CONCURRING OPINION OF JUDGE DE GAETANO

The facts of this case are rather confusing, no doubt due to the constant pitched battles fought in the Polish courts between the applicant and his former wife, to the detriment of the minor involved. Nevertheless, it is quite clear that from 1997 onwards the Polish courts did all that was reasonably possible to ensure effective enforcement of the 1997 access agreement, and that it was basically because of the disaffection that the child herself showed towards her father that problems arose.

As is correctly stated in § 76, the applicant does not appear to be complaining about the period prior to the 1997 access agreement, but only about the period subsequent to it. Nevertheless that period – the first seven years of the child ' s life – was critical for the development of the necessary filial ties between the applicant and his daughter. There surely must be something wrong with a system which takes, or allows the parties to take, almost five years – from 2 November 1992 to 22 July 1997 – to determine definitely access arrangements with regards to a child. Had the applicant also complained specifically about the period 1992-1997, I am sure that the outcome of this case would have been different.