Europe’s human rights court finds fault with Polish tribunal
Family Law
The European Court of Human Rights said Friday that Poland’s top court violated a local company’s right to fair trial because a judge on the review panel handling its case had been irregularly appointed to the tribunal.
Law experts in Poland and critics of the right-wing government have long argued that some of the judges of the Constitutional Tribunal were appointed in violation of the law and that their rulings should therefore be considered void.
The European court said the company was denied the right to be heard by a lawfully-appointed court because there were irregularities in the appointment of one of the panel’s judges, Mariusz Muszynski, to the tribunal. It said Poland’s parliament and President Andrzej Duda had no right to appoint Muszynski and some other judges to the tribunal.
Constitutional Tribunal head Julia Przylebska, a government loyalist, reacted by saying the European court “lawlessly interfered into the competence” of Poland’s parliament and president and that its ruling has no effect on Poland’s legal system.
Poland’s government appointed Przylebska, Muszynski and other loyalists to the tribunal in 2015, ignoring the fact that some of the positions had already been filled by the previous administration. The government’s bid to take political control of the tribunal and of the Supreme Court is a major point of friction with the European Union ? to which Poland belongs ? which says it’s a violation of democratic rules.
Government critics said Friday’s decision cast doubt on every ruling with the participation of judges appointed in that way ? including a key, controversial decision that allowed a further tightening of Poland’s strict anti-abortion law and sparked mass protests in the country.
The grass-producing company turned to the European court saying its rights had been violated after Poland’s courts and the Constitutional Tribunal refused it the full compensation it had sought for damage caused by wild boars.
The European court ordered Poland to pay the company the rough equivalent of 3,400 euros ($4,100) for court costs but said the amount of compensation was the competence of Poland’s courts.
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Thai National Sentenced, Faces Deportation for Operating Immigration Fraud Scheme
Nimon Naphaeng, 36, a native and citizen of Thailand, who resided in Wakefield, R.I., was sentenced Monday to 27 months in federal prison for running an immigration fraud scheme that defrauded more than 320 individuals, most of them immigrants, of at least $400,000, and perhaps more than $518,000.
The scheme included the unauthorized filing of false asylum applications on behalf of individuals who did not request, nor authorize, the applications.
“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services does not tolerate immigration fraud of any kind,” said Susan Raufer, director of the USCIS Newark Asylum Office. “We are proud of our role in uncovering this fraud scheme and bringing the perpetrator to justice.”
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith ordered a provisional amount of restitution of $400,000. The final amount of restitution will be determined subject to additional victims being identified and additional court filings over the next 90 days. According to court documents already filed by the government, restitution in this matter may exceed $518,300. During the investigation, the government seized $285,789.31 from Naphaeng. The forfeited funds will be applied toward restitution for victims of Naphaeng’s crimes.