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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> Szatkowski v Regional Court In Opole (Poland) [2019] EWHC 883 (Admin) (10 April 2019) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/883.html Cite as: [2019] 1 WLR 4528, [2019] EWHC 883 (Admin), [2019] 3 All ER 888, [2019] WLR 4528, [2019] ACD 62 |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
DIVISIONAL COURT
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MR JUSTICE STUART-SMITH
____________________
DAWID SZATKOWSKI |
Appellant |
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- and - |
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REGIONAL COURT IN OPOLE (POLAND) |
Respondent |
____________________
Alex Tinsley (instructed by Crown Prosecution Service) for the Respondent
Hearing dates: 28 March
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Irwin:
Introduction
"firstly, he was not deliberately absent from his trial and there is no right to retrial under s. 20 of the Act and secondly, that extradition would not be compatible with his Article 8 rights under s. 21 of the Act."
The Background Facts
The EAW and further information
"No, the person did not appear at the trial resulting in the decision.
(…)
a. the person was summoned in person on … (day/month/year) and thereby informed of the scheduled date and place of the trial which resulted in the decision and was informed that a decision may be handed down if he or she does not appear at the trial;
b. the person was not summoned in person but by other means actually received official information of the scheduled date and place of the trial which resulted in the decision, in such a manner that it was unequivocally established that he or she was aware of the scheduled trial, and was informed that a decision may be handed down if he or she does not appear for the trial;
We note in passing that the date of the summons is not included in (a) and that (a) and (b) are inconsistent with each other since (a) says that the appellant was summoned in person while (b) says that he was not.
The issues on this appeal
i) Whether the respondent has proved that the appellant deliberately absented himself from his trial, within the meaning of s. 20 of the Act; and
ii) If the answer to the first issue is that the respondent did not prove that the appellant deliberately absented himself from his trial, then the question is whether the appellant falls to be discharged pursuant to s. 20(7) of the Act because he will not be entitled to a retrial if he is now extradited.
i) On issue 1, that the evidence in support of a finding that he deliberately absented from his trial himself is weak, that the Judge's finding (as set out in [24] of his judgment) is weak and without any proper evidential foundation, and that it cannot stand;
ii) On issue 2, that the requirements of s. 20(5) are clear and that there is no prospect of a retrial or a review amounting to a retrial if he is extradited. He submits that the fact that he chose not to exercise his known right of appeal or retrial within the time limited after the decision is irrelevant, notwithstanding the terms of Article 4a(1)(c) of the 2002 Framework Decision, which we set out below.
i) On issue 1, that the statements in Box D should be considered determinative as they correspond in substance with the requirements of Article 4a(1)(a)(i) and (ii). On that basis the Judge was entitled to reject the appellant's evidence that he did not receive a summons;
ii) On issue 2, that the statement in Box D and the appellant's own evidence determine that the exception in Article 4a(1)(c) applied, as the appellant was served with the decision, could have appealed but chose not to.
The Legal Framework
The 2002 Framework Decision
Decisions rendered following a trial at which the person did not appear in person
1. The executing judicial authority may also refuse to execute the European arrest warrant issued for the purpose of executing a custodial sentence or a detention order if the person did not appear in person at the trial resulting in the decision, unless the European arrest warrant states that the person, in accordance with further procedural requirements defined in the national law of the issuing Member State:
(a) in due time:
(i) either was summoned in person and thereby informed of the scheduled date and place of the trial which resulted in the decision, or by other means actually received official information of the scheduled date and place of that trial in such a manner that it was unequivocally established that he or she was aware of the scheduled trial;
and
(ii) was informed that a decision may be handed down if he or she does not appear for the trial;
or
(b) being aware of the scheduled trial, had given a mandate to a legal counsellor, who was either appointed by the person concerned or by the State, to defend him or her at the trial, and was indeed defended by that counsellor at the trial;
or
(c) after being served with the decision and being expressly informed about the right to a retrial, or an appeal, in which the person has the right to participate and which allows the merits of the case, including fresh evidence, to be re-examined, and which may lead to the original decision being reversed:
(i) expressly stated that he or she does not contest the decision;
or
(ii) did not request a retrial or appeal within the applicable time frame;
or
(d) was not personally served with the decision but:
(i) will be personally served with it without delay after the surrender and will be expressly informed of his or her right to a retrial, or an appeal, in which the person has the right to participate and which allows the merits of the case, including fresh evidence, to be re-examined, and which may lead to the original decision being reversed;
and
(ii) will be informed of the time frame within which he or she has to request such a retrial or appeal, as mentioned in the relevant European arrest warrant.
