PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 27710/05) 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 a Polish national, Ms Lidia Kita (“the applicant”), on 18 July 2005.

The applicant was represented by Mr A. Polewczak, a lawyer practising in Opole. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 23 October 2007 the President of the Fourth Section of the Court 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 applicant was born in 1961 and lives in Brzeg.

A. Proceedings concerning the issuance of a building permit

On 2 July 1997 the applicant applied for a building permit in order to join two flats she rented by way of building an internal stairway.

On 15 July 1997 the Brzeg District Office issued the building permit as requested. The chairman of the Brzeg Municipal Property Management Board (Miejski Zarząd Mienia Komunalnego) lodged an interlocutory appeal against that decision.

On 29 August 1997 the Governor of Opole upheld the District Office’s decision. The chairman of the Brzeg Municipal Property Management Board lodged an appeal against that decision. The applicant built a stairway between the two apartments in compliance with the building permit.

On 24 March 1999 the Supreme Administrative Court quashed both decisions and referred the case back for reconsideration, stating inter alia that the applicant had no right to make use of the flat for construction purposes.

On 16 July 1999 the applicant lodged a complaint alleging inactivity on the part of the mayor of Brzeg with the Supreme Administrative Court.

On 18 April 2001 the Supreme Administrative Court admitted that the proceedings in question had been lengthy and ordered the mayor to deal with the case within two months of the judgment being served on the parties.

On 5 July 2001 the mayor of Brzeg discontinued the relevant proceedings as being without purpose (bezprzedmiotowe), given the fact that the stairway had already been built. The applicant lodged an interlocutory appeal against that decision.

On 24 September 2001 the Opole Self-Government Board of Appeal (Samorządowe Kolegium Odwoławcze) quashed the contested decision and referred the case back for reconsideration.

On 29 January 2002 the Brzeg District Governor’s Office discontinued the relevant proceedings on the same basis as the mayor of Brzeg. The applicant lodged an interlocutory appeal against that decision.

On 24 April 2002 the Governor of Opole upheld the impugned decision. The applicant appealed.

On 21 December 2004 the Opole Regional Administrative Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal.

On 20 January 2005 the applicant applied for a legal-aid lawyer to be appointed in order to lodge a cassation appeal on her behalf against the Regional Administrative Court’s decision.

On 7 March 2005 the Regional Administrative Court dismissed the applicant’s request.

On 14 June 2005 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the lower court decision.

Eventually, the applicant failed to lodge a cassation appeal.

B. Civil proceedings for payment

On an unspecified date the Brzeg Municipality instituted civil proceedings for payment against the applicant, also seeking to have the flat vacated.

On 8 September 1999 the Brzeg District Court allowed most of the plaintiff’s claim. The applicant lodged an appeal against that judgment.

On 6 March 2000 the Opole Regional Court varied the lower court’s judgment so as to reduce considerably the amount of the payment awarded to the plaintiff.