5.  The applicant, who was born in 1936, lives in Petrinja, Croatia. 6.  The applicant was the owner of a house in Petrinja where he had lived until August 1995 when he left Croatia due to military actions in that area. 7.  On 23 September 1995 Parliament enacted a law providing that the property of persons who left Croatia was to be taken into possession of the State. It also entitled the local authorities temporarily to accommodate refugees and displaced persons in such property. 8.  On 24 March 1997 the Petrinja local authorities gave the applicant’s house to Z.L. and M.L. (“the occupants”) for temporary use because their house had been destroyed during the war. 9.  On 10 June 1998 the applicant obtained a judgment from the Petrinja Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Petrinji) ordering the occupants to vacate his house within fifteen days. The judgment became final on 30 September 1998 when the Sisak County Court (Županijski sud u Sisku) dismissed the occupants’ appeal and upheld the first-instance judgment. 10.  Since the occupants refused to vacate the applicant’s house, on 24 November 1998 the applicant applied for the enforcement of the above judgment to the Petrinja Municipal Court. On 7 December 1998 the court issued an eviction order. 11.  However, pursuant to the laws in force, the eviction order could not be carried out until the State secured alternative accommodation for the occupants. The court repeatedly requested the local authorities to find temporary accommodation for the occupants and enquired with the competent Ministry on the state of repair of their house. The local authorities informed the court that they were unable to find accommodation for the occupants. 12.  On 28 June 2001 the competent Ministry informed the court that the reconstruction of the occupants’ house was completed. 13.  On 8 November 2001 the occupants vacated the applicant’s house. On 12 November 2001 the applicant repossessed the house.