Information Note on the Court’s case-law 208

June 2017

Bilewicz v. Poland (dec.) - 53626/16

Decision 30.5.2017 [Section I]

Article 35

Article 35-1

Exhaustion of domestic remedies

Effective domestic remedy

Failure to have recourse to labour courts: inadmissible

Facts – The applicant was a prosecutor at the Prosecutor General’s Office. Following the introduction of new legislation*, he was informed that he was to b e transferred to a regional office. Before the European Court, the applicant complained that he had no right to institute court proceedings against the Prosecutor General’s decision** to transfer him to a lower post.

Law – The Supreme Court had examined a case of a prosecutor who had been affected by the same measure as the applicant and had claimed that judicial review of the Prosecutor General’s decisions had been excluded. In that case, the Supreme Court had found that such a decision, which entailed a c hange of the conditions of service, could be reviewed by a labour court in accordance with the general rule*** that the labour courts had jurisdiction to hear claims related to a prosecutor’s service.

The applicant had failed to have recourse to a remedy p rovided by the domestic law as indicated by the Supreme Court. It would have been inconsistent with the subsidiarity principle to accept his application for substantive examination without requiring him first to submit the substance of his Convention claim to the domestic authorities.

Conclusion : inadmissible (failure to exhaust domestic remedies).

* The Prosecution Service Act ( Prawo o prokuraturze ) and the Prosecution Service (Introductory Provisions) Act ( Przepisy wprowadzające ustawę – Prawo o prokuraturze )..

** Taken under section 36 of the Introductory Provisions Act.

*** Section 101(1) of the Prosecution Service Act.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does n ot bind the Court.

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