8.  The applicants are the owners of a flat in Milan, which they had let to G.M. and R.C. 9.  In a registered letter of 23 January 1982, the applicants informed the tenants that they intended to terminate the lease and asked them to vacate the premises by 27 July 1982. 10.  In a writ served on the tenants on an unspecified date, the applicants reiterated their intention to terminate the lease and summoned the tenants to appear before the Milan Magistrate. 11.  By a decision of 4 November 1982, which was made enforceable on 15 December 1982, the Milan Magistrate upheld the validity of the notice to quit and ordered that the premises be vacated by 31 December 1983. 12.  By a decision of 28 June 1985, the Milan Magistrate postponed the said deadline to 18 December 1985. 13.  On 13 December 1985, the applicants served notice on the tenants requiring them to vacate the premises. 14.  On 11 February 1986, they served notice on the tenants informing them that the order for possession would be enforced by a bailiff on 25 February 1986. 15.  Between 25 February 1986 and 24 November 1986, the bailiff made six attempts to recover possession. 16.  On 14 April 1987, the applicants made a statutory declaration that they urgently required the premises as accommodation for their daughter. 17.  Between 28 April 1987 and 12 January 1999, the bailiff made fifty-one attempts to recover possession. Each attempt proved unsuccessful, as the applicants were never granted the assistance of the police in enforcing the order for possession. 18.  At the end of January 1999, the tenants vacated the premises.