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The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, Poland

Annual information

The Annual Information on the activities of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection and the state of observance of human and civic freedoms and rights shall be presented to the Sejm and Senate in the mid-June.

The present Information covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 1998. This period is part of the third term of office of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection. Contrary to previous reports, this Information covers the calendar year.
 

Statistical data (January 1 to December 31, 1998)

The number of new applications submitted to the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection in 1998 was somewhat lower (by 871) than in 1997 and totalled 30,251 (a decline of 2.8%). The total number of letters addressed to the Commissioner (including correspondence on problems and cases initiated earlier) was 46,554. i.e. 1,571 (3.3%) fewer than during the previous year. 34,176 new cases were reviewed by the Commissioner's Office (a number comparable to that in the previous reporting period), including 3,925 which were originally submitted for review in the previous year.

The number of inquiries approved for processing declined by 10.8% to 13,791. An additional 16,127 evaluations were done of the responses received from government authorities and institutions.

Meetings with 3,104 applicants were held at the Office of the Commissioner. Employees of the Office held 4,548 telephone conferences during which they provided explanations and advice. As a result of visits paid to orphanages and juvenile homes, penitentiaries, military bases and others, 119 cases were taken up for inquiry and meetings were held with approximately 1,300 persons in an effort to obtain explanations for discovered irregularities.

The dominant number of complaints related to social security and welfare assistance (19.6% of new cases), taxation, customs duties, personal and property insurance, consumer rights protection and other problems lying within the realm of business law (13.2%), the activities of courts as well as the police and public prosecutors' offices in criminal cases(12.9%), and housing (12.1%). These four broad categories of cases covered over one half of all new complaints submitted to the Commissioner (57.8%). It has become a rule during the past few years that most applications submitted to the Commissioner related in some way to these areas.

In 1998 the Commissioner took up 362 cases of a general nature. Incorrect legal solutions and incorrect application of existing laws forced the Commissioner to submit 223 general grievances to government and state administration authorities and central institutions in 1998. The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection requested that an effort to amend legislation be initiated in 108 of these cases.

The Commissioner also filed 21 grievances against existing legal regulations with the Constitutional Tribunal.

This past year was the first during which the Commissioner elected to apply a new human and civil rights protection tool provided for by the Constitution of April 17, 1997 and the amended Act on the Constitutional Tribunal - namely, the constitutional grievance. In a total of 6 cases, the Commissioner announced that he would take legal action in the form of grievances of this kind.

The need to explain away significant doubts related to the manner in which the law was being applied in practice lead the Commissioner to apply to the Supreme Court for its position on 2 legal inquiries.

In 1998, the Commissioner applied to the Supreme Court for retrials and annulment of sentences in 106 cases (11 applications for retrial and 95 for annulments), i.e. 12 (11.3%) more than during the previous reporting period.

In 4 cases the CRC employed his prerogative to file grievances with the Supreme Administrative Court. Among other things, these were filed against ordinances and instructions issued by provincial governors (voivods), which were deemed to be unlawful.

During the past year, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection continued to pursue and expanded previously initiated programs aimed at popularizing and promoting human and civil rights, as well as the means for their protection, both domestically, as well as on the international arena.
 

The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection's Major Activities in the International Forum
(Activities for the period from July 1 to December 31, 1998. Earlier events during 1998 were presented in the Newsletter No. 16)

Participation in conferences and seminars:

• International Regional Conference commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Human Rights for Development in Yalta, Ukraine, September 2-4, 1998
  
  
• Seminar on the Institution of the Ombudsman in Tallin, Estonia, September 18-19, 1998
  
  
• 3. European National Ombudsmen Annual Meeting and the 6th Round Table with the European Ombudsmen organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ombudsman of Malta, October 6-9, 1998
  
  
• International Human Rights Conference in Warsaw, October 14--16, 1998
  
  
• International conference Celebrating and Demanding Woman's Human Rights,
  Warsaw, November 20, 1998
  
  
• Seminar National human rights institutions in the countries of Central Asia organised by the Helsinki Committee, Dushanbe, Tadjikistan, November 25-26,1998
  
  
• Conference Universal Rights and Human Values - a Blueprint for Peace, Justice and Freedom. A celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 25-26, 1998
  
  
• Conference Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Education of the Generation of the XXI century Moscow, December 9-10, 1998
  
  
• 9. Conference The Roma Community and Multiethnicity in the countries of Central Europe - a European Problem? Castle Stirin near Prague, December 10-13, 1998

Visits:

• Visit of the President of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Deputy of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, September 28 , 1998
  
  
• Visit in the Czech Republic on the invitation of the Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic October 13-15, 1998
  
  
• Visit of the Ombudsman of Romania, Mr. Paul Mitroi, October 19-23.10.1998
  
  
• Visit of Mr. Dulam Sougar, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice of Mongolia, October 20, 1998
  
  
• Visit in Argentina on the invitation of the Ombudsman of Argentina, Dr. Jorge Maiorano, November 9-15, 1998
  
  
• Visit in the Commissioner s Office of a group of employees of the Office of the Plenipotentiary on Human Rights in the Russian Federation, November 16-21, 1998
  
  
• Meeting with the Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, December 16, 1998

The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, Poland

Annual information

The Annual Information on the activities of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection and the state of observance of human and civic freedoms and rights shall be presented to the Sejm and Senate in the mid-June.

