WĘGRZYNOWSKI AND SMOLCZEWSKI v. POLAND JUDGMENT 5 court in the present case to examine facts which had already existed prior to that judgment. The plaintiffs could not lodge a new claim based on factual circumstances which had already existed during the previous set of proceedings. The court noted in passing that the existing online publication was not a fact which would have been impossible to establish at that time (“nie była to tzw. okoliczność nieujawnialna”). 17. The applicants submitted an appeal on points of law, invoking their right to the effective legal protection of their personal rights, including their reputation. They reiterated that the continued availability of the article on the newspaper’s website infringed their personal rights. 18. On 3 November 2006 the Warsaw Court of Appeal requested the applicants’ legal representative to amend the statement of appeal’s formal deficiencies by specifying whether it had been lodged on behalf of one or both of the applicants. It noted that the court fee paid in connection with the appeal had corresponded to the sum to be paid for an appeal lodged by one person only. 19. By letter of 10 November the applicants’ lawyer clarified that the appeal had been lodged by the second applicant, Mr Smolczewski. 20. On 17 November 2006 the Warsaw Court of Appeal rejected the appeal in so far as it related to the first applicant, having regard to the fact that the relevant court fee had not been paid. This decision was served on the applicants’ lawyer on 4 December 2006. No appeal was lodged against this decision. 21. By a decision of 7 February 2007 the Supreme Court, sitting in camera, refused to entertain the first applicant’s cassation appeal (odmówił przyjęcia kasacji do rozpoznania). II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE 22. Article 23 of the Civil Code contains a non-exhaustive list of “personal rights” (dobra osobiste). This provision states: “The personal rights of an individual, such as, in particular, health, liberty, , freedom of conscience, name or pseudonym, image, secrecy of correspondence, inviolability of the home, scientific or artistic works [] inventions and improvements, shall be protected by the civil law regardless of the protection laid down in other legal provisions.” Article 24, paragraph 1, of the Civil Code provides: “A person whose personal rights are at risk [of infringement] from a third party may seek an injunction, unless the activity [complained of] is lawful. In the event of infringement, [the person concerned] may also require the party who caused the infringement to take the necessary steps to redress the consequences of the infringement ... In compliance with the principles of this Code, [the person concerned] may also seek pecuniary compensation or may ask the court to award an appropriate sum for the benefit of a specific public interest.”