A 17-year-old submitted an application for international protection after he came to Poland with his adult friend. The Border Guard considered that the boy was not an unaccompanied minor, as his older friend looked after him and placed him in a guarded centre, where he needed to submit to the regulations of the facility and had limited contact with relatives. The minor challenged his detention and requested compensation.

The District Court in Olsztyn found that in the initial period of detention, before having the identity established and submitting an application for international protection, it was not possible to apply alternative measures to detention considering that the boy gave false information as to his identity and crossed the border illegally.

After establishing the minor's identity and submitting an application for international protection, further detention was unjustified. The court noted that an unaccompanied minor could not be placed in the guarded center for foreigners during the proceedings for granting international protection. The court noted that the minor had been incorrectly assumed to be in the care of another foreign national, without due consideration of the actual relationship with the minor in the context of guardianship and the possible proper establishment of representation. Thus, the competent authorities had not taken sufficient steps to establish the actual relationship between the minor and his friend, and he was not properly represented in the proceedings against him. 

The District Court found that the minor had been illegally placed in a guarded center for more than 4 months and awarded compensations in the amount of PLN 20,000.00.