4.  The applicant was born in 1961 and lives in Zvolen. 5.  On 27 April 1994 the applicant filed an action with the Zvolen District Court. He claimed a sum of money which the defendant had failed to pay for the work done by the applicant. 6.  On 9 May 1995 the District Court gave an interim judgment confirming that the applicant’s claim was justified. The amount owed by the defendant remained to be determined in further proceedings. 7.  In the subsequent period the District Court experienced some difficulties in finding a suitable expert and obtaining an opinion from a specialised institute. 8.  On the applicant’s complaint, on 26 March 2003, the Constitutional Court found that the District Court had violated the applicant’s right to a hearing without unjustified delay. The length of the proceedings was partly due to the factual complexity of the case. The applicant had not contributed to the overall length of the proceedings in a significant manner. 9.  The Constitutional Court awarded 20,000 Slovakian korunas (SKK) (the equivalent of approximately 480 euros (EUR) at that time) to the applicant as just satisfaction in respect of non-pecuniary damage. It also ordered the District Court to proceed with the case without further delay and to reimburse the applicant’s costs. 10.  In the subsequent period the file was pending before the Banská Bystrica Regional Court for several months. The latter examined the amount of the fee to be paid to the specialised institute. 11.  On 3 May 2004 the District Court partially found in the applicant’s favour. 12.  Both the applicant and the defendant appealed. 13.  On 23 September 2005 the Regional Court upheld the first-instance judgment on the merits. It quashed its part concerning the costs and remitted the matter to the District Court. The decision on the merits became final on 4 November 2005.