’s company a “Polish work camp”. The court held that the expression used by the defendant was his opinion which could not be prosecuted under article 212 of the Criminal Code. The court said that only statements about facts could be defamatory.