Olszowy v Judge Elzbieta Przybtla Circuit Court in Katowice Poland

An adjournment should be refused where a pending foreign application is uncertain to affect the extradition proceedings, will be decided before extradition could occur, and proceeding causes little prejudice to the appellant.

The appellant sought an adjournment of his extradition appeal because an application in Poland, listed for hearing shortly afterwards, might suspend or withdraw the warrant or postpone execution of his sentence. The application had previously been adjourned because the Polish judge was ill. The court considered whether the appeal should await the outcome of that application.

1. The application to adjourn was refused.
2. The Polish application was not certain to result in suspension or withdrawal of the warrant. The appellant had already made one unsuccessful attempt to compromise the proceedings, and the pending application was described as the final available attempt.
3. The application was due to be heard only a few days later and would be determined before extradition could occur. The court could therefore proceed without materially prejudicing the appellant.
4. The appeal was directed to be heard at 2 pm.

The judgment records no earlier appellate decision. It concerns the refusal of an application to adjourn an extradition appeal.