PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 30072/04) 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, Mr Stefan Kozłowski (“the applicant”), on 11 July 2004.

The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 14 December 2006 the President of the Fourth Section, to which the case had been allocated, 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 1970 and lives in Szczecin.

A. First set of criminal proceedings against the applicant

On an unspecified date in 1993 two sets of criminal proceedings against the applicant were instituted before the Szczecin District Court (Sąd Rejonowy). The applicant was charged with armed robbery. On 10 May 1994 the respective proceedings were joined.

On 26 October 1999 the Szczecin District Court gave judgment and convicted the applicant.

On an unspecified date the applicant lodged an appeal.

On 16 February 2000 the Szczecin Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) remitted the case.

According to the applicant’s submissions, the court refused to send him copies of the relevant documents concerning the impugned proceedings. Because of this, he could not submit detailed information about the dates of hearings and the reasons for their adjournment.

On 28 February 2005 the Szczecin District Court again gave judgment and sentenced the applicant to three years and six months’ imprisonment.

According to the Government’s submissions, the first-instance judgment was upheld by the Regional Court on appeal and the proceedings terminated in July 2005.

B. Second set of criminal proceedings against the applicant

On an unspecified date the applicant was charged with acting as part of an organised criminal group. The applicant has failed to produce any documents concerning this set of proceedings; he only stated that he had been convicted by a judgment of the Kraków Court of Appeal on 4 April 1996.

C. Proceedings under the 2004 Act

On an unspecified date the applicant lodged a complaint with the Szczecin Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) 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”). He sought a ruling declaring that the length of the proceedings in his case had been excessive and requesting an award of just satisfaction in the amount of 10,000 Polish zlotys (PLN - approx. 2,500 euros (EUR)).

On 13 January 2005 the Szczecin Regional Court gave a decision in which it acknowledged the excessive length of the proceedings, finding that there had been some periods of unjustified inactivity (lasting from several months to some three years) on the part of the Szczecin District Court. It awarded the applicant PLN 5,000 (approx. EUR 1,222) in just satisfaction. Referring to the amount of just satisfaction, the court relied on the fact that the applicant had contributed to the length of the proceedings because he “had lodged numerous letters with the court” and “because of his state of health a number of hearings had to be adjourned”.