4.  The applicant, was born in 1932 and lives in Belgrade, Serbia. 5.  On 31 May 2000 the applicant brought a civil action in the Zadar Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Zadru), seeking payment for a house he had sold to a private individual, M.G. 6.  The first hearing scheduled for 6 November 2000 was adjourned owing to the failure of the applicant's representative to submit a proper authority form. Further hearings were held on 16 January, 15 February, 19 March, 10 and 22 May, 13 June and 9 August 2002. 7.  At the hearing held on 29 August 2002 the applicant's representative asked that the applicant give his evidence before a court in Belgrade by means of legal assistance between the two States. On the same day the Zadar Municipal Court requested the competent Municipal Court in Belgrade for legal assistance in that respect. 8.  On 19 March 2003 the Zadar Municipal Court received the record of the applicant's evidence given before the First Municipal Court in Belgrade. 9.  The Zadar Municipal Court held further hearings on 8 June, 9 September, 18 October, 4 November and 2 December 2004 and 5 April 2006. 10.  Meanwhile, on 24 October 2005, the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint under section 63 of the Constitutional Court Act complaining about the length of the above civil proceedings. 11.  In the period between March and September 2006 the Zadar Municipal Court and the Zadar County Court (Županijski sud u Zadru) were deciding on the applicant's requests for transfer of jurisdiction to another court and withdrawal of the presiding judge. 12.  On 12 December 2006 the Municipal Court delivered a judgment ruling for the applicant in part. Both parties appealed to the Zadar County Court. 13.  On 12 February 2007, the applicant sought an interim measure (privremena mjera) from the Zadar Municipal Court so as to prohibit M.G. from disposing of the house in question. On 24 April 2007 the Zadar County Court returned the case to the Municipal Court in order to decide on the applicant's request for an interim measure. 14.  On 24 May 2007 the Constitutional Court dismissed the applicant's complaint about the length of the proceedings finding that the delays in the proceedings had been attributable to the applicant. The Constitutional Court's decision was served on the applicant on 8 September 2007. 15.  On 1 June 2007 the Municipal Court dismissed the applicant's request for the interim measure and forwarded the case to the Zadar County Court. On 19 September 2006 the latter quashed the first-instance judgment of 12 December 2006 and remitted the case. In the resumed proceedings the Municipal Court invited the applicant to specify his claim according to the instructions given by the County Court. 16.  On 30 October 2007 the applicant lodged a request for the protection of the right to a hearing within a reasonable time (zahtjev za zaštitu prava na suđenje u razumnom roku) with the Zadar County Court complaining about the length of the proceedings upon his request for the interim measure. 17.  On 8 November 2007 the County Court declared the applicant's request inadmissible because the applicant, who resided abroad, had not appointed a special representative in Croatia who would receive the courts' summons on behalf of the applicant (punomoćnik za primanje pismena), as required by the relevant legislation. On 21 April 2008 the Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske) upheld the County Court's decision. 18.  In the resumed civil proceedings, on 11 February 2008 the Municipal Court gave a judgment for the applicant. Both parties lodged their appeals. The appeal proceedings are currently pending before the Zadar County Court.