Zygmunt Rawicz-Oledzki v Circuit Court in Poznan (Poland)
[2023] EWHC 2955 (Admin)
Lukasz Sroczynski v Polish Judicial Authority
19 September 2024
[2024] EWHC 2380 (Admin)
High Court
A Polish man was convicted of many drug crimes and fled to the UK. He tried to avoid being sent back to Poland, claiming it would violate his right to family life. The court decided that the need to punish serious crimes was more important, so he will be extradited.
Key Facts
- •Appellant, Lukasz Sroczynski, is a Polish national resisting extradition to Poland.
- •Appellant was sentenced in Poland in 2017 to a 2-year custodial sentence (originally suspended) for 85 drug possession and 4 drug supply offences.
- •The sentence was activated due to the Appellant's failure to comply with probation conditions.
- •The Appellant fled to the UK in October 2018.
- •The Appellant argues against extradition on Article 8 (right to private and family life) grounds.
- •Appellant has a sister in the UK and family in Poland (mother, another sister, two children).
- •Appellant has established a settled and productive life in the UK, including employment.
- •Appellant was on electronically-monitored curfew on extradition bail since October 2023.
Legal Principles
Article 8 ECHR (right to respect for private and family life)
European Convention on Human Rights
Proportionality in extradition cases balancing the individual's rights against the public interest in upholding the rule of law and punishing crime.
Implied from the judgment
Outcomes
Permission to appeal refused.
The judge found that the public interest in extradition decisively outweighs the appellant's Article 8 rights. The passage of time, while a factor, is outweighed by the serious nature of the offences and the appellant's fugitivity. The proportionality balance struck by the lower court was deemed correct.