Fiches Belges

Yes, it is possible. According to the Article 218 of the CPC: § 1. Offices, institutions, and entities operating in the field of postal or telecommunications services, customs and tax offices, and transportation institutions and companies shall be obliged to provide to the court or to the public prosecutor, in accordance with the request contained in the decision, any correspondence and postal items (…) , where they are of importance for the proceedings being under way. Only the court or a public prosecutor shall have the right to open them or to order their opening.

The EIO Directive and for the Member States who do not apply it, the MLA 1959 Convention with Additional Protocols, the MLA 2000 Convention and the 2001 Protocol.

EIO: Circuit Prosecutor´s Office (Prokuratura Okręgowa) having territorial jurisdiction– for the pre-trial stage; District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) having territorial jurisdiction – for the trial stage; National Prosecutor’s Office Bureau of International Cooperation – is a central authority for the pre-trial stage. Poland did not establish a central authority for cases at the judicial stage of the proceedings. However, if an EIO was issued at the judicial stage of the proceedings, and establishing the competent court in Poland was not possible (even via contact points of the European Judicial Network), the transmission of an EIO will be possible via the Ministry of Justice Department of International Cooperation and Human Rights. MLA: Ministry of Justice Department of International Cooperation and Human Rights is a central authority for the MLA 1959 Convention and MLA 2000 Convention requests. However, direct transmission of requests to the competent authorities is recommended.

EIO – Polish. Only in urgent matters English would be acceptable. However, due to the fact that in Poland the EIO still would have to be translated into Polish, it is recommended to send it immediately with translation into Polish. MLA – Polish, but English and French are also acceptable.

EIO – deadlines stipulated by the EIO Directive have been implemented. MLA – no deadlines, but the request for assistance shall be executed as soon as possible and be given priority, especially if marked by the requesting authority as urgent. The requesting authority shall explain the reasons for the deadline. If the request cannot be executed within the time limit set out in it, the requested authority shall immediately inform the requesting authority. It shall provide information on the new time limit.

According to an Article 218 of the CPC: § 2. The decision referred to in § 1 shall be served on the addressees (…). Serving of the decision may be postponed by a specific time, necessary in the context of the interest of the case, however by no longer than until the final conclusion of the proceedings. 3. Correspondence (…) irrelevant to the criminal proceedings shall be immediately returned to the appropriate offices, institutions or companies as listed in § 1.