4.  The applicant was born in 1937 and lives in Debrecen. 5.  In May 1990 a company brought an action in damages against the applicant. On 1 November 1991 the Supreme Court appointed the Hajdú-Bihar County Regional Court to hear the case. On 22 July 1992 the applicant brought a counter-claim. 6.  After having held three hearings and having obtained the opinion of an expert, on 2 December 1996 the Regional Court dismissed all claims. 7.  On 18 February 1998 the Supreme Court, sitting as a second-instance court, quashed the first-instance decision in its part concerning the applicant's counter-claim and remitted it to the Regional Court. 8.  On 21 May 1999 the Regional Court held a hearing and appointed an expert. 9.  On 25 February 2000 the Regional Court ordered the plaintiff to pay the applicant 1,300,000 Hungarian forints plus accrued interest and dismissed the remainder of his claims. 10.  On appeal, on 22 May 2002 the Supreme Court upheld the first-instance decision.