PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 29539/07) 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 Grażyna Magoch (“the applicant”), on 4 June 2007.

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

On 11 May 2009 the President of the Fourth Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It was also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Łódź.

A. Main proceedings

On 27 July 1995 the applicant instituted civil proceedings for payment against the Łódź Municipality.

On 8 April 1998 the Łódź Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) gave judgment. The court partly allowed the applicant’s claim. The defendant appealed.

On 28 September 1998 the Łódź Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) quashed the impugned judgment and remitted the case.

On 11 August 2005 the Łódź Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) dismissed the applicant’s claim against the Łódź Municipality. The applicant appealed.

On 22 March 2006 the Łódź Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal. The applicant lodged a cassation appeal against the appellate court’s judgment.

On 12 January 2007 the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) refused to entertain her cassation appeal.

B. Proceedings under the 2004 Act

On an unspecified date the applicant lodged with the Łódź Court of Appeal a complaint 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”).

On 16 September 2005 the Łódź Court of Appeal acknowledged the excessive length of the proceedings before the Łódź Regional Court finding that there had been several periods of unjustified inactivity for which the Łódź Regional Court had been responsible. It referred to the periods between 29 January and 16 April 2004, 24 June and 27 October 2004, 12 January and 18 May 2005 and qualified them as unjustified delays. The court did not examine, however, the period prior to the entry into force of the 2004 Act.

The court awarded the applicant 1,000 Polish zlotys (PLN) (approx. 285 euros (EUR)) in just satisfaction.