4.  The applicants were respectively born in 1951 and 1952 and live in Messina. 5.  They are the owners of a flat in Milan, which they had let to F.G. 6.  In a registered letter of 29 April 1993, the applicants informed the tenant that they intended to terminate the lease on expiry of the term on 30 December 1993 and asked him to vacate the premises by that date. 7.  The tenant told the applicants that he would not leave the premises. 8.  In a writ served on the tenant on 30 June 1993, the applicants reiterated their intention to terminate the lease and summoned the tenant to appear before the Milan Magistrate. 9.  By a decision of 28 October 1993, which was made enforceable on 8 November 1993, the Milan Magistrate upheld the validity of the notice to quit and ordered that the premises be vacated by 31 January 1996. 10.  On 6 February 1996, the applicants served notice on the tenant requiring him to vacate the premises. 11.  On an unspecified date, they served notice on the tenant informing him that the order for possession would be enforced by a bailiff on 15 March 1996. 12.  Between 15 March 1996 and 21 September 2001, the bailiff made eleven attempts to recover possession. Each attempt proved unsuccessful, as the applicants were not entitled to police assistance in enforcing the order for possession. 13.  On 29 January 2002 and on 16 April 2002, the bailiff made two attempts to recover possession which proved unsuccessful, as the applicants were not entitled to police assistance in enforcing the order for possession. 14.  In July 2002, the applicants recovered possession of the flat.