4.  The applicant was born in 1938 and lives in Dnipropetrovsk. 5.  On 12 July 1999 he lodged a claim with the Zhovtnevyy District Court of Dnipropetrovsk (“the District Court”) against the local authorities and his sister in a dispute over inheritance. 6.  On 17 August 2004 the District Court returned the applicant’s claim unexamined for his failure to attend the hearing. On 1 December 2004 the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal (“the Court of Appeal”) quashed that decision and remitted the case for fresh examination on the ground that the applicant had been absent from the hearing for a valid reason (sickness). 7.  On 13 November 2006 the District Court partially allowed the applicant’s claim. 8.  On 7 December 2006 the applicant appealed against the above judgment. On 21 December 2006 the Court of Appeal requested him to lodge the appeal, by 15 January 2007, in accordance with the procedural formalities. Following that, on 25 April 2007 the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal as unsubstantiated. 9.  On 10 July 2007 the Supreme Court upheld the decisions of 13 November 2006 and 25 April 2007. 10.  According to the Government, the District Court adjourned six hearings due to the applicant’s and other parties’ failure to appear or following the applicant’s requests. This protracted the proceedings to approximately nine months. The applicant disagreed stating that he could not attend only four hearings, due to his sickness. The above court further adjourned thirty three hearings, mainly due to the respondent’s failure to attend the hearings or following their requests, due to the absence of a judge, the need to collect additional documents or for unspecified reasons.