Domin v Polish Judicial Authority: fugitivity, deliberate absence and Article 8 in extradition proceedings

The Administrative Court has refused a renewed application for permission to appeal against an order for extradition to Poland, upholding findings of deliberate absence under section 20 of the Extradition Act 2003 and rejecting an Article 8 ECHR challenge.

Andrzej Domin was sought pursuant to a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Regional Court in Białystok to serve two activated custodial sentences: eight months for assault offences committed in June 2012, and one year and three months for a wounding offence committed in May 2013. District Judge Tempia ordered extradition in April 2025, finding that Domin was a fugitive who had knowingly placed himself outside the Polish legal process. Permission to appeal was refused on paper in December 2025. The renewed oral application was heard by Mr Justice Sweeting in February 2026.

Section 20: deliberate absence

The central question on the first ground was whether the District Judge was entitled to find deliberate absence for both convictions.

On the first conviction, the EAW recorded that Domin had been personally summoned on 27 May 2013, informed of the hearing date and place, and notified that proceedings might continue in his absence. Counsel argued that, because Box D(4) of the EAW did not specify the manner or location of service, the respondent had not discharged the criminal burden. The court rejected this. Where Box D(3)(1)(a) — personal service — is ticked, no further detail is required under Box D(4). Relying on Cretu v Romania [2016] EWHC 353 (Admin) and Merticariu v Judecatoria Arad [2024] UKSC 10, the court affirmed that statements in the EAW itself are ordinarily determinative and that requesting states should not routinely be pressed to evidence the underlying detail. Domin's own admission — that he knew of the conviction and suspended sentence when he left Poland in August 2013 — fortified the District Judge's conclusion that he had left knowing the legal process was engaged.

On the second conviction, the position was more nuanced. Domin had actively participated in negotiating a conviction without trial by agreement with the prosecutor. The judgment and appeal instructions were sent to the address he had provided. He neither collected the correspondence nor notified the court of his change of address, as he was obliged to do under Polish procedural law. Service was accordingly deemed effective. The court distinguished Bertino v Italy [2024] UKSC 9, where the requested person had no knowledge of any criminal proceedings when he left the jurisdiction. Here, Domin had been a direct party to the agreed disposal and had failed deliberately to maintain contact with the process he had himself set in motion. The District Judge was entitled to treat this as a knowing and intelligent waiver.

Article 8 ECHR

The Article 8 challenge relied on the period spent on remand (potentially extinguishing the eight-month sentence), the emotional dependence of Domin's partner, his employment and sobriety since 2021, and the age of the underlying offending.

The District Judge had addressed each of these factors expressly. Applying the framework in Norris, HH v Italy and Celinski, she noted that a significant custodial term — one year and three months for a wounding offence — remained outstanding regardless of time served on remand. The partner's evidence that the relationship would "fall apart" was not elaborated upon; she remained employed and housed. Domin's rehabilitation was acknowledged, and to his credit, but could not displace the strong public interest in extradition where the requested person is a fugitive, which requires very strong counterbalancing factors before extradition can be refused.

Mr Justice Sweeting concluded that the District Judge's evaluation was plainly within the range of permissible outcomes and disclosed no error of law, irrationality, or misapplication of principle. The renewed application was refused on both grounds.

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