PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 32098/05) 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 Marianna Cieślak (“the applicant”), on 10 August 2005.

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

On 27 September 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, Ms Marianna Cieślak, is a Polish national who was born in 1923 and lives in Bobolice.

A. Proceedings for expropriation and civil proceedings for repossession

The applicant’s mother-in-law died on 6 October 1975. During the proceedings for division of inheritance, on 30 October 1980 the Mayor of Warsaw’s Wola District (Naczelnik Dzielnicy Warszawa Wola – hereafter, “the Mayor”) expropriated part of the land belonging to the applicant’s family.

On 22 February 1981 the applicant’s husband inherited the plot of land in Warsaw. On 17 August 1988, after his death, the applicant became the co-owner of the land.

The applicant instituted proceedings for annulment of the Mayor’s decision. On 22 March 1991 the Supreme Administrative Court (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny) decided that the expropriation decision had been taken in flagrant infringement of the law.

On 29 February 1996 the Warsaw Governor’s Office (Urząd Wojewódzki) quashed the Mayor’s decision and dismissed an application by the Polish Allotment Association (Polski Związek Działkowy) for expropriation of the land. The Association appealed. On 20 January 1998 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the Warsaw Governor’s Office’s decision.

On 10 March 1995 the applicant and two other plaintiffs lodged with the Warsaw District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) a claim for repossession of the expropriated land. The case was transmitted to the Warsaw Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy).

On 21 November 2000 the Regional Court gave a preliminary judgment (wyrok wstępny). It decided that the property should be returned, and the parties should retain possession of the land until financial claims had been completed. The applicant appealed.

On 18 January 2002 the Warsaw Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) quashed the Regional Court’s judgment on the right to retain possession until the completion of financial claims.

On 25 February 2004 the Regional Court gave judgment. It decided that the property should be returned. The Polish Allotment Association appealed.

On 20 December 2005 the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. On 15 June 2006 it issued a writ of enforcement.

B. Proceedings under the 2004 Act

On 22 January 2005 the applicant lodged with the Warsaw Court of Appeal a complaint under the provisions of the 17 June 2004 Act on complaints about a breach of the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time (Ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki – “the 2004 Act”), which entered into force on 17 September 2004.

On 23 March 2005 the Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s complaint. The court held that the 2004 Act had legal effect from its date of entry into force. It found that during the relevant part of the proceedings there had been no inactivity or undue delay on the part of the domestic court. In that connection, the court held that there had been no breach of the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time in the period after 17 September 2004.