One of the rights of a detained person is the ability to file a complaint against the detention.
Such a complaint is submitted to allow the court—under Article 246 of the Code of Criminal Procedure—to examine the justification, legality, and correctness of the detention.
In the light of the Constitutional Tribunal’s case law: “the legality of deprivation of liberty should be interpreted as broadly as possible, in accordance with the principles of interpreting constitutional provisions. The court is therefore to examine whether there were grounds for the detention, whether it was permissible in the given circumstances, whether the applied procedure was proper, and whether there is a need for continued detention, etc.” (see: P. Sarnecki in: Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Commentary, vol. III, Warsaw 2003, commentary to Article 41, p. 7). The right to appeal implies granting the court appropriate powers to conduct evidentiary proceedings to thoroughly assess the circumstances of the deprivation of liberty. Constitutional Tribunal judgment of 6 December 2004, SK 29/04, OTK-A 2004/11, item 114.
Such a complaint is immediately forwarded by the authority that carried out the detention to the district court competent for the location of the detention or the conduct of proceedings, which then examines it without delay.
If the court agrees with the claims made in the complaint and finds that the detention was unjustified or unlawful, it will order the immediate release of the detained person.
If, on the other hand, the court finds the detention unjustified, unlawful, or conducted with procedural irregularities, it will notify the prosecutor and the supervisory authority above the body that executed the detention.
The time limit for filing a complaint is 7 days from the date the detained person (or their attorney) is served a copy of the detention protocol.
Attorney Łukasz Buczko, throughout his years of practice, has frequently assisted detained individuals, including by filing appropriate complaints against detention. We invite anyone in need of legal assistance to contact us.