The High Court ordered the surrender of Marek Marciszewski to Poland for prosecution on one offence in a European arrest warrant, while finding that the allegations in a separate warrant did not establish corresponding offences under Irish law on the information provided.
Mr Justice Michael Peart delivered the judgment on 18 January 2011. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform sought surrender under two Polish warrants, issued on 18 August and 16 November 2009. Marciszewski was arrested on both warrants on 14 June 2010.
The first warrant concerned allegations that he claimed influence at a Warsaw police district headquarters and offered to mediate in cases involving vehicles said to have been obtained through crime, in return for money. The Minister proposed that the alleged conduct corresponded to making a gain or causing a loss by deception under section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
The judge said the warrant and additional information did not allege that Marciszewski falsely claimed to have influence, an element required to establish deception for the proposed Irish offence. He said that element could not simply be inferred. The court also considered whether the facts might disclose perverting the course of justice, but found the account too unclear to decide: it was uncertain whether a prosecution was underway and why the vehicle was at the police station. The judge said more information would be needed.
The second warrant alleged that, between January 2005 and April 2006, Marciszewski helped obstruct proceedings in Poland by introducing a defendant to another person, who then connected him with a doctor. The doctor was allegedly induced to provide false medical documents, which were transferred to the defendant on four occasions.
The Minister submitted that this corresponded to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at common law. The respondent argued that the warrant implicated him only in making an introduction. The judge found the warrant disclosed a premeditated positive act intended to help pervert the course of justice, sufficient to correspond to an offence in Ireland if the alleged conduct had occurred here.
The court found no applicable bar to surrender under the cited provisions of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 or the Framework Decision. It ordered surrender for prosecution on the single offence in the 16 November 2009 warrant and ordered committal to prison pending surrender within the permitted time limits.