4.  The applicants were born in 1963 and 1966 respectively and live in Stavropol. 5.  As judges, the applicants were entitled to a service at. As the at had not been provided, the applicants sued the Pyatigorsk Town Council. On 10 June 2003 the Essentuki Town Court held for the applicants and ordered the council to:
“[P]rovide [the applicants] with a decent dwelling for a family of four, offering 12 m² per person and having an extra surface of 40 m² with regard to two family members’ right to extra surface: either 20 m² per person or a separate room per person.”
This judgment became binding on 8 September 2003, but was not enforced immediately. 6.  In September–November 2003 bailiffs several times inquired with the council whether it had available ats. In December 2003 and February 2004 the bailiffs requested the court to change the mode of execution to a cash payment. In September 2005 the bailiffs attached the council’s bank accounts and means of transport. 7.  In August 2004 the applicants and the council reached a settlement, but the council defaulted on its promise. 8.  On the council’s request, on 20 March 2006 the Presidium of the Stavropol Regional Court quashed the judgment and ordered a rehearing. The presidium found that the council had been the wrong defendant, and that the district court had awarded a at bigger than the applicants had been entitled to. 9.  In the course of the rehearing, on 22 October 2007 the applicants withdrew their claims and the proceedings were closed. 10.  In December 2007 the applicants were offered a at of 124.8 m² in a house in the centre of Stavropol, but they refused to accept it insisting that the at should be of 150 m². In the meantime, in 2006–07 the authorities subsidised the applicants’ rent.