PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 3464/06) 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 Wiktor Kucharczyk (“the applicant”), on 29 December 2005.

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

On 10 November 2008 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

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1952 and lives in Kielce.

A. Civil proceedings for reinstatement at work

1. Facts before 1 May 1993

On 6 November 1991 the applicant lodged a claim against a cooperative, his former employer, with the Kielce District Court, seeking reinstatement in his job.

On 19 December 1991 the proceedings were stayed because of other proceedings pending before the Kielce Regional Court.

2. Facts after 1 May 1993

On 4 August 1994 the Kielce District Court, finding the proceedings before the Kielce Regional Court had been terminated, decided to resume the proceedings against the applicant's employer.

On 18 August 1994 the defendant cooperative was declared insolvent and on 29 September 1994 the Kielce District Court again stayed the proceedings.

On 28 November 1997 the Kielce District Court discontinued the proceedings, finding that the applicant's claims had been satisfied in the insolvency proceedings of his former employer.

The applicant appealed against that decision.

On 30 December 1997 the Kielce Regional Court quashed the challenged decision.

On 30 January 1998 the Kielce District Court resumed the proceedings and on 1 April 1998 it stayed them again, finding that the insolvency proceedings had not yet been terminated.

On 19 December 2000 the applicant requested the court to resume the proceedings, submitting that the Regional Court had discontinued the insolvency proceedings.

On 8 January 2001 the proceedings were resumed.

At a hearing on 24 July 2001 the applicant, taking into consideration that liquidation proceedings in respect of the defendant cooperative had been commenced, modified his claim and directed it against the members of the management board of the cooperative in liquidation.

On 11 October 2001 the Kielce District Court again stayed the proceedings, because the applicant had failed to provide the court with the addresses of the defendants.

The applicant appealed, but the decision of 11 October 2001 was upheld by the Kielce Regional Court.

On 19 September 2003 the Kielce District Court resumed the proceedings.

On 10 December 2003 the Kielce District Court gave judgment and dismissed the applicant's claim.

On 15 December 2003 the applicant requested the court to prepare and deliver the reasoning of the judgment.

The judgment with reasoning was sent to the applicant on 18 October 2004.

On 10 November 2004 the applicant lodged an appeal against the first-instance judgment.

On 6 July 2005 the Kielce Regional Court dismissed the applicant's appeal.

On 8 July 2005 the legal adviser, G.P., who had represented the applicant before the courts, sent a letter to the applicant informing him, that “because the proceedings in this case have lasted since 1991”, he could no longer act as his representative. The lawyer's letter went on to explain: “at the time of my appointment you were a member of the trade union and as such you were entitled to legal aid provided for by the union. For several years however, you have no longer been a member of the union and the Świętokrzyski Region, which granted me power of attorney, is no longer under obligation to deal with your affairs.”

The lawyer failed to submit the letter to the court.

On 12 July 2005 the applicant personally submitted a letter to the Regional Court informing it that he had revoked the power of attorney of his lawyer, G.P.

On the same day, the applicant requested the court to allow him a legal-aid lawyer to lodge a cassation appeal on his behalf. He based his request on his difficult financial situation and his lack of legal knowledge.

On 25 July 2005 the Kielce Regional Court dismissed the applicant's request, relying on the fact that since 1991 the applicant had been represented before the courts by a legal adviser and that he had terminated the latter's power of attorney with effect on 12 July 2005 and voluntarily relinquished free legal aid.

The applicant appealed against that decision.

On 18 August 2005 the Kielce Regional Court rejected the appeal as inadmissible in law.

B. Proceedings under the 2004 Act

On an unspecified date the applicant lodged 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”), seeking the court's acknowledgement of the unreasonable length of the proceedings and just satisfaction of 10,000 Polish zlotys (PLN).

On 1 March 2005 the Kielce Regional Court found that there had been a period of inactivity on the part of the Kielce District Court between 23 December 2003 and 18 October 2004 and granted the applicant PLN 2,000 in just satisfaction. The court found that in the remaining periods the proceedings had been conducted without undue delays.