4.  On 17 July 2001 the first, second, third, fourth and fifth applicants together with the legal predecessor of the sixth, seventh and eighth applicants challenged the validity of a real estate purchase contract of 1976 and sought to recover the property in issue. 5.  Subsequently the District Court requested the case files concerning inheritance proceedings related to the estate of several applicants’ legal predecessors, appointed a guardian to represent one minor claimant and held two hearings. 6.  On 30 May 2003 it dismissed the claim. On 14 October 2003 the case file was transmitted to the Žilina Regional Court for a decision on appeal.
On 3 June 2004 the Žilina Regional Court quashed the first-instance judgment and remitted the case to the District Court for a new determination. The case file returned to the District Court on 18 July 2004. 7.  The District Court scheduled a hearing for 30 November 2006 which was adjourned for 3 October 2007. After the hearing the District Court requested an expert to give opinion on the authenticity of signatures on the purchase contract. The case file was served on the expert on 9 April 2008. 8.  After one of the claimants’ death on 26 November 2008, the sixth, seventh and eighth applicant joined the civil proceeding as his legal successors. 9.  On 17 December 2008 the District Court granted the claim as far as it concerned the validity of the contract and dismissed the remaining part. The parties appealed against the judgment. 10.  On 11 June 2009 the Constitutional Court rejected the applicants’ constitutional length of proceedings complaint for being manifestlyill-founded. It held that the periods of inactivity of the District Court had not resulted in delays incompatible with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. 11.  On 15 July 2010 the Regional Court quashed the District Court’s judgment and returned the case to the latter for a new determination. 12.  On 22 November 2010 the District Court dismissed the claim and on 20 December 2010 it amended its judgement. The applicants appealed. 13.  The proceedings are pending.