4.  The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in Sztum. 5.  On 7 May 1998 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of homicide and robbery. 6.  On 9 May 1998 the Gdynia District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) remanded him in custody. 7.  On 31 July 2000 the bill of indictment was lodged with the Gdańsk Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy). The applicant and seven other persons were indicted with homicide, several counts of robbery and various other offences committed in an organised criminal group. 8.  The trial began on 14 December 2000. Between 14 December 2000 and 22 July 2003 the trial court held 64 hearings. 9.  On 29 July 2003 the Gdańsk Regional Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The applicant appealed. 10.  On 16 December 2004 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) quashed this judgment and remitted the case. 11.  On 25 August 2005 the Gdańsk Regional Court severed the charges against the applicant into two separate sets of the proceedings. 12.  In the first set of the proceedings, the Gdańsk Regional Court again convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to life imprisonment on 24 August 2007. The applicant appealed. This judgment was upheld on 19 November 2008 by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal. 13.  In the second set of proceedings, on 15 April 2008 the Gdańsk Regional Court gave judgment and sentenced the applicant to 10 years’ imprisonment. The proceedings were terminated by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal on 5 January 2009. 14.  On 21 November 2007 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Gdańsk Court of Appeal under 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”). The applicant sought a ruling that the length of the proceedings before the Gdańsk Regional Court had been excessive and an award of just satisfaction in the amount of 10,000 Polish zlotys (PLN). 15.  On 28 December 2007 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s motion. The court stressed in particular that the proceedings were very complicated and there was a need to obtain evidence from numerous witnesses.