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The Court reiterates that the reasonableness of the length of proceedings must be assessed in the light of the circumstances of the case and with reference to the following criteria: the complexity of the case, the conduct of the applicants and the relevant authorities and what was at stake for the applicants in the dispute (see, among many other authorities, Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000-VII).

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The Court reiterates that Article 13 guarantees an effective remedy before a national authority for an alleged breach of the requirement under Article 6 § 1 to hear a case within a reasonable time (see Kudla v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 156, ECHR 2000-XI).

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In reply to the Government's argument relating to the Administrative Court's excessive workload which was due to structural reasons, the Court reiterates its well-established case-law that it is for the Contracting States to organise their judicial systems in such a way that their courts are able to guarantee everyone the right to obtain a final decision on disputes concerning civil rights and obligations within a reasonable time (see, for instance, Otto v. Austria, no. 12702/08, § 24, 22 October 2009, and Comingersoll S.A. v. Portugal [GC], no. 35382/97, § 24, ECHR 2000-IV).

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The period to be taken into consideration began on 23 December 1999 when the applicants' neighbours appealed against the building permit as it was then that a "dispute" within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 arose, the administrative authority's decision being a necessary preliminary for bringing the dispute before a tribunal (see Morscher v. Austria, no. 54039/00, § 38, 5 February 2004, and König v. Germany, 28 June 1978, § 98, Series A no. 27).