Domestic United Kingdom Law
20 Case where person has been convicted
(1) If the judge is required to proceed under this section (by virtue of section 11) he must decide whether the person was convicted in his presence.
(2) If the judge decides the question in subsection (1) in the affirmative he must proceed under section 21.
(3) If the judge decides that question in the negative he must decide whether the person deliberately absented himself from his trial.
(4) If the judge decides the question in subsection (3) in the affirmative he must proceed under section 21.
(5) If the judge decides that question in the negative he must decide whether the person would be entitled to a retrial or (on appeal) to a review amounting to a retrial.
(6) If the judge decides the question in subsection (5) in the affirmative he must proceed under section 21.
(7) If the judge decides that question in the negative he must order the person's discharge.
(8) The judge must not decide the question in subsection (5) in the affirmative unless, in any proceedings that it is alleged would constitute a retrial or a review amounting to a retrial, the person would have these rights—
(a) the right to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he had not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so required;
(b) the right to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him.
"In summary, the obligation on the English courts to construe domestic legislation consistently with Community law obligations is both broad and far-reaching. In particular:
(a) It is not constrained by conventional rules of construction …;
(b) It does not require ambiguity in the legislative language …;
(c) It is not an exercise in semantics or linguistics …;
(d) It permits departure from the strict and literal application of the words which the legislature has elected to use …;
(e) It permits the implication of words necessary to comply with Community law obligations …; and
(f) The precise form of the words to be implied does not matter … .
..
The only constraints on the broad and far-reaching mature of the interpretative obligation are that:
a) The meaning should "go with the grain of the legislation" and be "compatible with the underlying thrust of the legislation being construed." … An interpretation should not be adopted which is inconsistent with a fundamental or cardinal feature of the legislation since this would cross the boundary between interpretation and amendment (…); and
b) The exercise of the interpretative obligation cannot require the courts to make decision for which they are not equipped or give rise to important practical repercussions which the court is not equipped to evaluate. …."
i) It is for the requesting judicial authority to prove, to the criminal standard, that the requested person has "deliberately absented himself from his trial".
ii) "Trial" is not a reference to the general prosecution process, but rather the trial as an event with a scheduled time and venue which resulted in the decision.
iii) The EAW system is based on trust and confidence as between territories. Consequently, where the EAW contains a statement from the requesting judicial authority as required by paragraph 4A(1)(a) of the Framework Decision, that will be respected and accepted by the court considering the extradition request, unless the statement is ambiguous (or, possibly, if there is an argument that the warrant is an abuse of process). If the statement is unambiguous, the court will not conduct its own examination into those matters, nor will it press the requesting authority for further information.
iv) If the statement in the EAW is ambiguous or confused (a fortiori , if there is no statement at all), then it is open to the court considering the request to conduct its own assessment of whether the requested person was summoned in person or, by other means, actually received official information of the scheduled date and place of that trial, on the evidence before it, the burden being born by the requesting authority to the criminal standard.
v) "Summoned in person" means personally served with the relevant information. If there has not been such service, generally the requesting authority must unequivocally establish to the criminal standard that the person actually received the relevant information as to time and place. It is insufficient for the requesting authority to show merely that the domestic rules as to service of such a summons were satisfied, if it is not established that the person actually received the trial information.
vi) Establishment of the fact that the requested person has taken steps which make it difficult or impossible for the requesting state to serve the requested person with documents which would have notified him of the fact, date and place of the trial is not in itself proof that the requested person has deliberately absented himself from his trial.
vii) However, where the requesting authority cannot establish that the person actually received that information because of "a manifest lack of diligence" on the part of the requested person, notably where the person concerned has sought to avoid service of the information so that his own fault led the person to be unaware of the time and place of his trial, the court may nevertheless be satisfied that the surrender of the person concerned would not breach his rights of defence.
