4.  The applicant was born in 1941 and lives in the village of Sheludkovka, the Kharkiv Region, Ukraine. 5. The applicant’s mother owned a plot of land and an old house. On unspecified date the applicant started constructing a new house on this plot without a construction permit and other necessary documentation. On 25 April 1995 the applicant’s mother died. The plot of land and the old house had been transferred shortly before her death under a donation agreement to Mr E.Ts. 6.  On 29 July 1997 the applicant instituted civil proceedings against Mr. E.Ts. (“the defendant”), the Sheludkovsky Local Council (“the local council”) and the Zmiyiv State Notary Office (“the notary office”) in the Zmiyiv Court. She challenged the donation agreement and claimed her property right to the unfinished building. She also challenged the resolutions of the local council by which the latter had refused to provide her with the plot of land on which she had started the above construction works. 7.  On 12 April 2002 the Zmiyiv Court dismissed the applicant’s claims concerning annulment of the donation agreement and the local council’s resolutions. The court further terminated the proceedings in respect of her claim for the unfinished building. The applicant appealed. 8.  On 17 July 2002 the Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal amended the judgment. The court of appeal considered the applicant’s claim concerning the unfinished building and dismissed it since the applicant had conducted construction works without the necessary permit. The court of appeal upheld the rest of the judgment. 9.  On 13 August 2002 the applicant appealed in cassation. On 3 December 2002 the Supreme Court left the applicant’s appeal without consideration since she had failed to comply with procedural requirements prescribed by law. 10. On 15 January 2003 the applicant rectified the shortcomings and re-lodged her appeal in cassation. On 3 September 2003 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant’s request for leave to appeal in cassation. 11.  According to the records provided by the Government, in the course of the proceedings falling within the Court’s competence ratione temporis, of thirty listed hearings eleven were adjourned due to the defendant’s failure to appear and two due to his requests for adjournment. Two hearings were adjourned since the defendant and the representative of the State notary office failed to appear. The domestic courts took no steps to ensure the defendant’s presence in the court. One hearing was adjourned due to the failure of the representative of the local council to appear. Three hearings were adjourned due to the applicant’s request for adjournment, and three due to the applicant’s lawyer’s failure to appear. 12.  Most hearings were scheduled at intervals from several days to two months. No hearings took place between 8 July 1998 and 11 May 1999, from 18 August 1999 and 12 January 2000, and from 1 June and 15 October 2001.