FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 56941/11 Mał gorzata STEFANIAK against Poland lodged on 18 August 2011

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Ms Małgorzata Stefaniak , is a Polish national, who was born in 1964. She is currently serving a prison sentence in Koszalin prison.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

The applicant is serving a prison sentence of seventeen years, imposed on her by nine successive judgments of various courts for numerous counts of fraud.

Her sentence ends in 2022.

On 21 February 2011 the Director of the prison hospital at Bydgoszcz prison, in reply to the applicant ’ s request of 31 January 2011, informed her that the prison could not purchase a hearing aid for the applicant.

On 7 April 2011 the Koszalin medical prison service issued a certificate referring to an audiogram dated 28 September 2010 and to a consultation by a laryngologist. It stated that the applicant suffered from a hearing impairment and that she should have a hearing aid, either paid for herself or by the prison medical services.

By a letter of 20 April 2011 the Grudziądz prison administration replied to the applicant ’ s request submitted on an unspecified date in 2010 which had not been dealt with as the letter had been misplaced and then found following the applicant ’ s renewed request dated 3 April 2004. She was informed that the prison administration did not have at its disposal the financial means to cover the costs of a hearing aid for the applicant.

The applicant reiterated her request. On 28 April 2011 the Governor of the GrudziÄ…dz prison informed her that he could not examine her request as she was at that time detained in Koszalin prison.

On 30 April 2011 the applicant complained to the Patients ’ Rights Ombudsman ( Rzecznik Praw Pacjenta ) about the medical certificate issued by a prison doctor P.M., certifying that her hearing impairment was insignificant. She referred to an examination carried out in Grudziądz prison in September 2010 which had shown that her impairment was considerable ( znaczny ). She further challenged other statements as to her health and treatment contained in the contested certificate, submitting that they failed to reflect her true condition.

On 19 April 2011 the Penitentiary Division of the Koszalin Regional Court dismissed the applicant ’ s request for temporary leave on health grounds. The court found that the applicant had obtained prison leave in 2008 with a view to having an operation . She had been operated on in a civilian hospital as she had objected to an operation in a prison hospital

She had been complaining of back pain and had been treated by the prison medical services in connection with this ailment.

On 5 January 2011 an orthopaedist ha d examined the applicant with a view to prescribing treatment for her back pain. On 14 January 2011 she had been examined by a psychiatrist and on 11 January 2011 by a surgeon in connection with her gallbladder condition. On 25 January 2011 she had been examined by a laryngologist as she had ear inflammation at that time. From 4 to 21 January 2011 the applica nt had been hospitalised at the rehabilitation ward of the Bydgoszcz prison hospital.

The court further noted that the applicant had a relatively minor hearing impairment ( nieznaczny ubytek słuchu ).

The court concluded that the applicant ’ s ailments were not such as to make the execution of her sentence incompatible with the requirements of adequate medical care, she had been receiving appropriate care from the prison health services and there were no grounds on which to grant her temporary leave.

The applicant appealed. She reiterated her arguments that the medical care she received was inadequate and that she should be temporarily released on health grounds.

On 20 July 2011 the Szczecin Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal, essentially sharing the conclusions of the lower court.

On 31 August 2011 a laryngologist working in a private practice in Koszalin , having regard to the audiogram of 28 September 2010, referred to above, certified that the applicant ’ s hearing impairment was significant ( znaczny ) and that she needed a hearing aid.

On 1 September 2011 the Koszalin Regional Board of the Prison Service ( Zarząd Służby Więziennej ), in reply to the applicant ’ s complaint of 16 August 2011, informed her that a hearing aid, recommended by the laryngologist, should be purchased by the prison where the applicant was serving her sentence, and not by the Koszalin prison to which she had been transferred only in connection with another set of criminal proceedings pending against her before the Koszalin court. That prison provided dentures to certain prisoners, but the waiting time was at that time at least one year.

The applicant submits that she had requested a hearing aid on numerous subsequent occasions, but to no avail. The prison authorities referred to lack of funds.

On 31 January 2012 the Szczecin Regional Court , Penitentiary Division, again refused to grant the applicant temporary leave on health grounds.

On 14 May and 10 June 2012 a pr ison laryngologist examined the applicant. She submits that the earlier diagnosis that her hearing was significantly impaired was confirmed. She did not obtain a hearing aid.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that during her detention the prison authorities failed to provide her with a hearing aid, which violated her right to health. She argues that the authorities ’ failure to do so made her detention particularly difficult, subjecting her to degrading and inhuman treatment. She is mocked by other prisoners, her hearing impairment makes her life in prison very difficult and she cannot work because of it.

She further complains in general terms about the allegedly inadequate medical care which she receives in prison.

The applicant complains under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that her right to a fair trial has been breached in that the penitentiary court did not call an expert with a view to assessing objectively the degree of her hearing impairment and that it refused her request to be granted leave on health grounds. As a result, the relevant court decisions in this respect were unfair and erroneous. She further invokes Article 13 in this respect.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

Has the applicant been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, on account of her lack of access to a hearing aid, especially taking into account the following elements:

- the seriousness of the applicant ’ s hearing impairment;

- the availability of hearing devices to the population generally;

- the course and the duration of the applicant ’ s procedure for obtaining a hearing aid;

- t he length of the applicant ’ s prison sentence.

The parties are requested to provide all the necessary details (supported by documents) concerning the applicant ’ s hearing impairment and the medical care which has been provided to her in detention.