6.  The applicant was born in 1948 and lives in London. 7.  In June 1986 he started an intimate relationship with S.D. who was at the time married to another man but separated from him. S.D. gave birth to two children on 26 August 1987 and 25 November 1995 respectively. The applicant voluntarily recognised the second child in France where it was born. 8.  S.D. got divorced in 1998. The applicant’s relationship with her also ended in March of the same year. The applicant maintained regular communication with the two children until 2000, when the contact with them became irregular due to the opposition on the part of S.D. 9.  On 11 October 2000 the applicant lodged an interim application asking for visiting rights as regards the two children before the Family Court of First Instance of Athens. His request was accepted on 15 February 2001 (judgment no. 1586/2001). 10.  On 11 October 2001 S.D. lodged an interim application with the Family Court of First Instance of Athens asking to have the applicant’s visiting rights withdrawn. This request was rejected on 29 April 2002 (judgment no. 3369/2002). 11.  On 11 June 2002 S.D. lodged another interim application with the Family Court of First Instance of Athens asking to have the applicant’s visiting rights withdrawn. On 12 August 2002 her application was accepted (judgment no. 6306/2002). The court decided that the applicant was not the lawful father of the children, as S.D. was still married to another man when the children were born, and therefore, according to Article 1465 of the Civil Code, it was presumed that her husband was the father of the children. Further, it was observed that the applicant had never challenged the paternity of the children before the domestic courts in the form of an action challenging paternity pursuant to Article 1469 § 5 of the Civil Code. 12.  In the meantime, on 9 March 2001 the applicant had lodged an application for the regulation of visiting rights with the children before the Athens Family Court of First Instance. His application was rejected on 11 November 2002. The court noted that S.D. was still married to another man when the children were born and therefore, according to Article 1465 of the Civil Code, it was presumed that their father was their mother’s husband (judgment no. 1605/2002). 13.  On 15 December 2002 the applicant filed an appeal with the Athens Family Court of Appeal challenging the First Instance Court’s decision. In the meantime the eldest child became an adult and the subject matter regarding this child ceased to exist. Thus, the proceedings continued only with regard to the second child. By judgment dated 12 April 2006, the court rejected the applicant’s appeal and upheld the findings of the First Instance Court (judgment no. 2601/2006). 14.  On 21 September 2006 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law with the Court of Cassation. On 19 March 2009, after the case had been referred to the plenary session of the court, the appeal was finally rejected (judgment no. 9/2009). The date on which judgment no. 9/2009 was “finalised” (θεώρηση και καθαρoγραφή) does not transpire from the case file.