4.  The applicant was born in 1954 and lives in the Krasnodar Region. 5.  In August 1995 tax authorities carried out an inspection of the enterprise owned by the applicant and found some breaches of tax law. In September 1995 criminal proceedings were initiated against him on suspicion of tax offence. The applicant successfully challenged the results of the inspection in a commercial court. In June 1998 the criminal proceedings against him were discontinued for lack of corpus delicti. 6.  On 15 March 2001 the applicant lodged an action with the Maykop Town Court of the Republic of Adygeya (“the Town Court”) against the local branch of the Federal Tax Police Department of Russia (Управление федеральной налоговой полиции Российской Федерации по Республике Адыгея) seeking compensation for unlawful criminal proceedings against him and reimbursement of legal costs incurred before the commercial courts and during the criminal proceedings. 7.  At the first hearing that took place on 16 April 2001 the applicant motioned for obtainment of the documents contained in his criminal and commercial case-files. The respondent requested that the hearing be adjourned due to its representative’s unavailability. 8.  The hearings scheduled for 24 May and 4 October 2001 were postponed at the applicant’s request, first due to the delay in arrival of the commercial case-file and then pending the outcome of another dispute at a commercial court. 9.  On 20 December 2001 the court granted the applicant’s request for adjournment as he needed to re-calculate the amount of his claims. 10.  On 7 March 2002 the court granted the applicant’s motion for an audit expert examination. The examination was completed on 14 August 2002, following which the court scheduled the next hearing for 4 December 2002. 11.  On 18 February 2003 the Town Court granted the claims in part. The applicant appealed and requested that the appeal hearing be postponed due to his illness. On 22 April 2003 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Adygeya (“the appeal court”) overturned the judgment on appeal for erroneous application of the substantive law, suggested that the Town Court replace the incompetent respondent and remitted the case for fresh examination. 12.  The Town Court joined the local branch of the Federal Treasury of Russia to the proceedings. On 30 June 2003 it again granted the applicant’s claims in part. The applicant appealed and again requested that the appeal hearing be postponed due to his illness. 13.  On 5 September 2003 the appeal court held that the first-instance court had failed to implement its previous instructions and had erroneously applied substantive law. The judgment was set aside, and a new hearing was required. 14.  On 3 November 2003 the Town Court granted the applicant’s claims in part. 15.  On 5 December 2003 the appeal court ruled that the first-instance court had failed to adequately establish the facts of the case, reversed the judgment and ordered new examination of the case. 16.  On 10 February 2004 the Town Court terminated the proceedings in the part concerning reimbursement of legal costs incurred before the commercial courts and during the criminal proceedings on the ground that those claims could not be examined in civil proceedings. The applicant did not challenge that decision. 17.  On 31 March 2004 the Town Court awarded the applicant 1,982 Russian roubles (RUB) in respect of pecuniary damage and RUB 50,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be paid by the Ministry of Finance. It dismissed the remainder of the applicant’s claims. 18.  On 14 May 2004 the appeal court held that the first-instance court had breached substantive and procedural law. It quashed the judgment of 31 March 2004 in the part concerning compensation for pecuniary damage and remitted that part for fresh examination to the first‑instance court. It upheld the judgment in the part awarding compensation for non-pecuniary damage. 19.  On 19 July 2004 the applicant motioned for postponement of the hearing due to his involvement in different proceedings. 20.  On 20 October 2004 the Town Court awarded the applicant RUB 373,578 in respect of pecuniary damage and legal costs, to be paid by the Ministry of Finance. It dismissed the remainder of his claims. 21.  On 7 December 2004 the appeal court reduced the award to RUB 284,289. 22.  On 2 June 2006 the Town Court index-linked the courts’ awards of 31 March and 20 October 2004 and awarded the applicant RUB 69,729. On 7 July 2006 the Supreme Court upheld this decision. 23.  On 19 June 2007 the Town Court index-linked the awards of 31 March 2004, 20 October 2004 and 2 June 2006 and awarded the applicant RUB 98,570. On 31 July 2007 the Supreme Court corrected an arithmetical error in the decision of 19 June 2007 and held that the applicant was to be paid RUB 39,357. 24.  On 10 April 2008 the Town Court index-linked the awards of 20 October 2004 and 19 June 2007 and awarded the applicant RUB 25,837. On 13 May 2008 the Supreme Court upheld this decision. 25.  The judgment of 31 March 2004 was enforced on 26 December 2006. 26.  The writ of execution for the judgment of 20 October 2004, as upheld on 7 December 2004, was submitted to the Ministry of Finance on 14 February 2005. The executing authority returned the documents on 1 February 2007 to the applicant for correction of certain defects. After the applicant failed to collect the documents from the post office, they were remitted to the trial court on 6 June 2007. Following the court’s failure to remedy the defects, the documents were again sent back to it on 19 July 2007 and 7 May 2008. On 26 September 2008 the appeal court corrected an arithmetical error and reduced the award to RUB 284,288. It was enforced on 5 February 2009. 27.  The writ of execution for the decision of 2 June 2006 was returned to the applicant by the Ministry of Finance on 19 April 2007. After correction of defects, the decision was enforced on 10 July 2007. 28.  The decision of 19 June 2007, as upheld on 31 July 2007, was enforced on 3 March 2008. 29.  The writ of execution for the decision of 10 April 2008, as upheld on 13 May 2008, was returned to the applicant on 11 June 2009. After correction of defects, the decision was enforced on 31 August 2009.