Published on 14 March 2022

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 47023/16 A against Poland lodged on 5 August 2016 communicated on 22 February 2022

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The case concerns the effectiveness of the proceedings into the allegations of sexual abuse committed on the applicant, A, by her cousin, B. At the time, A was seven years old and B fourteen. The applicant’s mother filed a criminal complaint against B. Due to B’s age, the proceedings took place before the family and juvenile division of the district court pursuant to the Act on the Procedure in Juvenile Cases. The district court held that B had committed several sexual acts in respect of A. It imposed an educational measure of placing B under the supervision of a court guardian and obliged the latter to file a report to the court every four months. A was not entitled to lodge an appeal against the decision.

Invoking Articles 3, 6 and 14, the applicant complains that the domestic authorities failed to provide an adequate response to her sexual abuse by B, given the seriousness of the acts attributed to B and the extent of harm suffered by her. The applicant further complains that she had no right to lodge an appeal against the district court’s decision and alleges that the court failed to take important evidence into account and provide sufficient reasons for its decision.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Having regard to the procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment and the State’s positive obligations in respect of the applicant’s right to respect for her private life, were the proceedings conducted by the authorities in the present case regarding the alleged sexual abuse of the applicant in breach of Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention (see, X and Y v. the Netherlands , 26 March 1985, Series A no. 91; A and B v. Croatia , no. 7144/15, 20 June 2019; and A.P. v. the Republic of Moldova , no. 41086/12, 26 October 2021)?

2. Was the manner in which the Act on the Procedure in Juvenile Cases was applied in the present case by the domestic authorities in breach of these two provisions of the Convention?

3. Has the applicant suffered discrimination in the enjoyment of her Convention rights, contrary to Article 14 of the Convention, having regard to the fact that she was not entitled to lodge an appeal against the district court’s decision in the present case?

4. The Government are requested to submit a copy of the full version of the case file concerning the proceedings conducted in the present case in respect of the alleged sexual abuse of the applicant.