6.  The applicant was born in 1955 and lives in Warsaw. 7.  On 10 November 1999 the applicant lodged a claim for payment with the Warsaw District Court (Sąd Rejonowy). The applicant requested the court to make an order for payment against his business partner. The value of the claim was 500 Polish zlotys (PLN) (about 150 euros (EUR). 8.  On 9 January 2004 the Warsaw District Court gave judgment and dismissed the applicant’s claim. 9.  On 7 February 2004 the applicant appealed against the first-instance judgment. 10.  On 30 November 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court heard the applicant’s appeal and granted the claim for payment. 11.  On 21 September 2004 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Warsaw Regional Court 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 before the Warsaw District Court had been excessive and that just satisfaction should be awarded to him. 12.  On 9 November 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court gave a decision in which it acknowledged the excessive length of the proceedings (36 months and 7 days of inactivity on the part of the Warsaw District Court) but refused to grant the applicant any just satisfaction, holding that the applicant had failed to reason his request for just satisfaction and that the proceedings for payment of PLN 500 did “not seem to be particularly important for the applicant, who is a businessman”. 13.  On 29 January 2005 the applicant lodged another application concerning the length of the civil proceedings for payment. Those proceedings lasted 5 years at one level of jurisdiction. The applicant made use of the complaint provided for by the 2004 Act and the domestic court acknowledged the excessive length of the proceedings (35 months and 21 days of inactivity on the part of the Warsaw District Court) but refused to grant the applicant any just satisfaction.