Conducting hearings on the recognition of Border Guard requests for detention measures against foreigners (practical tips)

Abstract

The refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border related to the appearance on the border of a significant number of people who were brought to the territory of Belarus and then directed to the territory of Poland in an organized manner by Belarusian services led to a number of actions by, among others, Polish authorities, the legal aspects of which required urgent elaboration. This article addresses the issue of conducting hearings on the recognition of Border Guard requests for detention measures against foreigners. The procedure for applying the aforementioned detention measures is similar to the proceedings related to the application of preventive measures, as provided for in criminal procedural norms. The legislator explicitly stipulated that the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure are applied accordingly to the proceedings on placing a foreigner in a guarded center, applying a detention center for foreigners, extending the period of a foreigner’s stay in a guarded center or in a detention center for foreigners and releasing a foreigner from a guarded center or from a detention center for foreigners, except that the activities reserved for the prosecutor can be performed by a Border Guard officer.