DISSENTING OPINION OF MR. E. BUSUTTIL

      Unlike the majority I am of the opinion that cost proceedings

come fairly and squarely within the ambit of Article 6 para. 1, since

they are necessarily linked to the determination of the civil rights

and obligations which constitute the subject-matter of a substantive

dispute between the parties.

      Article 6 requires, in my view, that all stages of a dispute

relating to civil rights and obligations, including the matter of

costs, should be definitively resolved within a reasonable time.  This

becomes a matter of crucial importance in the United Kingdom where

legal costs are notoriously high. Indeed, the applicants in the present

case were finally condemned to pay a sum of £6,000 by way of costs (a

not inconsiderable sum when one has regard to the fact that the

applicants had initially been granted legal aid) after having lived

with their relentless burden on their minds for the inordinately long

period of four years for the cost proceedings alone.

      In these circumstances, I find that there has been a violation

of Article 6 para. 1 in the instant case.