ained in Articles 215 - 217 of the 2002 Code of Civil Procedure.
THE LAW
I. Alleged violation of Article 6 of the Convention
21. The applicant complained that the length of the civil proceedings had been in breach of the "reasonable time" requirement under Article 6 of the Convention, which in the relevant part reads as follows:
"In the determination of his civil rights and obligations... everyone is entitled to a... hearing within a reasonable time by [a]... tribunal..."
A. Submissions by the parties
22. The Government submitted that the period to be taken into consideration started on 5 May 1998 and ended on 7 October 2008. They argued that the proceedings were complex on account of the nature and the number of the claims, which were amended several times, and the number of persons and judicial instances involved in the dispute. Delays were occasioned by the time needed for the applicant and a co-respondent's heirs to confirm their succession status. Thus, following the death of the applicant's husband the proceedings remained suspended for fourteen months. The case had to be adjourned on fifteen occasions because both parties failed to appear, thus delaying the proceedings for eleven months in total. The applicant was solely responsible for eight adjournments amounting to a cumulative delay of five months. The other parties caused delays on twenty-one occasions (a delay of nearly thirteen months). Certain delays were caused by the fact that the parties appealed against first-instance judgments. Lastly, the Government acknowledged that the national authorities were responsible for a cumulative period of fifteen months resulting from adjournments on account of the judges' unavailability or illness.
23. The applicant maintained her complaint. She argued that the case was not complex. The case file contained six volumes, half of which were documents of a procedural nature. Moreover, one of two respondents, Mr Pr, accepted the applicant's claims and thus there was no need to adjourn subsequent proceedings insisting on his presence. The other respondent, Mr P, was responsible for twenty-one adjournments resulting in a cumulative delay of one year, eleven months and seven days. The court was responsible for six years, six months and fifteen days. Certain delays were caused by the court's failure to apprise the parties of hearings. Adjournments had lasted over a month each and were, at times, ordered despite a party's waiver of the right to be present. The case was arbitrarily re-assigned between district court judges. No penalties had been imposed on the defaulting party. Lastly, the applicant accepted that she could be held accountable for adjournments on nine occasions amounting in total to one year, six months and six days, in particular after her husband had died and before she stepped into the proceedings as her husband's heir.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
24. The Court notes that the complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
2. Merits
(a) Period to be taken into account
25. Having regard to the materials in the case file, the Court accepts that the domestic proceedings started in October 1996. However, the Court's competence ratione temporis is limited to the proceedings pending after 5 May 1998, the Convention having entered into force in respect of Russia on that date. In assessing the reasonableness of the time that elapsed after that date, the Court may, however, take account of the state of proceedings at the time.
26. The domestic proceedings ended on 7 Oc
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