Judges throw out flood of appeals over prison conditions in Poland

In an attempt to significantly reduce or stop the flow, Sir John Thomas, president of the Queen’s Bench Division, laid down guidelines which, he said, means “there will be few, if any, further appeals which raise the issue”.

Sir John, sitting with Mr Justice Globe in London, set out the guidance as he dismissed six of the latest appeals. All six applicants who moved to the UK to live and work were arrested under European arrest warrants in connection with alleged crimes committed in Poland.

Each case raised the sole issue of whether extraditing the applicant would, because of Polish prison conditions, result in inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in breach of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the judge said.

The purpose of hearing the six appeals together was to consider, in light of the large number of cases coming before the courts, whether they raise any new issues which are sufficient to establish an article 3 case, he said.

The judge ruled that they do not, and that the law is clear.

Poland is a member state of the Council of Europe and is presumed able and willing to fulfil its obligations relating to prison conditions under the human rights convention.

For an appeal to succeed, an appellant has to produce clear, cogent and compelling evidence that the prison conditions breach article 3, the judge said.

Poland is also an EU member, strengthening the presumption that it abides by the convention. The High Court has already ruled that “something approaching an international consensus” is required to rebut that presumption.

“Despite this clear position, this court has been inundated with appeals where extradition has been challenged on the basis of the conditions in Polish prisons,” said the judge.

A High Court ruling in March, that made the position clear, failed to stop the flow of cases. Since then at least 15 appeals in courts of England and Wales have failed, with two more in Scotland.

Details provided by the Ministry of Justice showed that allegations of overcrowding, lack of rehabilitation and health provision are “unfounded”.