8.  The applicant was born in 1937 and lives in Athens. 9.  Between 13 July 1953 and 15 October 1957 the applicant paid contributions to the Fund of Typographers and Graphic-Arts Employees (Ταμείο Τυπογράφων και Μισθωτών Γραφικών Τεχνών) for 1136 working days. Between 1 February 1979 and 31 December 1980 the applicant paid contributions to the Social Security Foundation (Ίδρυμα Κοινωνικών Ασφαλίσεων) for 86 working days. Between 1 January 1981 and 30 July 1981 the applicant paid contributions to the Social Security Fund for Technical Staff working in the Athens Press (Ταμείο Ασφάλισης Τεχνικών Τύπου Αθηνών) for seven months. Between 1 August 1981 and 31 May 1988 he paid contributions to the same fund for five years, ten months and 18 days. 10.  Then the applicant requested to be put on retirement under sections 18 § 2 and 10 § 1 of Law No. 1186/81. On 16 December 1988 the Director of the Social Security Fund for Technical Staff working in the Athens Press decided that the applicant was entitled to the pension provided for those who had worked for five to ten years (section 10 § 1 (a)). 11.  The applicant appealed against this decision considering that, under the relevant legislation, the Fund should also have taken into consideration the working days in respect of which he had paid contributions to the Fund of Typographers and Graphic-Arts Employees and the Social Security Foundation. His appeal was rejected by the Board of the Social Security Fund for Technical Staff working in the Athens Press sometime in 1989. 12.  On 19 April 1989 the applicant challenged this decision before the First Instance Administrative Court of Athens. On 28 February 1990 the court considered that sections 18 § 2 and 10 § 1 of Law No. 1186/81 were provisions of an exceptional nature. As a result, there was no room for applying the legislation concerning the taking into consideration of working days in respect of which contributions had been paid to other funds. 13.  On 20 July 1990 the applicant appealed against this decision. His appeal was rejected by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens on 10 April 1992. 14.  On 2 July 1993 the applicant appealed in cassation. He argued that if the contributions he had paid to other funds were not taken into account, his property rights would be violated, in breach of the Constitution. 15.  At first, the hearing was set down for 11 April 1994 but it was adjourned because the lawyers of the Athens Bar Association were on strike. A new hearing was set down for 21 November 1994 but it was continuously postponed. The hearing was finally held on 25 May 1998. 16.  On 9 June 1998 the Council of State rejected the applicant’s appeal referring to a number of previous decisions to the effect that the legislation concerning the taking into consideration of working days in respect of which contributions had been paid to other funds did not apply in cases of provisions that create exceptional rights to a pension.