issued by the Registrar of the Court
ECHR 191 (2025)
31.07.2025
Judgments and decisions of 31 July 2025
The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing one Chamber judgment1, which is
summarised below, and one decision.
The decision can be consulted on Hudoc and does not appear in this press release.
The judgment is available only in English.
Siedlecka v. Poland (application no. 13375/18)
The applicant, Ewa Anna Siedlecka, is a Polish national who was born in 1958 and lives in Warsaw. She
is a well-known journalist who writes about legal issues and human rights.
The case concerns Ms Siedlecka’s allegation that she was arrested by the police during a
counter-demonstration to a monthly commemorative event on 10 June 2017 in Warsaw for the
victims of the 2010 crash of the Polish government plane in Smolensk. The commemorative event was
organised by the governing Law and Justice party and, by attending the counter-demonstration,
Ms Siedlecka wished to express her disagreement with the Law of 13 December 2016 amending the
Assemblies Act.
Relying on Articles 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security), 10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of
assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights, Ms Siedlecka complains that
she was taken by the police to a courtyard and kept there for two hours, and that that constituted an
arrest and interfered with her right to demonstrate and to free speech.
Violation of Article 5 § 1
Just satisfaction:
non-pecuniary damage: 3,000 euros (EUR)
This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions,
To receive the Court’s press releases, please subscribe here: www.echr.coe.int/RSS/en or follow us on
Press contacts
[email protected]e.int | tel.: +33 3 90 21 42 08
We are happy to receive journalists’ enquiries via either email or telephone.
Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel.: + 33 3 88 41 35 30)
Denis Lambert (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 41 09)
Inci Ertekin (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 55 30)
1
Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month period following a Chamber
judgment’s delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel
of five judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a
final judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Under Article 28 of the Convention,
judgments delivered by a Committee are final.
Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.
Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution
