Zygmunt Rawicz-Oledzki v Circuit Court in Poznan (Poland)
[2023] EWHC 2955 (Admin)
Robert Czeslaw Kobierowski v Poland
20 February 2024
[2024] EWHC 366 (Admin)
High Court
A man wanted in Poland for old drug and gun crimes fought extradition to the UK. He argued that a long time passed and that it would harm his family. The judge didn't agree; the delay was mostly his fault for hiding, and the harm to his family wasn't enough to stop him from going back to Poland.
Key Facts
- •Robert Kobierowski (Appellant), aged 41, is wanted for extradition to Poland to serve a 3-year 2-month sentence for drug and firearm offences committed between 2005-2006.
- •He was arrested in the UK in January 2021, after having lived there since 2010, and has a partner and young child.
- •The Appellant was convicted of UK drug and money laundering offences in September 2021 and served time in prison.
- •The appeal centers on two arguments: (1) a potential sentence transfer to the UK and (2) the passage of time since the original offenses and the arrest.
Legal Principles
Article 8 ECHR (right to respect for private and family life)
European Convention on Human Rights
Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons 1983
International Treaty
Passage of time may diminish the weight attached to the public interest in extradition but does not automatically preclude it. The effect of passage of time on Article 8 rights must also be considered.
HH v Italy [2012] UKSC 25
Outcomes
Permission to appeal refused.
The court found no concrete evidence of a viable sentence transfer to the UK due to the Appellant's Polish nationality. The court also found that the passage of time, largely due to the Appellant's own actions as a fugitive, did not significantly diminish the public interest in extradition, and that the impact on family life had been adequately considered.
Permission to rely on putative fresh evidence refused.
The fresh evidence regarding a potential sentence transfer was deemed insufficient to be decisive.