4.  The applicants were born in 1961 and 1996 respectively and live in Muğla. 5. The first applicant was the husband and the second applicant was the son of Mrs Özlem Gürakın, who died on 3 September 2001. 6.  On an unspecified date, the applicants brought compensation proceedings against the Dokuz Eylül University Hospital, alleging that Mrs Özlem Gürakın had been a victim of medical negligence. The applicants further requested legal aid for the court fees. In respect of their legal aid claim, they submitted documents attesting to their poor financial situation. 7.  On 13 December 2006 the Izmir Administrative Court rejected the applicants’ legal aid claim, without indicating any specific reasons. They were notified that they had to pay 1,683 Turkish liras (TRY) (approximately 870 Euros (EUR)) in court fees within one month to continue the proceedings and that failure to do so would result in the discontinuation of the proceedings. 8.  As the applicants failed to pay the court fees within the time-limit, the İzmir Administrative Court sent a further warning letter to the applicants and ordered them to pay the court fees. 9.  On 6 April 2007 the applicants made a second request for legal aid and asked the court to reconsider its former decision. 10.  On 20 April 2007 the Izmir Administrative Court once again rejected the applicants’ request and granted them one month to pay the court fees. 11.  On 12 July 2007 the court decided to discontinue the proceedings, because the applicants had not paid the necessary court fees.