4.  The applicant was born in 1966 and lives in Príbovce. 5.  On 10 December 1996 an investigator of the Martin District Office of Investigation accused the applicant of an offence of illegal acquisition and possession of arms. The applicant complained. Subsequently the case was transferred to the Regional Office of Investigation in Banská Bystrica. 6.  On 18 December 1996 a public prosecutor of the Banská Bystrica Prosecution Office dismissed the applicant’s complaint. 7.  On 20 December 1996 a new accusation of the same offence based on a modified factual background was made against the applicant by the Regional Office of Investigation. The applicant filed a complaint. 8.  On 21 December 1996 a judge of the Banská Bystrica District Court remanded the applicant in custody as from 20 December 1996. 9.  On 4 February 1997 the Žilina Prosecution Office dismissed the applicant’s complaint against the decision of 20 December 1996. 10.  On 25 April 1997 the applicant was released from custody. 11.  On 29 May 1997 the Žilina Regional Prosecutor indicted the applicant before the Žilina Regional Court for having been an accomplice to the attempted offence of illegal acquisition and possession of arms. 12.  On 11 June 1997 the case was assigned to a different judge as the judge to whom the case had been assigned was an acquaintance of one of the accused. 13.  On 25 November 1997 and 1 December 1997 respectively the Regional Court judge requested that a previous judgment regarding one of the accused be submitted to him. 14.  On 16 April 1999 the Regional Court remitted the case to the public prosecutor for further investigation. The public prosecutor appealed. 15.  On 18 August 1999 the Supreme Court quashed the Regional Court’s decision of 16 April 1999 and ordered the first-instance court to proceed with the case. 16.  The Regional Court summoned all the accused persons, including the applicant, to a hearing scheduled for 12 January 2000. The counsel of one of the accused requested that the hearing be postponed. 17.  The Regional Court held hearings on 17 February 2000, 10 March 2000, 16 June 2000, 27 July 2000, 13 September 2000, 26 October 2000 and 29 October 2000. Several hearings had to be adjourned due to the absence of witnesses and the illness of one of the accused. From 22 December 2000 until 2 May 2001 the court made requests to establish the whereabouts of a witness. 18.  On 10 May 2001 the Žilina Regional Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to 6 months’ imprisonment, conditionally suspended for 18 months. Both the applicant and the public prosecutor appealed. 19.  On 30 January 2002 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals. The decision became final and binding on the same day. 20.  On 17 February 2003 the applicant complained to the Constitutional Court about a violation of his right to have the case decided without undue delay. 21.  In a letter of 6 March 2003 a Constitutional Court judge informed the applicant that his motion could not be dealt with as it clearly did not meet the necessary formal requirements. The judge also noted that the statutory two-month time-limit for lodging a complaint with the Constitutional Court had already lapsed as the final decision in the criminal proceedings in issue had been given on 30 January 2002.