The present Information covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 1998. This period is part of the third term of office of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection. Contrary to previous reports, this Information covers the calendar year.
 

Statistical data (January 1 to December 31, 1998)

The number of new applications submitted to the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection in 1998 was somewhat lower (by 871) than in 1997 and totalled 30,251 (a decline of 2.8%). The total number of letters addressed to the Commissioner (including correspondence on problems and cases initiated earlier) was 46,554. i.e. 1,571 (3.3%) fewer than during the previous year. 34,176 new cases were reviewed by the Commissioner's Office (a number comparable to that in the previous reporting period), including 3,925 which were originally submitted for review in the previous year.

The number of inquiries approved for processing declined by 10.8% to 13,791. An additional 16,127 evaluations were done of the responses received from government authorities and institutions.

Meetings with 3,104 applicants were held at the Office of the Commissioner. Employees of the Office held 4,548 telephone conferences during which they provided explanations and advice. As a result of visits paid to orphanages and juvenile homes, penitentiaries, military bases and others, 119 cases were taken up for inquiry and meetings were held with approximately 1,300 persons in an effort to obtain explanations for discovered irregularities.

The dominant number of complaints related to social security and welfare assistance (19.6% of new cases), taxation, customs duties, personal and property insurance, consumer rights protection and other problems lying within the realm of business law (13.2%), the activities of courts as well as the police and public prosecutors' offices in criminal cases(12.9%), and housing (12.1%). These four broad categories of cases covered over one half of all new complaints submitted to the Commissioner (57.8%). It has become a rule during the past few years that most applications submitted to the Commissioner related in some way to these areas.

In 1998 the Commissioner took up 362 cases of a general nature. Incorrect legal solutions and incorrect application of existing laws forced the Commissioner to submit 223 general grievances to government and state administration authorities and central institutions in 1998. The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection requested that an effort to amend legislation be initiated in 108 of these cases.

The Commissioner also filed 21 grievances against existing legal regulations with the Constitutional Tribunal.

This past year was the first during which the Commissioner elected to apply a new human and civil rights protection tool provided for by the Constitution of April 17, 1997 and the amended Act on the Constitutional Tribunal - namely, the constitutional grievance. In a total of 6 cases, the Commissioner announced that he would take legal action in the form of grievances of this kind.

The need to explain away significant doubts related to the manner in which the law was being applied in practice lead the Commissioner to apply to the Supreme Court for its position on 2 legal inquiries.

In 1998, the Commissioner applied to the Supreme Court for retrials and annulment of sentences in 106 cases (11 applications for retrial and 95 for annulments), i.e. 12 (11.3%) more than during the previous reporting period.

In 4 cases the CRC employed his prerogative to file grievances with the Supreme Administrative Court. Among other things, these were filed against ordinances and instructions issued by provincial governors (voivods), which were deemed to be unlawful.

During the past year, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection continued to pursue and expanded previously initiated programs aimed at popularizing and promoting human and civil rights, as well as the means for their protection, both domestically, as well as on the international arena.
 

The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection's Major Activities in the International Forum
(Activities for the period from July 1 to December 31, 1998. Earlier events during 1998 were presented in the Newsletter No. 16)

Participation in conferences and seminars:

• International Regional Conference commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Human Rights for Development in Yalta, Ukraine, September 2-4, 1998
  
  
• Seminar on the Institution of the Ombudsman in Tallin, Estonia, September 18-19, 1998
  
  
• 3. European National Ombudsmen Annual Meeting and the 6th Round Table with the European Ombudsmen organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ombudsman of Malta, October 6-9, 1998
  
  
• International Human Rights Conference in Warsaw, October 14--16, 1998
  
  
• International conference Celebrating and Demanding Woman's Human Rights,
  Warsaw, November 20, 1998
  
  
• Seminar National human rights institutions in the countries of Central Asia organised by the Helsinki Committee, Dushanbe, Tadjikistan, November 25-26,1998
  
  
• Conference Universal Rights and Human Values - a Blueprint for Peace, Justice and Freedom. A celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 25-26, 1998
  
  
• Conference Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Education of the Generation of the XXI century Moscow, December 9-10, 1998
  
  
• 9. Conference The Roma Community and Multiethnicity in the countries of Central Europe - a European Problem? Castle Stirin near Prague, December 10-13, 1998

Visits:

• Visit of the President of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Deputy of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, September 28 , 1998
  
  
• Visit in the Czech Republic on the invitation of the Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic October 13-15, 1998
  
  
• Visit of the Ombudsman of Romania, Mr. Paul Mitroi, October 19-23.10.1998
  
  
• Visit of Mr. Dulam Sougar, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice of Mongolia, October 20, 1998
  
  
• Visit in Argentina on the invitation of the Ombudsman of Argentina, Dr. Jorge Maiorano, November 9-15, 1998
  
  
• Visit in the Commissioner s Office of a group of employees of the Office of the Plenipotentiary on Human Rights in the Russian Federation, November 16-21, 1998
  
  
• Meeting with the Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, December 16, 1998