PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 73003/01) 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, Mrs Genowefa Grela (“the applicant”), on 22 June 1999.

The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr K. Drzewicki and subsequently, Mrs S. Jaczewska of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 30 April 2002 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate the complaint concerning the length of the proceedings to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

The applicant was born in 1936 and lives in Zamość, Poland.

The applicant’s father and mother died in 1982 and 1983 respectively. On 2 March 1984 the Zamość District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) declared that the applicant and her three brothers were to inherit their estate. On 17 September 1985 the applicant filed an application for distribution of the estate with the Zamość District Court. From 30 October 1985 to 27 June 1991 the court held thirty six hearings. It also obtained five expert reports.

On 28 September 1993 the court held a hearing during which it heard evidence from the applicant and one of her brothers. The court held a further hearing on 25 October 1993.

On 8 November 1993 the court closed the examination of the case and informed the parties that a preliminary decision would be delivered on 22 November 1993. It later resumed the examination of the case and listed a hearing for 24 January 1994. At that hearing, the court again heard evidence from the applicant and one of her brothers.

In April 1994 the applicant personally went to the court’s registry and asked the President of the Zamość District Court to fix a date for a hearing as soon as possible; she also complained about the slow progress in the proceedings.

On 16 May 1994 the court held a hearing, heard five witnesses and ordered an expert to prepare a report. On 20 June 1994 the expert submitted his report to the court. On 12 December 1994 and 16 January 1995 the court held further hearings.

In the course of the proceedings several judge rapporteurs dealt with the case.

In February 1995 the applicant sent a letter to the Minister of Justice asking that the proceedings be expedited. In a letter of 30 March 1995 the President of the Zamość Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) informed the applicant that he would personally supervise the conduct of the proceedings. He also admitted that the proceedings had been slowed down as a result of changes of rapporteurs.

On 22 January 1996 the court obtained an expert report. On 17 April 1996 the court held a hearing. Two further expert reports were submitted to the court on 25 May 1995 and 16 June 1996, respectively.

The court held hearings on 26 January and 9, 16 and 23 February 1999. On 20 April, 12 May and 24 October 1999, respectively, the experts submitted supplementary reports.

On 4 February, 3 March and 17 March 2000 the court held hearings and heard evidence from several witnesses. On 4 April 2000 the court informed the parties that the final decision would be delivered on 18 April 2000.

On 18 April 2000 the court decided that it would not deliver the final decision and resumed the proceedings. On the same date the court asked the applicant to submit an extract from the land register confirming that her late parents had owned a certain plot of land. On 4 May 2000 the applicant made submissions to the court. She maintained that she was not able to produce the documents required by the court because her parents did not have title to that property.

On 15 May 2000 the court stayed the proceedings. It held that the applicant had failed to comply with the order of 18 April 2000. Subsequently, on 20 September 2001 the applicant asked the court to resume the proceedings. On 23 January 2002 the Zamość Regional Court resumed the proceedings.

On 1 March 2002 the District Court held a hearing. On 15 March 2002 it gave a final decision. The applicant appealed. On 13 November and 4 December 2002 the Regional Court held hearings. On 14 December 2002 the Zamość Regional Court upheld the first-instance decision. It appears that this decision is final.