DISSENTING OPINION OF judge cabral barreto

( Translation )

To my great regret, I am not able to share the views of the majority of the Court in this case for the following reasons.

The period under consideration is some four years; there were proceedings at two instances.

Bearing in mind the criteria applied by the Court in similar cases, the period at issue does not appear sufficiently long for me to arrive at the conclusion that the "reasonable time" requirement has been exceeded.

The period of two years referred to in paragraph 29 of the judgment does not affect my opinion as one has to determine the length of the proceedings as a whole.

I see no exceptional circumstances which could call for a departure from the criteria generally applied in this field.