5.  The applicants, who are sisters, were born, respectively, in 1956 and 1959 and live in Salekhard and Salemal, the Russian Federation. 6.  In August 2001, I.Z., the applicants’ sister, instituted proceedings against them challenging a privatisation title issued by the local government to a part of their father’s apartment inherited under his will (the first applicant had bequeathed her part of the will to the second applicant, who as a result shared the apartment’s ownership with I.Z.). 7.  According to the Government, the applicants did not attend two of the hearings in the Feodossiyskyy Town Court (“the Feodossiyskyy Court”), which dealt with the case, thus protracting the proceedings by two months. 8.  On 18 April 2003 the Feodossiyskyy Court ruled in I.Z.’s favour. The applicants appealed. 9.  On 10 July 2003 the Feodossiyskyy Court, ruling on the admissibility of the appeal, set 4 August 2003 as a deadline for fixing procedural formalities. On 8 August 2003 the court ruled to return the appeal to the applicants as they had not rectified the indicated shortcomings. 10.  Between August 2003 and April 2004, the Feodossiyskyy Court reconsidered the admissibility of the applicants’ appeal several times and refused to admit it for examination on merits as belated. 11.  On 6 April 2004 the Court of Appeal of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (“the Court of Appeal”) quashed the last inadmissibility ruling of the Feodossiyskyy Court, stating that it was its own competence to examine that issue. 12.  On 27 April 2004 the Court of Appeal granted an extension for submission of the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 18 April 2003, and admitted it for examination. 13.  On 24 November 2004 the Court of Appeal ruled in the applicants’ favour. 14.  On 23 December 2004 I.Z. appealed in cassation to the Supreme Court. 15.  On 21 April 2007 the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Zaporizhya Regional Court of Appeal, in compliance with the legislative measures of February 2007 on distribution of its backlog of cassation appeals among appellate courts. 16.  On 9 November 2007 the Zaporizhya Regional Court of Appeal, acting as a court of cassation, upheld the ruling of 24 November 2004.