4.  Mr Gerardo Menéndez García (“the first applicant”) was born in 1964 and lives in Gargantada (Langreo). Mr Sigifredo Álvarez González (“the second applicant”) was born in 1956 and lives in Sant Jordi de Cercs (Barcelona). 5.  On 2000 the applicants acted as intermediary (purchase agent) in the sale of three cars, sold to a company. As a result of this sale, on 20 November 2000 criminal investigations were instituted by the Gijón no. 1 investigating judge against the applicants and other eight suspects for fraud and forgery of documents. 6.  On 16 April 2001 and 18 April 2001, respectively, the applicants were detained, charged with document forgery and informed about the rights they were entitled as detainees. They were subsequently interrogated by the Guardia Civil in the presence of their lawyer. 7.  On 8 November 2004 the Judge issued a decision (auto) ordering the initiation of oral proceedings (apertura de juicio oral) and set the complete file to the Asturias Audiencia Provincial. 8.  On 6 May 2009 the hearings before the Asturias Audiencia Provincial took place. 9.  On 5 June 2009 the Asturias Audiencia Provincial sentenced the first applicant to a three years and six months’ imprisonment, and the second applicant to a five years’ imprisonment for fraud and document forgery. The Asturias Audiencia Provincial refused the applicants’ request to reduce the sentence in view of the undue delay of proceedings, as prescribed in Article 21 of the Criminal Code. The Asturias Audiencia Provincial acknowledged that the proceedings had been “unusually” long, but this was due to the complexity of the case, namely the difficulties in gathering evidences within different jurisdictions, the great number of parties involved, the difficulty faced when trying to notify some of the defendants, as well as the applicants’ conduct, whose lawyers had lacked celerity in presenting their submissions. 10.  The applicants lodged a cassation appeal before the Supreme Court. On 27 May 2010 the Supreme Court partially ruled in favour of the applicants and sentenced them both to three years and eight months’ imprisonment for fraud. However, the Supreme Court rejected the claims of undue delay of proceedings. The Supreme Court considered that even though the proceedings might have appeared excessively long, the Asturias Audiencia Provincial had provided a sounded and detailed justification for the duration of the proceedings. 11.  Both applicants lodged an amparo appeal with the Constitutional Court complaining, inter alia, about the undue length of the proceedings. 12.  By two decisions of 20 May 2011 and 12 September 2011, respectively (served on 25 May 2011 and 23 September 2011), the Constitutional Court declared both appeals inadmissible on the grounds that they lacked the constitutional relevance provided for in Article 50 § 1 b) of the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court.