PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 9522/03) against the Republic of Turkey lodged on 4 December 2002 with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by Mr Naci Baltutan (Balkar)0, a Turkish national, and ANO İnşaat ve Ticaret Limited Şirketi, a company founded by the first applicant and registered in Turkey (“the applicants”). The applicants were represented by Ms A. Bıçak and Mr K. Berzeg, lawyers practising in Ankara. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

On 7 October 2008 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate the complaint concerning the length of the proceedings to the Government. It also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The first applicant was born in 1934 and lives in Ankara. The second applicant is a construction company registered in Turkey.

On 10 October 1990 the applicant company brought a civil action before the Seventh Chamber of the Ankara Civil Court against the National Water Board (Devlet Su İşleri) to recover the monies owed to it under a construction contract (case no. 1990/584).

On 27 December 1993 the Ankara Civil Court awarded the applicant company's claim in full, plus interest.

On 18 November 1994 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment of the first-instance court on procedural and substantive grounds.

On 16 March 1995 the applicant company brought an additional action against the National Water Board before the Eighth Chamber of the Ankara Civil Court in relation to the latter's default in certain other financial undertakings under the aforementioned construction contract (case no. 1995/255).

On 28 September 1995 the Eighth Chamber of the Ankara Civil Court decided to join case no. 1995/255 with case no. 1990/584 pending before the Seventh Chamber of the Ankara Civil Court.

On 15 December 1998, 12 September 2000 and 5 July 2001 the Ankara Civil Court rendered three separate judgments on the case, all of which were quashed by the Court of Cassation on 20 May 1999, 6 February 2001 and 27 December 2001 respectively on procedural and substantive grounds, including erroneous calculations, resulting in the remittal of the case to the Ankara Civil Court each time.

On 19 April 2002 the Ankara Civil Court examined the case for the fifth time and awarded the applicant company's claim in part, together with interest.

On 6 June 2002 the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment of the first-instance court with certain minor technical amendments.