Published on 5 June 2023

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 42129/21 Michał STRZELECKI against Poland lodged on 7 August 2021 communicated on 15 May 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns a positive obligation of the authorities to take effective steps to enforce the applicant’s contact rights with his daughters as well as the length of the divorce proceedings.

On 28 July 2007 the applicant married A.E.-S. In September 2008 A.E.-S. gave birth to twin girls. On 22 December 2011, following a conflict between the spouses, the applicant moved out of their place of residence.

In 2012 the applicant instituted two sets of proceedings – one before the Wągrowiec District Court concerning his contact rights with the daughters and the other before the Poznań Regional Court in which he applied for divorce. On 24 February 2012 the Wągrowiec District Court issued an interim decision on his contact rights and on 12 June 2012 the decision was altered by the second-instance court. The applicant was granted a right to visit his daughters on specific days during the weekends and certain festive periods. The decision stipulated that the applicant had a right to take the children outside of their place of residence. After this decision had been issued, the jurisdiction over the matter of contact rights was overtaken by the court conducting the divorce proceedings – the Poznań Regional Court.

The divorce proceedings lasted from 14 March 2012 to 10 February 2021. In their course the parties lodged numerous requests to alter the contact rights; the applicant submitted several administrative complaints against the court’s inactivity and lack of efficiency. A.E.-S. lodged a few criminal complaints against the applicant accusing him of, among others, sexual abuse of the daughters. All of those complaints were eventually dismissed. In one case A.E.-S. was convicted of making false accusations against the applicant.

The applicant’s contacts with his daughters were regularly hindered by the mother despite the interim measures granted by the domestic courts and numerous fines imposed on her. The applicant regularly tried to enforce the contacts decisions by applying to the courts to impose a fine on A.E.-S. every time she had not complied with the court’s order. At the end of the divorce proceedings, the court noted in its judgment that the fines imposed on A.E. ‑ S. amounted to some 1,000.000 Polish zlotys (approx. EUR 250,000).

In the course of the divorce proceedings, the first-instance court obtained five expert reports on the parties’ parental abilities and children’s emotional state. As soon as in report dated 15 October 2014 the experts noted that the children were manipulated by their mother and in the absence of any contact with the applicant, they developed a hostile attitude towards him. The experts noted that the lack of contact and their involvement into the conflict between the parents caused them emotional distress. On 27 August 2012 and 7 April 2014, the applicant applied to the courts to limit A.E.-S.’s parental rights and to establish the daughters’ place of residence with him. Both requests were unsuccessful. Only on 23 September 2019 the Poznań Regional Court issued an interim order limiting the parties’ parental rights and imposing a supervision of a court officer.

On 29 April 2019 the Poznań Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s complaint about the excessive length of the divorce proceedings.

On 23 September 2019 the Poznań Regional Court granted the divorce and limited the parents’ parental authority by imposing a supervision of a court officer. The applicant was granted visiting rights, in particular the right to visit his children every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the children’s place of residence and in the mother’s presence. The court noted that during the proceedings A.E.-S. persistently hindered the applicant’s contact rights. She disregarded the children’s best interest by involving them in the conflict between the parents and manipulating them into developing a hostile attitude towards the applicant, which led to an emotional distress and anxiety on the part of the children. In the court’s view, the disturbed relationship had to be rebuilt slowly, which necessitated limiting his contact rights to one hour per week in the mother’s presence. While condemning the mother’s actions the court did not decide to take away her parental authority; the daughters felt safe with the mother, and she took good care of them on a daily basis.

Both parties appealed, but on 10 February 2021 the Poznań Court of Appeal dismissed both appeals and upheld the first-instance court judgment concurring with its reasoning.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Has there been a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for his family life, contrary to Article 8 of the Convention? In particular, have the measures taken by the domestic authorities to facilitate the applicant’s contact rights with his daughters were adequate and implemented in a timely manner (cf. Malec v. Poland, no. 28623/12, 28 June 2016; Giorgioni v. Italy , no. 43299/12, § 62-63, 15 September 2016; and Kacper Nowakowski v. Poland , no. 32407/13, § 71, 10 January 2017)?

2. Was the length of the civil proceedings in the present cases in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (cf. Rutkowski and Others v. Poland , nos. 72287/10 and 2 others, 7 July 2015)?