7.  The applicant was born in 1962 and lives in Lublin. 8.  On 6 June 2007 the Lublin District Court convicted the applicant of several robberies and sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. By a judgment of 28 December 2007 the Lublin Regional Court upheld the first‑instance judgment. 9.  On 4 January 2008 the applicant requested the Lublin Regional Court to grant him a legal-aid lawyer for the purpose of lodging a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court. 10.  On 7 February 2008 a legal-aid lawyer was assigned. 11.  By a letter of 14 March 2008 the lawyer informed the court in a one sentence-long opinion that he had not found any grounds on which to prepare a cassation appeal. This statement did not include any reasons for the refusal to lodge a cassation appeal. 12.  By a letter of 17 March 2008 the court forwarded the lawyer’s statement to the applicant. The letter read as follows:
“...The Lublin Regional Court informs you that your legal-aid lawyer, advocate Mr W.W., informed the court in writing that he had not found any grounds to prepare a cassation appeal. In consequence, the time-limit for lodging a cassation appeal by a lawyer of your own choice expires on 7 April 2008.” 13.  The letter as well as the opinion were served on the applicant on an unspecified date. 14.  On 27 March 2008 the Lublin Regional Court refused to assign a new legal-aid lawyer to the applicant. The court stated that because the previous legal-aid lawyer had not found any grounds on which to draw up a cassation appeal, the mere fact that the applicant disagreed with this decision could not require the verification of this opinion by successive lawyers.