ABSTRACT
On 21 May 1980, criminal proceedings were brought against Mr Hannes Mlynek which led to his conviction, on 30 May 1984, on counts of misappropriation of funds and fraud. On 30 January 1987, the Supreme Court quashed the judgment and remitted the case to the same court, which reopened the proceedings on 11 January 1988. The applicant lodged a first application with the European Commission of Human Rights, which on 10 March 1988 found that the length of the proceedings had exceeded a ‘reasonable time’. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommended that the Government pay the applicant ATS 275,000 as just satisfaction. In the meantime, after 33 days of hearings, including, inter alia, the taking of evidence from some hundred witnesses, the Regional Court had, on 23 March 1988, sentenced the applicant to three years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended, for misappropriation of funds and negligent bankruptcy. The Supreme Court quashed the judgment on 1 June 1990 and once again remitted the case to the Vienna Regional Court. The proceedings were still pending. The applicant lodged a second application with the Commission complaining of the length of the proceedings after 10 March 1988. Comm found unanimously V 6(1).
