5.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows. 6.  The applicant association represents the interests of Vietnamese entrepreneurs who rent retail outlets in a shopping centre specialising in Asian goods in Wólka Kosowska, a village in the Lesznowola Commune, some 20 km south of Warsaw. The applicant association intended to organise a demonstration to protest against the business practices of company X, which ran the shopping centre, for example by raising rents by 300%. 7.  Wólka Kosowska is a village with some 700 inhabitants and more than 400 registered businesses. The majority of the businesses are located in warehouses along Nadrzeczna Street. 8.  On 12 May 2008 the applicant association, acting through its lawyer, informed the mayor of the Lesznowola commune (Wójt gminy) about its intention to organise a demonstration on 19 May 2008. It indicated that the event would start at 7 a.m. and end at 10 a.m., and would include speeches by representatives of the applicant association. Afterwards a petition would be handed over to the representatives of company X. The demonstration was to take place at Nadrzeczna Street in Wólka Kosowska. The organisers estimated the number of participants at 150 people. They also explained that the objective of the demonstration was to make a common statement on the hardships caused by company X to its tenants as a result of its allegedly unfair business practices. Attempts to negotiate with the company had failed, so it had been necessary to organise common action. The organisers assured the mayor that the demonstration would be peaceful.
At the mayor’s request, on 12 May 2008 the lawyer representing the applicant association specified that the demonstration would take place at no. 16 Nadrzeczna Street, opposite two warehouses. 9.  On 14 May 2008 the mayor gave a decision in which she banned the demonstration on the grounds that it might entail a danger to life or limb, or a major danger to property (section 8(2) of the Assemblies Act). The reasons for the mayor’s decision were as follows:
“Nadrzeczna Street is the main road in Wólka Kosowska and provides access to Krakowska street for residents and many businesses located on [that street], their deliveries and employees. It should be underlined that there is increased traffic on that street, particularly during the morning (and in the evenings), which impacts on traffic on Krakowska street. Nadrzeczna Street is used by public transport minibuses and by the school bus. Therefore organising a demonstration on that street between 7 and 10 a.m. would block the entire length of the street and also limit or even make impossible any journey by car to Krakowska street and in the farther direction of Grojec. In the event of a traffic accident, the intervention of the police, the fire service or the ambulance service would be difficult, if not impossible. Similarly, access to a doctor by the residents of Wólka Kosowska during the demonstration might be totally impossible. The same applies for any intervention by the fire service or the police. This authority concludes that the holding of a demonstration on this street during heavy traffic might put people’s health at risk.” 10.  On 14 May 2008 the board of directors of company X sent a letter to the applicant association referring to the demonstration planned for 19 May 2008. In the letter the applicant association was reminded that any demonstration organised on its premises would be illegal. The board of directors further referred to leaflets distributed by the applicant association, also without their permission, calling for a demonstration and blockage of the premises. According to the company, the only aim of such actions was disruption and they could not influence its position on the contested measures. In conclusion, the applicant association was urged to stop organising illegal demonstrations on premises belonging to company X. If the association failed to comply, company X would take all necessary legal actions and inform the prosecuting bodies. On the following day the board of directors met with the mayor of Lesznowola. 11.  On 16 May 2008 the applicant association lodged an appeal against the decision of 14 May 2008 (see paragraph 9 above). It argued that the demonstration would be limited to a small part of the street and that there were alternative streets which would allow access to the shops and the centre of the village. Access to Krakowska Street was also possible by other streets. The planned demonstration would not block the entire street and would not make it impossible for cars and buses to pass. Moreover, it was excessive to conclude that the demonstration would prevent residents from seeking medical help and emergency services from gaining access to residents in an emergency. The applicant association emphasised that the Assemblies Act invoked by the mayor provided for the banning of a demonstration only in extreme circumstances; the authority had failed to show that they existed in the instant case. The mayor had accepted the arguments of the company X, which was afraid of the demonstration, and had thereby limited the association’s constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly. 12.  