PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 18176/05) 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 Krzysztofa Wieczorek (“the applicant”), on 16 April 2005.

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

The applicant alleged, in particular, that she had been deprived of the right to a fair hearing because her request for legal aid for lodging a cassation appeal had been refused by the appellate court. She further complained that her right to the peaceful enjoyment of her possessions had been breached as she had been divested of her disability pension which she had been receiving for fifteen years.

On 14 November 2006 the Court (Fourth Section) decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1952 and lives in Cracow.

In a letter of 18 September 2000 to the Social Insurance Authority (Zaklad Ubezpieczeń Spolecznych) in Cracow, the applicant's husband submitted that in his view the applicant, who had been receiving a disability pension since 1985, was in fact healthy and should no longer be receiving a pension. He suggested that she be re-examined by competent doctors. Apparently divorce proceedings involving the parties were pending at that time.

On 10 October 2000 the Social Insurance Authority, referring to the applicant's medical records, instituted proceedings in order to reassess the applicant's condition with a view to establishing whether she complied with the conditions governing entitlement to a disability pension.

In reply to a query from the applicant about the legal basis on which these proceedings were instituted, on 28 November 2000 the Social Insurance Authority informed her that the proceedings had been instituted under the provisions governing the internal supervision of physicians working for the Authority.

Eventually, on 4 December 2000 the Social Insurance Authority gave a decision by which the applicant's right to receive a disability pension was extinguished as she was no longer unfit to work.

On 12 January 2001 the applicant appealed, submitting that the Social Insurance Authority had failed to assess properly the medical evidence concerning her condition. She also submitted that her condition had been reassessed in 1994, 1995 and 1997. On each of these occasions decisions had been given confirming that she was permanently unfit to work.

In her pleadings submitted on 18 May and 3 December 2001 the applicant submitted that there was no legal basis for conducting medical examinations in order to reassess her condition. She referred to the 1983 Ordinance, which prohibited reassessment of the medical condition of persons who had been receiving a disability pension for longer than ten years (see paragraph 25 below). The Ordinance provided that no medical examination could be conducted in respect of such persons with a view to a reassessment of their condition. She further invoked the case-law of the Supreme Court which, in the applicant's submission, supported the conclusion that no medical reassessment of a condition which had served as the basis for granting a disability pension could be ordered once ten years had elapsed from the date on which the decision awarding the entitlement to a pension became final (II URN 8/94, see paragraph 28 below).

The Cracow Regional Court, by a judgment of 24 September 2002, partly amended the decision of the Social Insurance Authority by granting the applicant the disability pension for a fixed period, namely from 1 January 2001 until 1 January 2003.

The applicant appealed, claiming that in view of her condition she was entitled to a permanent disability pension. She complained about the assessment of the medical evidence by the first-instance court. In her additional pleadings submitted to the Court of Appeal on 6 September 2004, she reiterated her arguments about the lack of legal basis for the reassessment of her condition and concluded that the first-instance judgment was therefore in breach of substantive law.

On 8 September 2004 the Cracow Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The court examined the complaint concerning the allegedly incorrect assessment of the evidence and concluded that the first-instance court had been thorough in the assessment it had carried out. It also noted that during the appellate proceedings and in view of doubts the appellate court had harboured as to the applicant's condition, it had ordered that, in addition to the evidence available in the applicant's medical records, a medical opinion should be obtained from the local centre for occupational medicine and further examinations should be carried out by specialists in cardiology, nephrology, endocrinology and gynaecology. The applicant had refused to undergo these examinations.

The court further observed that the first-instance judgment had maintained the applicant's pension for the period from 1 January 2001 until 1 January 2003. When that period expired, the applicant had failed to submit to the Social Insurance Authority a request to have her entitlement to the pension prolonged.

In response to the applicant's argument based on the 1983 Ordinance and the prohibition it imposed on the medical re-examination of persons in receipt of a disability pension for longer than ten years, the court observed: “It should be borne in mind that the proceedings concerning the applicant's case had been instituted [by the Social Insurance Authority] under the legal provisions governing the internal supervision by the principal physician of doctors working for that Authority and assessing the medical condition of persons seeking a disability pension (see Article 11 of the 1997 Ordinance of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy). Accordingly, it was of no legal relevance to the applicant's case that she had been declared permanently unfit to work in 1985. Neither was the length of time for which she had been receiving her pension of any significance for the present case.”

On 13 October 2004 the Cracow Court of Appeal refused to grant the applicant legal aid to lodge a cassation appeal. The written grounds for the refusal read as follows: “Under Article 117 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure a party to proceedings who has been exempted, fully or in part, from the obligation to pay court fees can request that a legal-aid lawyer be assigned to represent him or her in the case. The court shall allow such a request if it decides that the participation of a lawyer in the case is necessary. A legal-aid lawyer shall be so assigned where the party is unable to argue the case competently or the case is complex as to the facts or law. The crucial issue in the present case was the assessment of the [applicant's] condition and, consequently, it cannot be regarded as so complex as to warrant legal assistance. The court therefore considers that legal assistance would be unnecessary and, accordingly, dismisses the applicant's request. The mere fact that a party cannot afford to pay legal fees does not justify the granting of legal assistance; this also applies to cases where legal representation is mandatory for the preparation of the cassation appeal.”