4.  The applicant was born in 1926 and lives in Durrës. 5.  The applicant’s father was the owner of two plots of agricultural land, which, at some point, were expropriated by the communist regime. 6.  On 19 September 1996 the Durrës District Court acknowledged the existence of the applicant’s inherited property rights to a plot of agricultural land measuring 72,000 sq. m in accordance with Article 388 of the Civil Code (vërtetim fakti juridik). The operative provision reads as follows:
“the court accepts the plaintiff’s civil action and acknowledges the existence of the legal fact that his father possessed an agricultural plot of land measuring 72,000 sq. m (...). This recognition is made for compensation purposes (“pranimin e kërkesë padisë së paditësit Xhaferr Bici duke vërtetuar faktin juridik të pronësisë së babait të tij mbi një sipërfaqe toke bujqësore 72,000 sq. m (...). Kjo njohje bëhet për efekt kompensimi).” 7.  On 26 September 1996 the applicant, relying on the District Court’s decision, lodged an application with the Durrës Property Restitution and Compensation Commission (Komisioni i Kthimit dhe Kompensimit të Pronave – “the Commission”) seeking the recognition, restitution and/or compensation of the property. 8.  From 2001 to 2008, the applicant requested several authorities to recognise his property right and restore the property to him. 9.  On 11 March and 19 November 2002 the Durrës Prefecture (Prefektura e Qarkut Durrës) and the Commission stated that the application had been pending since 1996. The Commission also stated that the application was to be examined on the basis of the 1993 Property Act, as amended. 10.  On 28 August 2007 the Commission confirmed that no decision had been taken in relation to the application of 26 September 1996. The letter included a list of documents that were part of the applicant’s file. 11.  On 14 July 2008 the Commission returned the applicant his application of 26 September 1996. It stated that no decision could be taken on the strength of the District Court’s decision of 19 September 1996 on the basis of section 17 of the 2004 Property Act, as amended (see paragraph 16 below). It further noted that the 1993 Property Act and the subsequent statutory legal acts, which provided for the recognition of the property rights on the basis of a decision acknowledging the existence of a legal fact about alleged property rights (vërtetim fakti juridik), had been repealed. 12.  There is no acknowledgment of receipt of the Commission’s letter of 14 July 2008 by the applicant.