32. However, in the context of a request to surrender a convicted person to a Part 1 country to serve a sentence, in my judgment no such inquiry is called for. The requesting judicial authority is expected to convey the relevant information in the EAW itself. If the information meets the requirements of article 4a that would provide the evidence upon which the executing Judicial authority would act. The trial has, of course, already taken place. The decision whether to proceed in the accused's absence has been made. It may have involved a conclusion that a trial in absentia is compliant with article 6 or (as is the case in some jurisdictions) have proceeded in the full knowledge that if the accused were convicted but was later found, he would be entitled to a retrial. The Framework Decisions do not contemplate an investigation by the courts of one Member State into the circumstances in which a court of another Member State decided to proceed in the absence of an accused. Still less could it be consistent with the concept of mutual confidence that courts in one Member State should be making findings on past compliance with article 6 ECHR in the courts of the other Member States.
33. The United Kingdom was one of the co-sponsors of the 2009 Framework Decision . The view of the Government was that it was unnecessary to amend the 2003 Act to implement the 2009 Framework Decision because " section 20 deals with convictions in absence" – See "Decision pursuant to Article 10 of Protocol 36 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , July 2013" Cm 8671 at para 95.
34. In my judgment, when read in the light of article 4a section 20 of the 2003 Act, by applying a Pupino conforming interpretation, should be interpreted as follows:—
i) "Trial" in section 20(3) of the 2003 Act must be read as meaning "trial which resulted in the decision" in conformity with article 4a paragraph 1.(a)(i) . That suggests an event with a "scheduled date and place" and is not referring to a general prosecution process, Mitting J was right to foreshadow this in Bicioc .
ii) An accused must be taken to be deliberately absent from his trial if he has been summoned as envisaged by article 4a paragraph 1.(a)(i) in a manner which, even though he may have been unaware of the scheduled date and place, does not violate article 6 ECHR ;
iii) An accused who has instructed ("mandated") a lawyer to represent him in the trial is not, for the purposes of section 20 , absent from his trial, however he may have become aware of it;
iv) The question whether an accused is entitled to a retrial or a review amounting to a retrial for the purposes of section 20(5) , is to be determined by reference to article 4a paragraph 1(d) .
v) Whilst, by virtue of section 206 of the 2003 Act, it remains for the requesting state to satisfy the court conducting the extradition hearing in the United Kingdom to the criminal standard that one (or more) of the four exceptions found in article 4a applies, the burden of proof will be discharged to the requisite standard if the information required by article 4a is set out in the EAW.
35. It will not be appropriate for requesting judicial authorities to be pressed for further information relating to the statements made in an EAW pursuant to article 4a save in cases of ambiguity, confusion or possibly in connection with an argument that the warrant is an abuse of process. The issue at the extradition hearing will be whether the EAW contains the necessary statement. Article 4a is drafted to require surrender if the European arrest warrant states that the person, in accordance with the procedural law of the issuing Member State, falls within one of the four exceptions. It does not contemplate that the executing state will conduct an independent investigation into those matters. That is not surprising. The EAW system is based on mutual trust and confidence.
Analysis – Ground 1
"10. [Counsel on behalf of the appellant] submits that the [appellant] is not a fugitive. In further oral submissions, [she] asks the court to consider the case of Cretu v Romania … and in particular paragraph 34 which shows that it is not sufficient for Box D of the EAW to simply state that the [appellant] was summoned. It does not state how he was notified. The [appellant] was 17 years old at the time and deliberate absence simply cannot be made out in the circumstances. She submits that s. 20 of the Act is engaged and the RP is not guaranteed a retrial."
and
"[Counsel for the Respondent] submits that "the further information makes it clear the requested person pleaded guilty. Whilst not present for the judgment he personally collected the decision and did not appeal the decision. Further more, he served part of the sentence impose." [He] therefore submits that the EAW is s. 20 compliant."
"24. I find the argument put forward on behalf of the [appellant] under s. 20 of the Act to have little or no merit. I find so that I am sure that the [appellant] accepted his guilt, personally received details of the court's decision and subsequently failed to appear at the correctional institution on 12 February 2014 from which date he became a fugitive. If follows from this that I do not accept the evidence of the RP on the points relevant to this issue as truthful and the s. 20 argument must fail."
Analysis – Ground 2
Conclusion