4.  The applicant was born in 1935 and lives in the village of Kresty in the Tula Region. 5.  On 20 October 1993 the applicant sued the Chernskiy District Social Security Services for pension arrears, an increase of his monthly pension and compensation for damage. 6.  On 16 December 1993 the Chernskiy District Court accepted the action in full. The judgment was quashed on 1 February 1994 and the case was remitted for a fresh examination. 7.  On 15 June 1998 the Chernskiy District Court partly accepted the applicant's action and decided to determine his claim concerning compensation for damage in separate proceedings. 8.  The Social Services appealed against the judgment to the Tula Regional Court. The first appeal hearing was fixed for 27 August 1998. However, it was adjourned until 6 October 1998 because the respondent did not attend. 9.  On 6 October 1998 the Tula Regional Court quashed the judgment of 15 June 1998 and remitted the case for a fresh examination. 10.  The case was assigned to the judge Isayev and the first hearing was fixed for 12 May 1999. That hearing was adjourned upon the parties' request until 23 September 1999. 11.  On 23 August 2000 the Chernskiy District Court received the applicant's amended statement of claims. 12.  On 24 January 2001 the judge Milyokhin was assigned to the case and on 2 July 2001 he scheduled a preliminary hearing. The following hearing, fixed for 7 August 2001, was adjourned because the representative of the Social Services defaulted. 13.  At the hearing of 7 August 2001 the applicant successfully amended his claims and asked to invite the Tula Regional Department of the Social Protection of Population to the proceedings. 14.  The following hearing, fixed for 1 November 2001, was adjourned until 14 December 2001 because the respondent defaulted. 15.  On 14 December 2001 the Chernskiy District Court stayed the proceedings in the applicant's case to await the outcome of the proceedings before the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court was to give interpretation of the pension legislation applicable to the applicant's case. The decision of 14 December 2001 was upheld on appeal on 12 March 2002. 16.  On 12 March 2003 the Chernskiy District Court resumed the proceedings and fixed a hearing for 2 April 2003. That hearing was adjourned until 28 April 2003 to allow the respondent to study the case-file. The applicant once again amended his claims at the hearing of 28 April 2003. 17.  Of the five hearings fixed between 28 April 2003 and 30 November 2005, one hearing was adjourned because the respondent defaulted and three were adjourned upon the applicant's request. 18.  On 8 December 2005 the Chernskiy District Court dismissed the applicant's action. The judgment was upheld on appeal by the Tula Regional Court on 9 February 2006. 19.  On numerous occasions the applicant unsuccessfully complained about the excessive length of the proceedings in his case to the prosecutor of the Tula Region and the Judicial Qualification Board of the Tula Region.