4.  The applicant was born in 1982 and is detained in Labytnangi, Yamalo-Nenetskiy Region. 5.  On 22 May 2008 the applicant arrived at the IK-8 correctional colony, Yamalo-Nenetskiy Region. 6.  On 31 March 2008 the applicant’s wife instituted divorce proceedings. 7.  On 9 April 2008 the Justice of the Peace of Circuit no. 2 of the Krasnosulinskiy District of the Rostov Region (“Justice of the Peace”) sent a letter rogatory to the courts of Tyumen Region, asking them to interview the applicant and to establish whether he wished to attend the hearing in person. 8.  On 22 April 2008 the Tyumen Regional Division of the Judicial Department received the letter. 9.  On 4 July 2008 a Justice of the Peace in Labytnangi fixed an interview with the applicant for 18 July 2008 and sent two summonses to his home address, which his wife had listed in her statement of claim. Both summonses were returned undelivered. 10.  On 10 September 2009 the Tyumen courts informed the Justice of the Peace that it had been impossible to reach the applicant. On the same day the Justice of the Peace decided to hold a hearing in the applicant’s absence, noting that although the applicant had his registered residence at the address mentioned by the plaintiff, he had not appeared for an interview before the Justice of the Peace. 11.  On 18 September 2008 the Justice of the Peace granted the divorce. On the same day a copy of the decision was sent to the applicant’s home address. 12.  On 20 November 2013, the applicant learnt of the judgment of 18 September 2008. He asked for an extension of the time-limit for lodging an appeal against it. He argued that he had never received the judgment of 18 September 2008 and that he had been previously unaware of the divorce proceedings. 13.  On 26 December 2013 the Justice of the Peace heard evidence from the applicant’s former wife who claimed that the applicant should have been aware of the divorce proceedings in 2008 because his mother had received the final judgment of 18 September 2008. The Justice of the Peace held that an excerpt of the judgment had been served on the applicant in person on 31 October 2008 and refused the applicant’s application to extend the time limit for lodging an appeal. The hearing was held in the applicant’s absence. The applicant lodged an appeal against the decision. 14.  On 15 May 2014 the Krasnosulinskiy District Court of Rostov Region upheld the decision of 26 December 2013, again in his absence.