5.  The applicant is a limited company registered in Sweden. 6.  In 1986 the applicant company sued company X. for breach of contract and requested SEK 609,000 in compensation. The District Court (tingsrätten) in Malmö rejected the claim but, upon appeal, the Court of Appeal (hovrätten) of Skåne and Blekinge awarded the applicant company SEK 442,942. Company X. appealed to the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) which, in 1992, quashed the Court of Appeal's judgment and upheld the District Court's judgment. Before the District Court and the Court of Appeal, the applicant company was represented by lawyer A. However, after the oral hearing in the Court of Appeal, the applicant company made it clear that it had lost confidence in A., who accordingly resigned from the case. During the proceedings before the Supreme Court, the applicant company was represented by another lawyer. 7.  On 7 June 1993 the applicant company sued A. before the District Court of Ängelholm, claiming that she had been negligent while representing it before the District Court and the Court of Appeal. In particular, she had failed to invoke a standard contract (“EÅ 85”) as a ground for their claim. It demanded that A. pay it SEK 1,478,054 (approximately EUR 161,000) in compensation. A. contested the allegations and insisted that she had carried out her assignment with proper care. Both parties, in particular the applicant company, submitted extensive pleadings and documents, and the court held three oral preparatory meetings with the parties. Following each of these meetings, more submissions were made by the parties, and efforts were made to find a theme on which the District Court could issue an interim judgment (mellandom). However, these efforts failed. Furthermore, in submissions to the District Court between September and December 1995, both parties revoked their witnesses, leaving only the applicant company's owner and A. to be heard at the main hearing. 8.  On 22 and 23 January 1996 the District Court held an oral hearing on the merits of the case and, on 23 February 1996, it rejected the applicant company's claim. It gave detailed grounds for its judgment. In its conclusion, the court stated, inter alia, that it found that A. had not been negligent in any of the respects referred to by the applicant company. On the contrary, the examination of the case confirmed that A. had carried out her assignment conscientiously and skilfully. 9.  On 14 March 1996 the applicant company appealed against the judgment to the Court of Appeal of Skåne and Blekinge. In May 1996 it supplemented its appeal and submitted new evidence which it requested the court to accept. It further requested that the case be remitted to the District Court and that it be granted legal aid. 10.  In May 1996 the Court of Appeal rejected the request for legal aid, a decision against which the applicant company appealed. Consequently, the entire case file was sent to the Supreme Court which, in October 1996, upheld the decision and sent the case file back to the Court of Appeal. In October and December 1996, the applicant company made further submissions to the court, which were sent to the other party for comments. 11.  An oral hearing was planned for the middle of April 1997, but it was postponed since A. could not attend. 12.  In July 1997 the Court of Appeal rejected the applicant company's request to have the case remitted to the lower court, but admitted the new evidence which had been produced as it considered that the applicant company had had a valid excuse for not having relied on such material before the District Court. 13.  The Court of Appeal then set a new date for an oral hearing in February 1998. However, it was again postponed, this time because a hearing in a criminal case was given priority. Instead, the hearing was scheduled for the beginning of October 1998. On 25 August 1998 the summons to the hearing was sent to the parties and, on 7 September 1998, the applicant company contacted the court with a request that the hearing be postponed until it could find a lawyer to represent it. It further noted that the court had promised to contact it before setting the date for the hearing, but had failed to do so. Consequently, the court granted the request and ordered the applicant company to inform it, no later than 15 October 1998, about its legal representation. On this date, the applicant company notified the court that its owner would represent it (as he had done all along). The oral hearing was held on 13 and 14 October 1999. 14.  On 4 November 1999 the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment. It briefly set out the parties' claims and submissions, but did not expressly refer to the new evidence which the applicant company had been allowed to submit. Under the title “the Court of Appeal's judgment”, it simply held:
“The Court of Appeal confirms the District Court's judgment”. 15.  Further, it appended the lower court's judgment to its own. 16.  On 1 December 1999 the applicant company appealed to the Supreme Court, stating, inter alia, that the proceedings before the Court of Appeal had been of excessive duration and that the judges had been biased against it. In February 2000 the applicant company made further submissions in which it developed its grounds of appeal. 17.  On 19 October 2000 the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal. 18.  In February 1999 the applicant company complained to the Chancellor of Justice (Justitiekanslern) that the District Court and the Court of Appeal had delayed the proceedings in its case. After having received submissions from the two courts, to which the applicant company replied, the Chancellor of Justice decided, in April 1999, that no further action would be taken in the matter. In its submission, the District Court first noted that since A. worked as a lawyer within its jurisdiction, judges of another court had dealt with the case which had prolonged the proceedings somewhat. It further considered that the circumstances of the case had been special and fairly complicated from a legal point of view, and that the preparations for the main hearing had been demanding. For its part, the Court of Appeal noted, inter alia, that the case had not concerned a complicated matter, but the case file had been voluminous and difficult to grasp. It regretted that the processing of the case had taken so long and that the court had failed to contact the applicant company, as promised, before setting a hearing date in October 1998.