4.  The applicant was born in 1955 and lives in Kiskunhalas. 5.  In July 1995 the applicant, together with six other individuals, filed a criminal report against Mr C., accusing him of fraud. In the ensuing criminal proceedings, the applicant, acting as a civil party, pursued compensation claims. 6.  Until the termination of the investigations on 13 August 1996, 51 witnesses were heard and several items of physical evidence were collected. 7.  A bill of indictment was preferred on 3 March 1997. The defendants, of whom by then there were eight, were charged with twenty-nine counts of fraud. On 14 January 1999 the President of the Kecskemét District Court gave the case priority. 8.  After 45 hearings, on 13 April 2005 the District Court gave judgment. It convicted, inter alia, Mr C. and obliged him to pay the applicant, one of the eleven civil parties in the case by then, three million Hungarian forints in compensation. The judgment was served on 18 June and became final on 27 June 2005. However, since Mr C. had meanwhile become insolvent, the applicant could not recover the damage he had sustained.