PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 35431/05) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by four Polish nationals, Mr Marian Piaskowski, Mrs Jolanta Piaskowska, Mr Jan Łuczyński and Mrs Anna Łuczyńska (“the applicants”), on 15 September 2005.

The applicants were represented by Mr M. Widawski, a lawyer practising in Pabianice. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 13 July 2007 the President of the Fourth Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. Applying Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it was decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicants were born in 1947, 1953, 1953 and 1953 respectively and live in Łódź.

A. Main proceedings

On 7 December 2001 the Consumer Protection Association (Związek Obrony Konsumentów) acting on behalf of the applicants lodged a claim for payment with the Warszawa Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy).

In a letter of 22 May 2003 the applicants’ legal adviser complained about the delay in the proceedings and asked for a hearing date to be fixed.

On 15 December 2003 the court held the first hearing.

From January to March 2003 the court held 2 hearings.

On 10 February 2004 the Warszawa District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) declared the defendant insolvent. Consequently, at a hearing held on 4 March 2004 the trial court stayed the proceedings ex lege.

The proceedings were resumed on 9 May 2007.

On 11 May 2007 the Warszawa Regional Court discontinued the proceedings in the case.

B. Proceedings under the 2004 Act

On 4 February 2005 the Consumer Protection Association acting on behalf of the applicants lodged a complaint with the Warszawa Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) under section 5 of the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (Ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki) (“the 2004 Act”).

The applicants sought a ruling declaring that the length of the proceedings before the Warszawa Regional Court had been excessive. They asked for an award of just satisfaction in the amount of 10,000 Polish zlotys (PLN) (approx. EUR 2,500).

On 15 March 2005 the Warszawa Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint. The court found that the 2004 Act produced legal effects as from the date of entry into force (17 September 2004), its provisions applied retroactively to all proceedings in which delays had occurred before that date and had not yet been remedied. It acknowledged that there had been a delay at the initial stage of the proceedings but found that this situation had ceased to exist when the 2004 Act entered into force.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e1
001-87209_a4_em1
CODE
DIRECT
35431/05
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-87209_a4_e2
001-87209_a4_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
ETHNIC
insert
001-87209_a4_e3
001-87209_a4_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish nationals
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e4
001-87209_a4_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Marian Piaskowski
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e5
001-87209_a4_em5
PERSON
QUASI
Mrs Jolanta Piaskowska
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e6
001-87209_a4_em6
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Jan Łuczyński
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e7
001-87209_a4_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mrs Anna Łuczyńska
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e8
001-87209_a4_em8
DATETIME
QUASI
15 September 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e9
001-87209_a4_em9
PERSON
QUASI
Mr M. Widawski
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e10
001-87209_a4_em10
LOC
QUASI
Pabianice
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e11
001-87209_a4_em11
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e12
001-87209_a4_em12
PERSON
NO_MASK
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e13
001-87209_a4_em13
ORG
NO_MASK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e14
001-87209_a4_em14
DATETIME
QUASI
13 July 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-87209_a4_e15
001-87209_a4_em15
DATETIME
QUASI
1947
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-87209_a4_e16
001-87209_a4_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
1953
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e16
001-87209_a4_em17
DATETIME
QUASI
1953
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e16
001-87209_a4_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
1953
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-87209_a4_e17
001-87209_a4_em19
LOC
QUASI
Łódź
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e18
001-87209_a4_em20
DATETIME
QUASI
7 December 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e19
001-87209_a4_em21
ORG
QUASI
Consumer Protection Association (Związek Obrony Konsumentów)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e20
001-87209_a4_em22
ORG
NO_MASK
Warszawa Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e21
001-87209_a4_em23
DATETIME
QUASI
22 May 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e22
001-87209_a4_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
15 December 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e23
001-87209_a4_em25
DATETIME
QUASI
From January to March 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e24
001-87209_a4_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
10 February 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e25
001-87209_a4_em27
ORG
NO_MASK
Warszawa District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e26
001-87209_a4_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
4 March 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e27
001-87209_a4_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
9 May 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e28
001-87209_a4_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
11 May 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e25
001-87209_a4_em31
ORG
NO_MASK
001-87209_a4_em27
Warszawa Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e29
001-87209_a4_em32
DATETIME
QUASI
4 February 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e19
001-87209_a4_em33
ORG
QUASI
001-87209_a4_em21
Consumer Protection Association
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e30
001-87209_a4_em34
ORG
NO_MASK
Warszawa Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e25
001-87209_a4_em35
ORG
NO_MASK
Warszawa Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e31
001-87209_a4_em36
QUANTITY
QUASI
10,000 Polish zlotys (PLN) (approx. EUR 2,500)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e32
001-87209_a4_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
15 March 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-87209_a4_e30
001-87209_a4_em38
ORG
NO_MASK
001-87209_a4_em34
Warszawa Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-87209_a4_e33
001-87209_a4_em39
DATETIME
NO_MASK
17 September 2004
Marian Piaskowski
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Marian Piaskowski