4.  The applicants were respectively born in 1946 and 1950 and live in Rome. 5.  They are the owners of a flat in Rome, which they had let to A.M. 6.  In a writ served on the tenant on 19 December 1986, the applicants informed her of their intention to terminate the lease and summoned her to appear before the Rome Magistrate. 7.  By a decision of 9 May 1987, which was made enforceable on the same day, the Rome Magistrate upheld the validity of the notice to quit and ordered that the premises be vacated by 30 September 1988. 8.  On 7 October 1989, the applicants served notice on the tenant requiring her to vacate the premises. 9.  On 12 December 1989, they served notice on the tenant informing her that the order for possession would be enforced by a bailiff on 29 December 1989. 10.  Between 29 December 1989 and 20 April 2001, the bailiff made fifty-one attempts to recover possession. Each attempt proved unsuccessful, as the applicants were not entitled to police assistance in enforcing the order for possession. 11.  On 6 May 2001, the applicants recovered possession of the flat.