The demonstration planned for 19 May 2008 did not take place; on the same day the applicant association send a fax to the mayor’s office informing that they would not go ahead with the demonstration. 13.  On 24 July 2008 the Governor overruled the impugned decision and discontinued the proceedings as devoid of purpose, given that the demonstration was to have taken place more than two months previously. The decision was delivered to the applicant association’s lawyer on 25 August 2008. 14.  On 16 May 2008 the applicant association informed the mayor of the Lesznowola commune about its intention to organise a demonstration at the same place on 26 May 2008. The demonstration was to last for a shorter time than the one previously planned, from 7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. The applicant association assured the mayor that all public and school buses would be able to pass, as well as all emergency services vehicles. 15.  On 21 May 2008 the mayor gave a decision in which she banned the demonstration, relying on the same legal grounds as those relied on previously, and putting forward similar arguments. The mayor emphasised the fact that Wolka Kosowska had about 700 inhabitants, some of whom used Nadrzeczna Street to get to work and school in the mornings. Moreover, there were about 400 registered businesses in the village, most of which were located in the zone affected by the planned demonstration. Access by those entrepreneurs and for deliveries would be impossible. Nadrzeczna Street was a single carriage way with no pavement. The planned demonstration would thus effectively block that road, impeding access to many businesses. In such circumstances, the emergency services would also be prevented from accessing the zone. 16.  On 23 May 2008 the applicant association appealed against the decision. They pointed out that most of the entrepreneurs working in the warehouses intended to participate in the demonstration. Moreover, the mayor had failed to notice that the duration of the planned demonstration had been halved in order to accommodate the arguments that the mayor had put forward in her first decision of 14 May 2008 (see paragraph 9 above). The applicant association further argued that if the same logic were applied, many big demonstrations in Warsaw would not have taken place, as the protesters often blocked access to government buildings. 17.  The demonstration planned for 26 May 2008 did not take place. 18.  The Mazowiecki Governor gave his decision on 24 July 2008, overruling the impugned decision of the mayor and discontinuing the case. Its reasoning was identical to the decision given on the same day, but concerning the demonstration planned for 19 May 2008 (see paragraph 13 above). 19.  The decision was delivered to the applicant association’s lawyer on 25 August 2008. 20.  On 1 September 2008 the applicant association informed the mayor of Lesznowola about a demonstration planned for 2 October 2008. The time, venue and purpose of the demonstration were the same as in the two previous cases. On 8 September 2008 the mayor banned the demonstration for reasons identical to those given in her previous decisions on the applicant association’s case (see paragraphs 9 and 15 above). She stated that disruption to traffic would make impossible any intervention by the police or other emergency services. The holding of the demonstration might therefore put people’s health at risk. 21.  Following an appeal lodged by the applicant association, on 18 September 2008 the Mazowiecki Governor overruled the mayor’s decision. He emphasised the importance of the constitutionally protected right of freedom of assembly, which also applied to non-political assemblies held in a public space. The governor stated that the banning of an assembly should be treated as an ultimate measure and that such a stringent limitation on the freedom of assembly was limited to situations where constitutionally protected rights were in direct and serious danger. Moreover, any assessment of that danger should be based on facts and not assumptions. Therefore, the mayor’s conclusion that disruption to traffic would put people’s health at risk had been erroneous. There was no basis for a decision to ban the demonstration.
The demonstration planned for 2 October 2008 took place. 22.  On 24 October 2008 the applicant association lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court. It relied on Article 57 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. 23.  On 9 May 2009 the Constitutional Court refused to consider the complaint. The court held that for the constitutional complaint to be admissible, the applicant association should have lodged a complaint with the Regional Administrative Court against the governor’s decisions of 24 July 2008 (see paragraphs 13 and 18 above). 24.  An appeal by the applicant association against the decision was finally dismissed as lodged out of time on 16 September 2010.