5.  On 23 May 1988 the applicant filed an action for damages with the Košice I District Court. He claimed compensation from several persons on the ground that his house had been damaged as a result of a road traffic accident. 6.  On 3 November 1993 the Košice I District Court allowed the applicant’s claims in part. 7.  The applicant and one of the defendants appealed. The case file was submitted to the Košice Regional Court on 27 February 1995. On 24 August 1995 the latter quashed a part of the first instance judgment and ordered the District Court to take further evidence on the relevant claims. 8.  The District Court instructed an expert to submit an opinion, and it heard the parties on 18 December 1995 and on 23 April 1996. A second expert was appointed by a decision delivered on 2 December 1997. He submitted the opinion on 31 December 1997. The applicant challenged both the expert and the District Court judge. 9.  The case file was submitted to the Regional Court, between 12 January 1998 and 12 March 1998, which granted the applicant’s request for exclusion of the District Court judge. 10.  On 23 July 1998 the District Court asked the parties to submit comments on the expert opinion. The applicant replied on 3 August 1998. 11.  The case was adjourned on 26 October 1998, on 30 November 1998, on 8 February 1999 and on 22 March 1999. On 20 July 1999 the District Court appointed another expert who submitted her opinion on 17 September 1999. Hearings before the District Court were held on 2 May 2000 and on 30 October 2000. 12.  On 24 October 2000 the Constitutional Court found that the Košice I District Court had violated the applicant’s constitutional right to have his case examined without undue delay. In its finding, the Constitutional Court held that the complex character of the case could not, on its own, justify the overall length of the proceedings, and that no delays in the proceedings could be imputed to the applicant. The Constitutional Court further held that the Košice I District Court had remained inactive for an overall period of approximately four years. 13.  On 15 January 2001 the Košice I District Court delivered a second judgment on the case. It became final on 11 May 2001.