PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 18026/03) 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 Miroslaw Czaus (“the applicant”), on 27 May 2003.

The applicant was represented by Mr J. Szczechowicz, a lawyer practising in Olsztyn. The Polish Government were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 3 April 2007 the President of the Fourth Section of the Court decided to communicate the complaint concerning the length of the proceedings 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 1956 and lives in Olsztyn, Poland.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

A. The first set of civil proceedings against Ms J.R. and Mr G.M.

On 12 September 2000 the applicant instituted before the Olsztyn Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) civil proceedings against Ms J.R. and Mr G.M. in which he claimed payment for construction work he had carried out. The applicant requested that his claim be considered in a summary procedure (postępowanie nakazowe).

On 10 October 2000 the court allowed the action and issued a payment order against the defendant. The defendant appealed.

Subsequently, all the judges of the Olsztyn Regional Court asked to be excluded from trying the case as the defendant was married to one of the judges. The case was thus transferred to the Warsaw Regional Court where it was filed under case no. XV GC 375/01.

The court held the first hearing on 8 October 2002. The next hearings were held on 20 February and 28 November 2003.

On 27 May 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court gave judgment in which it allowed a part of the applicant's action.

The applicant lodged an appeal against this judgment.

On 22 August 2005 the applicant lodged a complaint about a breach of the right to have his case heard within a reasonable time. He relied on 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 24 August 2005 the Warsaw Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) held the first hearing.

On 3 October 2005 the Warsaw Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint about the unreasonable length of the proceedings. The court established that the Regional Court had been inactive for many months which led to the unjustified protraction of the proceedings. However, the inactivity occurred before the entry into force of the 2004 Act and thus could not be taken into consideration.

The proceedings on the merits of the applicant's civil action are pending before the appeal court.

B. The second and third set of civil proceedings

In July 1999 the applicant lodged civil proceedings for payment with the Warsaw District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) against the limited liability company “Auto Żoliborz”.

On 31 January 2003 the court gave a judgment. The applicant appealed.

On 7 May 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court quashed the impugned judgment and remitted the case.

On 24 May 2005 the Warsaw District Court gave a judgment.

The appeal lodged against this judgment was rejected on 18 October 2005 as it had been lodged out of time.

On 17 May 2001 the applicant initiated another set of civil proceedings against Mr A.S. and Mr J.C.

On 17 May 2001 the Olsztyn District Court gave a judgment in which it partly allowed the applicant's action. The applicant appealed.

On 3 March 2003 the Olsztyn Regional Court partly allowed the appeal.